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Furry protectors keep watch over their flocks ABOUT MAREMMAS

June 1, 2008 5:00 am

Motorists passing along State Route 3 just east of the town of Culpeper often do a double take when they pass Croftburn Farm.

There, in a picturesque green pasture framed by the ridges of Mount Pony, a flock of sheep wander about. And close by those sheep is their protectress, a big white dog named Bella.

Day and night, Bella guards her flock, and woe be unto the person or critter that tries to harm the fleece on any member.

Meg Campbell's family owns Croftburn Farm, a 1,000-acre sheep and cattle operation. She says Bella, a Maremma, does not herd the sheep, as a border collie or blue heeler might.

Maremmas are bred "to protect the sheep," she says.

But protect them from what? In pastoral Culpeper County, there hasn't been a case of sheep rustling in even the oldest inhabitant's memory.

In fact, except for packs of wild dogs that occasionally got into a flock decades ago and delighted in running the animals to death, sheep there have led a pretty secure life in the past 100 years.

But that was before the eastward migration of coyotes. Suddenly, the rules and associated dangers changed.

"About 15 years ago, we started losing lambs," says Campbell. "I talked with the game warden and told him I thought coyotes were killing them and he laughed, telling me that there were no coyotes in this part of the country."

Campbell says she described the animals she had seen and eventually was able to get photographs. Finally, the game warden began to take her seriously.

In the months that followed, a U.S. Department of Agriculture trapper came to the farm and destroyed several coyotes. They had been denning on Mount Pony and slipping across Route 3 through drainage culverts to nab lambs and then return to the high ridges.

But the USDA trapper couldn't be sure he had gotten all the coyotes in the area or that others passing through wouldn't find the flock and take up residence. After all, sheep is a coyote delicacy.

So Campbell turned to Ray Coppinger, an instructor at her alma mater, Amherst College in Massachusetts. Coppinger, who is also an authority on guard dogs, recommended a Maremma cross and even sold Campbell her first animal.

settling in

The Campbells eventually wound up with two dogs, to guard different flocks on either side of Route 3. Campbell says that Croftburn, which produces naturally grown meat, has not lost another sheep to predators.

When the first two dogs got old and eventually died, Campbell looked for replacements. Her search took her Italy, where Maremmas are most commonly bred.

There, near Rome, they found Bella and had her shipped back to Virginia.

"As with most dogs that are shipped long distances, she was a bit lethargic when she first got here," says Campbell. "But when we opened that crate and [she] heard the sheep, she perked right up."

That was last November, and Bella was only about 6 months old. Now approaching her first birthday, the guard dog is just beginning to come into her own.

"It takes a year or two for them to settle in," says Campbell.

These days Bella is part of the flock, staying with the sheep day and night. This time of the year, she will rest in the heat of the day with the 40 or so ewes in her care. She becomes more active after dark, when coyotes are more likely to strike.

"She's out there running around barking most of the night," says Campbell. "She really looks after those sheep."

The Maremma, who weighs about 80 pounds, lives with the flock year-round. Inside the sheep shed, she has her own space behind a pair of angled gates where she can retreat to eat or rest.

One might wonder how she makes it outside in freezing weather. But Bella, like others of her breed, is well-equipped to handle the cold.

Beneath her long hair is a thick layer of soft cottony fur that provides as much insulation as a sheep's wool. Like a polar bear, Bella just shrugs off freezing weather.

"Right now, she is shedding that under-fur and you can find it lying around everywhere," says Campbell.

bred to protect

While Bella is free to interact with the adult sheep at will, she is not permitted to run with the lambs.

"She likes to play too much, and she could hurt one of them," says Campbell.

Like Hunter, another female Maremma cross who guards two flocks at another of the farm's locations, Bella has a gentle disposition and likes to play with people.

But getting too familiar with outsiders is not encouraged--for obvious reasons, according to Campbell.

"She is friendly but she can become aggressive very quickly if somebody or something threatens her flock," the dog's owner says. "Her job is to protect."

Although there is not much call for such work in this country, Campbell says Maremmas can also be trained to guard chickens. She hopes to teach Bella to guard her small feathery flock, too.

Campbell is so happy with her guard dogs that she is planning to breed Hunter (yes, Hunter is a female), perhaps making another trip to Italy to find an appropriate mate.

But while Campbell is checking the Maremma personal ads, her two dogs will continue to watch over Croftburn Farm's sheep and protect them from coyotes.

During a recent interview, Campbell makes a distinctive whistle and Bella comes running. Her owner squats down and shows her affection for the dog's efforts.

"Their innate behavior is to guard," she says.

Coyotes around Croftburn Farm learned that years ago.

Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com