Wolves at the door...

[GatorFarmer]

Admin Edit-

Keep it civil.

If you people want to keep the thread open, keep it cool, unemotional, and don't get personal.

S&W doesn't make wolves, so I feel no great need to discuss the topic.

Get it?

___________________

Original Post-

Well not quite at the door, but down the street a little ways...And not figurative wolves either, but the literal four legged and furry kind.

They are common enough in Wyoming that the state has had court battles with the Federal government, trying to get them delisted of their endangered status and establishing a hunting season.

I have heard their howls several times now. Including during the day. It was in close the last time.

Lansing (MI) used to have the zoo open for free on Mondays, so I would someone times go. They had a gray wolf habitat. I never caught sight of any of the wolves from the viewing deck, they were good at hiding, but I heard them make their distinctive howl several times.

Now I hear that sound again, in my own backyard.

While true that wolves eat few people in modern North America, they killed around 7200 people in France between 1700 and make 1920. Frenchmen taste good I suppose.

Wolves remain a feared predator in Siberia, parts of India, Pakistan, and the Carpathians. In the latter, the Romanian government supports wolf hunts by tourists to this day.

I wonder if a 9mm or .38 special will suffice as wolf medicine, or perhaps the old .44 caliber revolver ball over about 35 grains of BP would be better....I hope that I do not have to find out.

My great grandmother spoke of wolves in the woods when she first came to America at the start of the 20th Century. It would seem that they are back.

I wonder who's bright idea that was...

 

[mc5aw]

Did you see this recent wolf story? (Courtesy of Live Science .com). It's rather sad that such a scientifically important creature was accidentally killed.

Wayward Grand Canyon Wolf Was Killed in Utah, DNA Confirms

PA used to be filled with panthers, elk, and wolves, but almost every one was hunted down decades ago. I saw a huge coyote up close once, and once was enough ... fuhgeddabout seeing a wolf. I wouldn't be too keen on knowing wolves were populating my neighborhood, although I'm sure they would simply go about their predator business. Actually, as wolves are fairly scarce in most parts of the country, there's probably a much practical danger in forested areas from packs of feral dogs.

I also found an interesting article on Alaskan wolves (courtesy of ADFG . Alaska . gov):

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=503

 

[M29since14]

There have been sightings in Indiana, not far from where I live. I am a lot more concerned about aggressive bucks. I suppose if I saw a pack of them close by I might feel differently.

 

[moralem]

You are right about wolves wanting to go there own way and have little to do with human contact. On my summer motorcyle trip to Alaska last year the wolves I saw would acknowledge you with a look and simply go there own way. I came across several but the most impressive was this wolf crossing the two lane road to Valdez, he had something in his mouth and as I can over a rise in the road we looked directly at each other. By this time he was in the middle of the road and looking at me like I better stop because he wasn't. I came to a stop and he finished crossing the road all the while watching me. I have a 120 pound german Shepard and this wolf made my dog look like a pup.....he was massive. I never did get a picture of him other wolves I saw. But I did get some of the bears.....no reason we can't exist with all of God's creatures.

 

[LittleCooner]

Its only a matter of time before Wyoming issues some tags for the Big Horn Mountains. First Elk hunt in the Big Horns about 5 years ago, we pitched a spike camp up the Little Goose Creek back over the ridgeline to the west in under the point you can see with the repeater tower from town. ( I think it is called Little Goose point). First day of hunt, sit over a wallow all afternoon and promised my buddy to wait by the trail until he returned so we could walk the last mile or so back to camp together. About 15 minutes after complete dark, I am standing leaning against a tree and a wolf cuts loose is what sounded like he was less that 300-400 yards away. This old Alabama redneck had never heard one in the wild. After the hair quit standing up on my neck, I chambered a round back in the rifle and was on pins and needles til my buddy arrives 10-15 minutes later. They howled all night, off and on and we kept camp there for a total of four nights. They were never far from camp each day when dark arrived, they would let you know where they were. When Wy issues Wolf tags for the Big Horns, I will be back, there is some of the wildest looking country up in those mountains. My walls are adorned with photos made on hunts up there. Guess the critters are down out of the mountain chasing all those Whitetails and mule deer that invade town in the Winter. Only place I have ever been where you can drive around and see 20-30 nice racked buck in the last 30 minutes of daylight from paved county roads.

 

[billwill]

See what happens when you move from the seaside? You use to only worry about being eaten by a shark, now it is stuff with four legs.

Stay safe and keep out of the water....ahhh the woods !

 

[Marshwheeling]

Deer are far more deadly to humans. Instead of a "season", we need a bounty on deer. The wolf population will then wane accordingly.

 

[vonn]

Something about having wolves in the wilder parts of the country just seems right but I am sure ranchers and others have a different view.

 

[bearfoot]

as i was told, by an old timer, this 45+ years ago. @ the turn of the last century there was a bounty of $100 for the wolf. was hunting Middle Jerry Run when i met this pleasent old timer in the woods, on top of a mountain in Pa. while deer hunting. we sat down on the flat, shared what i had in my pack. related to me it was considered that the last red wolf harvested in Pa. was on Middle Jerry Run where we were sitting. the year i'm not sure, 1927 seems to be the year for my best rememberence that the old timer related to me. 1st. time i hunted the run, it was flat on top of the mountain, caused by a glacier. laurel bushes were 5 ft. high. a tough hunt.

 

[30-30remchester]

I read a book about growing up in rural Colorado. In the early 1900's the cattlemans association hired a professional hunter to rid the valley of wolves. He was paid per set of ears he collected. After the first season he had enough money to buy his own ranch. When asked how he got so many wolves he told of finding a den, killing the parents with gun or trap, then he would send his 8 year old son into the den to drag the pups out one at a time. His dad said an adult wolf was in the den occasionally and there was a ruckus but nothing his son could not handle. Might be child abuse in these days.
An excellent book called Alaska's Wolf Man, is about a man that hunted wolves for 40 years in Alaska. Well worth the read.

 

[don5]

Hey Gator- You do have a shovel right?

 

[42chevy]

i have seen 5 wolves here in eastern Oregon, one about eight miles from town. Most have been in the woods 25-50 miles from home. They eat a LOT of elk

 

[luangtom]

Wolves. Grey, timber, lobo or whatever you want to call them. I do not like having them for neighbors. Up until retiring and moving down to GA, we lived in Northern MN, less than an hour from the Canadian border. Whole lot of nothing up there but wild. Wolves made a helluva comeback up until we left. Wolf-tracks not far out the door told me it was just a matter of time before we lost a dog to them. Their howls, day or night, set my hair to standing up on my neck.

We had lots of neighbors that raised beef-cattle and one that raised cattle and horses for the rodeos. Well, wolves started taking herds down and the Feds would pay the owners but $400 each for their dead live-stock. So, in their infinite wisdom, the Feds and the State of MN, decided to have a town-hall meeting to discuss the influx of wolves. They even had to invite PETA and other animal-rights groups to mix it up with the farmers and ranchers up there. One lady with a large group stood up and gave the crowd their take on preserving the wolves. Neuter them. Live-trap them and neuter them and release them back into the setting, where they could no longer procreate. Yup, neuter them.

My old neighbor, who raised live-stock for rodeos, got up and snapped his suspenders and said, "I just lost a herd-bull. Yer 400-bucks barely pays for removing his remains. He was a $7,000 herd-bull. If'n yer proposing to neuter your critters, I call bull. These wolves are notta breeding my cattle, they are a-killing them." Needless to say that cracked up the audience and the officials that came. The lady stomped her feet and said, "Why I never...I will not put up with such abuse." And, she left.

The Feds and State both agreed with the locals and they did not give free reign to have locals killing them, but they called in Federal and State trappers and they set out to lowering the population. One even went so far as to offering to live-trap a couple of pair of the wolves and let them loose in the park down at the State Capitol. That did not get approved.

Nope, I did not and will not ever like wolves as neighbors. It just seemed that they killed for sport a lot of times. We found many dead deer and cattle that had not been eaten by the wolves that took them down. I guess the wolves had too easy of pickings up there. Just my two-cents worth......

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Coyotes run through my subdivision at night. Most recently mangled a neighbor's cat. Dead coyotes have been known to "appear" on our lawns in the mornings. Poor things must have had heart attacks.

 

[cussedemgun]

Wolf, Rat, only size is different

Both wolves & rats will utilize the available food source to expand their population. When either is in the wild & part of nature's balance, I view them as cute fuzzy creatures.

When they are in my back yard or pantry, they are both vermin & need to be exterminated because they are not in their natural setting & not preying in their natural food source, they are now my competitors for my food cache/source. They stay out in the wild & they are prey to their natural superiors in nature's food chain. They invade my space & the peril they face is my trap & gun. My yard is not their natural food source, so why expect their natural predators to come here to control them.

The bottom line, wolf or rat, no difference, they deserve the same treatment.

 

[1morethan8]

luangtom...

You may still have a few north of your location?

For some reason the introduction of the wolf into the Great Smoky National Park was a failure?

"The park’s efforts to reintroduce red wolves were unsuccessful. A number of factors were responsible for this failure, including low reproduction rates and high pup mortality. The wolves were removed from the park and relocated to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina."

That's funny... the locals said they died of lead poison?

 

[rwsmith]

It's not going well......

luangtom...

You may still have a few north of your location?

For some reason the introduction of the wolf into the Great Smoky National Park was a failure?

"The park’s efforts to reintroduce red wolves were unsuccessful. A number of factors were responsible for this failure, including low reproduction rates and high pup mortality. The wolves were removed from the park and relocated to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina."

That's funny... the locals said they died of lead poison?

We have red wolves here on the Cape Romain barrier islands and attempts to reintroduce them have failed for the reasons mentioned above and that now they are competing with coyotes which besides interfering with their establishment, mate with them turning the population into hybrids.

 

[kff41]

Wolfs

Hi to all Can't imagine wolfs in the back yard I have 3 dogs [app.80lbs] and they would be mid night snack for a 145lb wolf pack Fence for dog yard would have to be 8ft with lights and me as guard every time they went out And no more play time at the lake with Frisbees. We have a pack of coyotes [app6] that howls and moves thru every so often They send the hair up the back of my neck When I deem them close enough I remind them that this house and occupants are armed and also dangerous The Ruger 10/22 makes enough noise and cheep enough to shut them up and hopefully send them to the next township And to leave MY deer/stray cats/rabbits alone. The choc lab seems to want to stay close when they howl Somehow she knows that they are not healthy for her We are 3rd owner [last lived even more rural] and she was let run a lot Maybe she had a run in with them. In the 70's and early 80's We went water fowling and fishing in Manitoba and heard wolves in the distance Slept with a loaded shotgun LOL Never thought I would contemplate the same in almost suburb of Cleveland Ohio Best to all:

 

[Abbynormal]

There have been sightings in Indiana, not far from where I live. I am a lot more concerned about aggressive bucks. I suppose if I saw a pack of them close by I might feel differently.

That's a new one on me. I've lived in Indiana since 1963 and this is the first mention of a wolf I've ever heard of.

Coyotes & Coyo-dogs have been a problem since the mid-seventies and the occasional report of Cougars/Puma/Mtn. lions have been going on since the late 70's / early 80's until their local existence was confirmed by the Ind. DNR a couple of years ago.

Bear reports have popped up over the years too, but no conformed sightings or verified photo's or off prints.

With the number of big cat and wolf sanctuaries in Indiana, escapes have happened, but I've never heard of a wolf escape from any by a Wolf.

I did search and found this: DNA tests shed light on cougar, wolf sightings | HUNTING INDIANA but that article refers to Missouri not Indiana
That's the only mention I've found or have even heard of.

 

[carpriver]

The Gray Wolf have made a good come back here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The beef and dairy, horse, sheep farmers are up in arms about the wolves;the Upper peninsula whitetail association states the wolves are the reason for the reduced numbers of deer. There is a movement to get the wolf delisted as endangered and a hunt be established.

The wolf was hunted into extinction thru the 1800 and 1900s.