Comments on: Wolf on the Loose in Oregon

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:28:16 +0000

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.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:35:29 +0000

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.

By: MBFH

MBFH — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:24:40 +0000

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

By: kittenz

kittenz — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:41:51 +0000

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.

By: DWA

DWA — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:50:21 +0000

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.

By: DWA

DWA — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:45:10 +0000

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.)

By: richard_from_idaho

richard_from_idaho — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:18:45 +0000

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.

By: MBFH

MBFH — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:35:05 +0000

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.

By: MultipleEncounters

MultipleEncounters — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:12:59 +0000

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.

By: greywolf

greywolf — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:38:40 +0000

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”