Domestic animals lost in fire; pronghorn fare better
By STERRY BUTCHER
FAR WEST TEXAS – There have been no human casualties in the 108,000-acre Rock House fire, but an untold number of domestic and wild animals have lost their lives. In ranching country, of course, cattle are intended to meet a pre-determined end. Not like this, though.
“We had a number of animals burned over,” said Jim Fowler, a communications officer at the Fort Davis Fire Department’s incident command center. “This is a ranching community, but this kind of thing is tough on people.”
An initial count by the Texas Animal Health Commission points to 150 cattle deaths and seven horses, though this may increase. The economic impact of the loss on local producers remains to be seen. Presidio County Extension Agent Jesse Lea Schneider is asking ranchers to contact her regarding their losses of livestock and fencing, so she can report that information to the Farm Service Agency for relief programs.
“I’m sure the death count is significant,” Schneider said. “And I know that the number of displaced animals has to be pretty large because of the fences that were cut or burned or the gates that were opened.”
Her office also has hay available for livestock producers whose herds have been affected by the fire. Call Schneider at: 432.295.0342.
The Farm Service Agency does have a Livestock Indemnity Program that helps ranchers in the event of wildfire.
“This program provides livestock producers with a vital safety net to help them overcome the damaging financial impact of natural disasters,” said Cullene Heritage, FSA executive director said in a release. “A notice of loss must be filed within 30 days of when the loss of livestock is apparent.”
Livestock that dies within 60 days of the event is considered eligible. For information, call the Alpine FSA office: 432.837.2325, extension 2, or go online: fsa.usda.gov/tx.
State Rep. Pete Gallego indicated this week that state personnel would create a burial plan for the dead animals, once an assessment is made.
About 170 square miles has burned. The land is blackened and the food source for range animals, whether wild or domestic, is temporarily diminished. Wild creatures are thought to have fared pretty well, though it’s hard to say what or how many were affected.
“Except for box turtles, most of the animals out there have the opportunity to go subterranean in a fire,” said Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist Mike Sullins. “This fire was really hot, but fast. There will be a few animals that are caught and killed, but the rest amazingly appear. They have a way of getting out of the way.”
The rabbit and hare population was already low before the fire. Mule deer are “very capable” of surviving wildfires, said Sullins, and although there are anecdotal reports of an aoudad herd succumbing to flames, the pronghorn probably did okay.
“A few may have been impacted by the fire,” he said. “Antelope don’t like jumping a fence and they can be caught in a net-wire fence.”
About 200 pronghorn were released a few weeks ago in hopes of re-populating local herds that were in troubling decline. These are monitored by radio collar and, according to Billy Tarrant, district leader at the Alpine office of Texas Parks and Wildlife,
“We know that the radio-collared pronghorn we released are fine.”
Biologists were further reassured the other day: one of the radio-collared transplants was spotted standing in the blackened burn with a group of local pronghorn.
“They did just fine,” said Sullins. “They got out of the way.”
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4 Responses to “Domestic animals lost in fire; pronghorn fare better”
I think rep. Gallego’s burial plan is a waste of money and time. Buzzards and varmits will take care of them for free. Those that are close to occupied dwellings can be moved.
Horrible news. In response to the damage and losses West Texas farmers and ranchers are experiencing, the Texas Department of Agriculture has set up the State of Texas Agriculture Relief Fund, or STAR Fund. Visit http://www.texasagriculture.gov/starfund to donate money to these ranchers who have lost part of their herds to the devastating fires.
Glad to hear the transplanted pronghorn are safe; sad to hear that other pronghorn, as well as ranch livestock, suffered. This is a big setback for many of the wildlife species in that area. In addition to a sudden, and possibly drastic reduction in forage, the additive decrease in population base and habitat may have long-term effects. Granted, natural fires periodically cleansed and rejuvenated grazing ranges before human habitation of the area. However, loss of wildlife habitat by human encroachment further reduces recovery rates. I hope ranches and communities will work together to facilitate recovery for all habitat; man and wildlife.
As if ranchers don’t have enough problems with drought, environmentalists, PETA, and govrnment land-grabbing busy-bodies, they have devastating fires to contend with. If they get enough rain in the growing season to make good winter grass they become prime candidates for just this kind of catastrophy.
My heart and prayers go out to them.