Sheep predators

Phil and Harry Solon are sheepherders with a vast amount of experience and success. For starters, Phil has been docking lambs for over 80 years. We visited them while they were docking their sheep in an effort to count them, mark them and check their health before putting them out to pasture for the summer. Harry Solon is optimistic. It's been a pretty good spring. We can use a little more moisture and a little less wind but all in all it has been a pretty good spring. We are starting to work the lambs and anxious to work the next several bands and see where we are with our total lamb numbers. I'm optimistic and we are planning on a good year." As the bands of sheep are put together for a summer on the range, the Solons' turn their attention to predator control. Phil says coyotes and wolves are not the only predators. "Bear, cougar, raven, eagles not as much as it used to be, eagle both white and bald, human predators aren't too much of a factor anymore."Idaho ranks seventh in the United States in sheep production with 250,000 head raised annually.