PRESTON — A federal trapper is hunting the animals that have now killed four sheep in a Preston neighborhood.
The losses began on July 4, when Virgil and Harriet Bostwick, who live at 515 E. Oneida St., discovered the carcass of one of their lambs in their field.
It had been disemboweled, the organs eaten and the bones chewed upon. Because an occasional neighborhood dog can do such a thing, the Bostwicks didn’t do anything about it. But when it happened to another of their lambs on Aug. 4, they reported the incident to police, who called local Idaho Department of Fish and Game officer Nathan Stohosky.
“They thought at first that it was a coyote, but then thought it was a dog,” Harriet Bostwick said.
Stohosky then called the trapper.
Meanwhile, another flock fell victim to a similar incident. Kevin Seamons, who lives at 514 E. First S. in Preston, found the carcass of one of his lambs consumed and disemboweled on July 31.
He found another on Aug. 9. This one had been attacked during the day.
Both he and the Bostwicks have increased their lookout for anything out of the ordinary, but have yet to find the culprit. The trapper spent three hours watching Seamons’ flock Saturday night, but saw nothing, he said. But he was quite sure it was coyotes, Seamons said.
A few days ago, the Bostwicks' ducks sent up an alarm in the middle of the night and ended up in the window well of their home.
“We think something scared them. They have never done that before,” she said.
