BIRNAMWOOD, Wis. (WSAU) — An attack killing livestock near Birnamwood has a farmer and a wildlife expert questioning if it was coyotes or wolves.
Five 1,000 pound Black Angus yearling steers were killed by the wild animals. Farmer Cindy Lex told WAOW television she can’t prove it was wolves, but says everything they see doesn’t add up to a coyote attack. With around 40 years of experience, they’ve seen coyotes many timesShe also says there are fresh wolf tracks nearby that are, “the size of my husband’s hands.”
A U.S. Department of Agriculture official ruled that between 15 and 20 coyotes were responsible for the attacks. Lex isn’t convinced the USDA official got it right.
With the ruling that coyotes killed the livestock and not wolves, the USDA does not compensate the Lex’s for the loss. Each of the five animals was worth about $1,300 dollars.
The Lex family has a herd of about 40 organic beef cattle in a pasture that is part field and part woods.
