Who let the cows (and horses) out?

Critters are loose again in Lyon County. I mean large critters, not your run-of-the-mill dog or cat.

Willis Lamm of Stagecoach, director of Least Resistance Training Concepts, said wild-horse advocates and the Nevada Department of Agriculture headed up to the old Asamera Ranch portion of the Tahoe Reno Industrial Park on Stockton Flats to check out reports of cows wandering where they shouldn't.

The group found fences apparently cut by dirt-bike or OHV riders, allowing cattle to escape from the ranch area and wander around Stagecoach.

Lamm said volunteers from LRTC spent the day "encouraging" animals back onto their proper sides of range fences and made temporary repairs to the fences.

He said a fence had been cut down where it crossed a dry wash and that tire tracks from dirt bikes ran through the wash and past the cut fence.

"They can't blame the cows for this one," said volunteer Kathy Graves of Silver Springs. "I haven't seen a cow yet that can use wire cutters."

Lamm also reported a band of wild horses spent the weekend in the Santa Maria Ranch subdivision in Dayton.

He said a wire fence gate was completely removed, and the horses gave the Virginia Range estray horse manager Mike Holmes and volunteers a merry chase before they were able to herd them back through the opening and secure it.

"Our main priority was keeping the horses off the highway," Holmes said. "When this bunch gets spooked, the horses tend to run straight toward U.S, 50."

Lamm said the developer has fenced the horses out of the subdivision and, in his words, "some idiot comes down and cuts the fence. I say 'idiot' because less than 1,000 feet away is a cattle guard he could have ridden across. These people have no respect for private property."

The horses returned to the hills southeast of Mound House.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.