AgriLife tests whether guardian dogs riding herd with cattle can keep coyotes off the swift fox

Texas A&M AgriLife scientists are testing whether livestock guardian dogs that travel with a cattle herd can keep coyotes away from the swift fox, a native fox about the size of a house cat thought to have fewer than 250 animals left in Texas, AgriLife said Thursday.

The study is taking place on the Rita Blanca National Grasslands in the Texas Panhandle. Dallam County is the only Texas county known to have a swift fox population, according to AgriLife.

Haley Sloan, who is pursuing a doctorate in Texas A&M's Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, is running the dog study. She said taller vegetation that has spread into the shortgrass prairie gives coyotes cover, and coyote attacks are a leading cause of death for swift foxes.

Dana Karelus, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's state mammal specialist, said only 40% to 50% of that prairie remains.

The idea, Sloan said, is for the dogs to stand in for a larger predator that changes how coyotes behave, so the foxes can move into areas the coyotes avoid. If it works, she said, ranchers could also see fewer livestock losses, especially at calving time.

Collars before and after

Before the three-year project began, researchers put GPS collars on coyotes and swift foxes to record how they moved. The dogs, also collared, joined the herd this summer, so the team can compare movements before and after their arrival. It is too soon for results, AgriLife said, but Sloan said the rancher taking part has not lost any calves to predators.

Bill Costanzo, the AgriLife Extension livestock guardian dog specialist in San Angelo, and colleagues at the San Angelo research and extension center trained the dogs. Guardian dogs usually work with sheep and goats, so the team adjusted its methods to bond the puppies safely with much larger cattle.

The dog study is one piece of a wider swift fox effort led jointly by John Tomeček, an associate professor in the same Texas A&M department, and a Texas Tech University team, and paid for by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Sources

agrilifetoday.tamu.edu