News from TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation

July 2015

In this issue:

Living with Mountain Lions | Slow Meat 2015 | Bird Banding | Internships | Artist Invitation

Game camera catches male mountain lion on TomKat Ranch

Our mission at TomKat Ranch is to raise healthy food on working lands in a way that sustains the planet and inspires others to action. To achieve that on the ground means managing livestock in ways that benefit the landscape and its ecosystems. It also means accepting predators as an important component of our landscape even if they may pose a risk to our livestock at times.

Recently, we lost two calves to a mountain lion. Though we were saddened by the loss (especially after watching the mother cows searching for their young), we decided we could treat these loses as an opportunity to learn. We are after all, living and trying to work within an ecosystem that contains many important parts; from the smallest amphibian to large apex predators.

You can read more about it and other TKREF news below.

Thank you for your interest in what we're doing at TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation. Please feel free to share this newsletter with others.

- Wendy Millet, Ranch Director

Land & Livestock

Living with Mountain Lions

Mountain lion passing a water trough on TomKat Ranch.

Two cubs take a drink from the same trough later that evening.

A weary coyote looks at the camera approximately an hour after the cubs were drinking from the trough.

Recently, we had our first cattle fatality as the result of a suspected mountain lion attack. Over the course of 36 hours, two calves disappeared from our cow/calf herd while they were grazing in one of our remote pastures.

After hearing about similar attacks on neighboring properties, the Land & Livestock team decided to re-organize our 2015 Grazing Plan and move the breeding herd to pastures closer to areas of human activity until the calves were bigger and stronger. So far this plan has worked, and the calves grow bigger and healthier with each passing day!

A hawk takes flight after a quick drink earlier in the day.

In the interest of better understanding the wild animals with whom we share the ranch, six new game cameras were installed near water sources around the ranch. Our efforts met with surprising success - at two different locations five days apart, we photographed what appeared to be the same large male puma passing two different water troughs. Most surprising of all, we photographed a female with two healthy looking cubs. Included in the photo series was a weary looking coyote and a hawk swooping in and taking off after a drink.

We hope to post photos on TKREF's website as we get them, and all mountain lion sightings and images will be documented and shared with California's Department of Fish and Wildlife to assist with the on-going effort to protect these amazing creatures.

Food Advocacy

Kathy Webster helps skin the carcass of a six-year-old sheep.

Slow Meat, Denver, Colorado.

Kathy Webster, TKREF's Food Advocacy Director, started her week at Slow Meat 2015 in Boulder, Colorado at Boulder Lamb for an on-pasture sheep slaughter conducted by Adam Danforth renowned butcher and author of "Butchering Beef."

Adam is well respected for his love of animals and humane treatment -- from birth to death. As he explained to Kathy and the group at the workshop, "An animal is a reflection of its life. If they live a natural life on lush pastures and in harmony with the ecosystem -- we see the benefits: a non-stressed animal equals amazing meat."

"Adam was incredibly respectful of the animals" said Kathy, "Since sheep are flock animals he slaughtered two at a time to reduce the stress for the animals of being alone. To slaughter humanely, he used a tool called a captive bolt to put the animal into an unconscious state before the final stroke."

Being a part of a slaughter is not for everyone but those in the slow meat movement believe it is important to understand the process from start to finish. As Kathy and other workshop participants learned, slaughtering in a humane manner and with respect for the animal connects us to the animal and reinforces one of Slow Meat's key messages: "Better Meat; Less Often."

Point Blue at TomKat Ranch

Point Blue ornithologists identify bird pair before banding and releasing.

Bird Banding

Three groups of 5th and 6th graders from Vida Verde, a neighboring nonprofit environmental learning organization, visited TomKat Ranch to learn how Point Blue Conservation Science's on-site scientists conduct their bird banding research.

During the visit, the Point Blue ornithologists explained to the students how birds are found all around the world, and how through understanding species, gender and age of the birds (the information they gather through banding), scientists can gain important information about different species, bird migration patterns and the health of the landscape that the birds call home. The information that the scientists collect is ultimately shared with MAPS-the Monitoring of Avian Productivity and Survival program.

Click here to find out more about MAPS.
Click here to find out more about Point Blue Conservation Science.

Internship Update

Kevin Watt of Early Bird Ranch preparing hoop shelter for new chicks
Photo Credit: Jonathan Fong

Holistic Enterprise Internship

This is a big year for internships at TKREF. We have six full-time interns working through the summer to expand their knowledge and hands-on experience in the areas of land management, research, agriculture and general ranching skills.

In the case of our Holistic Enterprise Internship, intern Jordan Rosenblum has taken charge of 500 ducks and 500 chickens and will work closely with Kevin and ShaeLynn Watt of Early Bird Ranch. As part of a collaboration between TKREF, Early Bird Ranch and Kitchen Table Advisors, they will meet weekly to learn advanced methods of sustainable farming and business management.

Click here to find more about Kitchen Table Advisors

At The Ranch

"Harmony" by photographer Mary Dussell

Artist Invitation

We held our first TomKat Ranch Artist Invitation and had a great turn out with 19 artists from the Bay area participating.

Artists were invited to come to the ranch and use the landscape and animals as inspiration. Lunch was provided and the artists were free to create at their leisure.

The Artist Invitation was such a success, we look forward to sponsoring another. And who knows, maybe even a "working lands" art show some day!