Quote:
Originally Posted by thumper
"I would reflect on what this property means to you, what you want your role as Steward to be."
x2.
If it's to be a wildlife sanctuary for all wildlife, then cows should not be part of it.
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X2.
Thumper makes a great point. If this land is surrounded by disturbed pasture or farmland disconnected from adjacent natural ecosystems what kind of wildlife sanctuary can that land be?
I will add my 2 cents....
Well said Walking Buffalo. The pics I posted were only to illustrate the grazers can co-exist. In my experience in the parkland area I notice some balances of domestic livestock and wildlife can occur.
If cattle numbers are managed properly most species of wildlife will find their place on the land. Historically, even though there were massive herds of buffalo that seasonally grazed an area the smaller wildlife species still fit in. The prairie dog colonies still grew and red and swift fox, snakes, badgers, birds, etc. all found their places on the bison grazed land. Just the forest dwelling species could not establish themselves because bison (and wildfires) influenced tree growth.
If a piece of land has a balance of uplands, bottom land, bush and riparian areas cattle will only use certain areas. I know of a half section of a parkland farm where a herd/colony of mulies (20-35 animals) have lived alongside of a free ranging herd of grazing cattle (40-60 animals) for the past 40 years. I'm sure the cattle get jealous when the mulies can just hop the fence to chew on the field pea crops next door. And on the same land's treed bottomland there is always a cow moose or two using it as a calving ground. And I have shot and flushed whitetail on all levels of this land too. And now the occasional cougar is roaming through the property on its rounds too. Amphibians, ground birds, yappers and small critters are all intact too. I can think of other properties that are similar too.
This leads me to believe if a piece of land is allowed to develop over time into an ecosystem with cattle incorporated onto it there can be a balance of most species. The role of the land steward is to understand and manage the land according to the land's carrying capacities.
Thanks for letting me share my 2 cents...for what it's worth.