The display is almost hypnotic, watching the inflatable tube man twist and wave at Ted Birdseye’s ranch bordering the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Southern Oregon.
His kids say it looks like a neon green alien dancing at night. His wife’s co-worker jokes about the ranch turning into a used car lot. But so far, Birdseye said he is sleeping sound at night with the tube man standing guard against wolves that have repeatedly attacked his cattle.
Wolves from the nearby Rogue pack have killed or injured at least seven calves and one guard dog in the last year at the Mill-Mar Ranch in Jackson County, frustrating Birdseye and wildlife managers trying feverishly to keep the predators at bay.
Following the most recent confirmed depredation on Jan. 18, Birdseye received two inflatable tube men — one green, one yellow — on loan from the environmental group Defenders of Wildlife, which is assisting ranchers across the state with hazing wolves using non-lethal deterrents.
Read the full article at Capital Press.