Efficacy of Compound 1080 Livestock Protection Collars for Killing Coyotes That Attack Sheep

Efficacy of Compound 1080 LP Collars was studied under pen and field conditions. Coyotes poisoned themselves by attacking collared sheep and biting the collars. In 54 pen tests where 1 or 2 captive coyotes had opportunity to attack 1 collared lamb, 41 lambs were attacked and 26 collars were punctured. Of 25 different coyotes offered lambs with collars containing 5 or 10 mg sodium fluoroacetate (FAC)/ml, 23 coyotes attacked and 21 died after collars were punctured in their first (n = 17), second (n = 3), or fifth (n = 1) test. For 11 captive coyotes that punctured rubber collars, the average time to death was 217 min (range 115 to 436 min). Collars were placed on approximately 3 percent of the sheep on 4 Idaho and 7 Montana sheep ranches. Coyotes attacked 67 uncollared and 68 collared sheep, punctured 32 collars, and may have punctured 2 other collars that were not found. Documented rates of collar puncture were 48% for all attacks on collared sheep and 64% for neck-throat attacks. Eight collars were punctured on fences, thorns or brush. All coyotes that punctured collars probably died, but only 3 dead coyotes were found. Adverse impacts on humans, domestic animals, and nontarget wildlife were not seen. The LP Collar is a safe, effective, and selective technique for removing coyotes that attack sheep. Proc. 14th Vertebr. Pest Conf. (L.R. Davis and R.E. Marsh, Eds.) Published at Univ. of Calif., Davis. 1990.