Wolf on the Loose in Oregon
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on March 13th, 2007
With all of the wolf talk here on Cryptomundo lately, I thought I would pass on this story from Oregon about a wolf that was seen there.
Biologists say wolf may have been spotted in E. Oregon
TROY, Ore. — Biologists have not confirmed that any wolves live an Oregon, but one might have been spotted this winter in Eastern Oregon.
The sighting occurred five miles southwest of Troy in the Wenaha Wildlife Area.
“We’re pretty sure it’s a wild wolf by the way it acted. Some of our guys saw it. When they came around a corner, it took off,” said Vic Coggins, supervising biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The tracks were huge.”
Tracks were also reported north of Elgin, east of Minam and north to the wildlife area near Troy. Russ Morgan, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf coordinator based in La Grande, said the tracks could be from the same animal.
“Wolves travel long distances, even on a daily basis,” he said.
Morgan said there was strong evidence that the reported sighting was of a wolf-like animal, and the department was treating the sighting as a wolf. All sighting reports are treated as such until they are confirmed, he said.
He cautioned, however, that biologists won’t know if the gray animal was a wolf or a wolf-dog hybrid until they take tissue samples to identify its origin.
That would be done by trying to match DNA samples with Idaho wolf packs. The samples would also be used to gather baseline DNA information for the future.
To learn if the sighting near Troy was of an actual wolf, remotely activated cameras have been set up at bait and scent sites to try to establish a pattern of the animal using a particular area, Morgan said.
If that is established, an effort will be made to capture the animal, take DNA samples and attach a radio collar to it.
From last summer up until about the first of September, there were sighting reports of a black animal in the area thought by viewers to possibly be a wolf, Coggins said. However, there was no genetic material found, such as hair, to confirm it.
“Some sighted animals have been determined not to be wolves,” Coggins said. “One was a Black Angus calf.”Associated Press
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
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People seem to get bent out of shape over wolves. Man has driven this animal to the point of extinction in the lower 48. it is since making a comeback. Let it be and have nature restore the proper balance betwwen predator and prey
This is a very fascinating article here. The second wolf article in the last month and I am loving it! Thanks for putting this up. One thing that made me chuckle was the Black Angus calf mistaken for a wolf. I am not an expert on these calves, but I have a hard time imagining anyone could mistake one for a wolf. Then again, was the Black Angus calf meant to be the prey of the wolf and the real wolf disappeared? Hmmmm….
Well guys I have seen wild wolves and I was wondering what the person was drinking when they saw the calf…..hmmmm..
“If you see a wolf…he has already seen you 10 times”
I live in Oregon and elk hunt the Northeast part of the state every winter. About 10 years ago, I came across a single set of wolf tracks while heading out for the morning hunt. They were fresh tracks in the morning snow and animal appeared to be following a deer. I even took a few pics of the tracks with my 35mm, but who knows which box that photo is in today. The clearly canine track was the size of my wallet, and it was no coyote. A year later, a wolf was ran over and killed along Highway 244, just south of where I encountered these tracks. This was even in the news back then, in fact, I probably still have the clipping somewhere as well. There have been other accounts of wolf sightings as well in the NE part of the state, so I’m not sure why the above report or biologist statement, makes the latest sighting so ununsual? ODFW is aware of several wolves roaming the NE part of the state.
Wolf seen in a country which has wolves as part of the native fauna…
When they start appearing in the UK I’ll be impressed.
Saying that, if they are repopulating previous territories then great stuff.
In north Idaho, some livestock folks are getting together to pass legislation to shoot wolves that were reintroduced some years ago by the feds. Wolves are masters of their environment.
If we’d leave wolves alone for a change they’d be seeing them in Massachusetts in ten years or less.
And note – re: another thread – we haven’t had to kill any wolves to save them. (Back then, we were just killing them. You stop killing them, you save them. I bet they’d agree.)
MBFH: they’ve never tried wolf reintroduction in Britain?
In late summer 1992 my wife and I were heading out of the Cairngorms (in Coire Cas; up Lairig Ghru; back and out some other godawful gap with boulders the size of Volkswagens) and we passed an enclosure. There was some sort of pleasant note about the weather (as in: you don’t want to be out in it) and in big yellow letters: DO NOT ENTER ENCLOSURE, if not something much more emphatic than that.
I’d been out for a walk the evening or so before when an entire hillside above Aviemore became alive with red deer. The thought occurred: something, um, needs to eat those.
I wish that wolves would repopulate the eastern USA SOON … where there is a healthy wolf population, they keep the coyotes in check. Coyotes were not native to the East, and now they are practically swarming here.
DWA: unfortunately not. It has been discussed but makes most landowners, especially the farmers, very nervous. However, there is a fresh argument coming out that could get the pro-hunting lobby on the side of reintroduction, which will be obvious to those of you who know anything about ecology or wolves. That is, wolves will hunt the deer, mainly the old or sick deer. This will improve the stock, making better deer for the hunters to go after. And I guess the hunters would also want to make sure the wolf population didn’t get too big so would require a cull, and therefore chance to bag a wolf.
The powers that be are experimenting with the reintroduction of beaver though. One step at a time.
Not sure about the sign you saw, maybe a warning: Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui 🙂
MBFH- I have read about the plans to reintroduce the wolf there and as far as I can see, it is a good idea. The thought of getting hunters behind the idea is a very good one and although it may seem strange to some to have hunters on the side of the wolves, it makes a lot of sense. As long as they are out hunting deer and not the wolves, that is.
And Kittenz, I am with you on the wolves repopulating the Eastern US. As was said on the Honshu wolf thread, these top predators are key to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Coyotes are causing a nuisance that might be found with any introduced species and they are able to do this because nothing else is filling that predator niche. I couldn’t be happier if wolves were to roam the Eastern US. They would reduce the unchecked population of coyotes, keep the ecosystem healthy, and lets face it, wolves are COOL. 🙂