Imported canadian wolf kills

[boneaddict]

Someone should inform all those spotted owl hooters out there they are breaking the law.  Damn tree huggers.  Feel free to ask if tieing a steak to my ass is considered baiting.

[wolfbait]

(This activity (calling wolves in for purposes of photographing them) would be considered harassment and would not be conducive to protecting the wolves from disturbance; repeat calling can also push wolves out of their use areas. We appreciate your interest in this state endangered species, and request that you not attempt to call wolves for photo opportunities in Washington.)



Maybe they should use repeated calling to push the wolves out of areas where they are killing livestock. Next thing, we will be limited on how we hunt coyotes or will we be hunting coyotes?

 

[MtnMuley]

If I spent a week digging a hole (on some private property on Lookout Mtn.) 10 ft. deep and carefully covered it up (with grasses and brush from private property) and then set 5 juicy steaks (from my steer) in hopes to fool a steak theif, would that be illegal?  If so happened a wolf took a fall, then I guess it'd be up to his survival skills to get himself out of the mess he was in.  I'd probably just catch a bear or deer on accident with my luck!  Would be funny to see Fitkins ass snooping around with telemetry and stop to grab a steak for lunch though!!!  However, I doubt he eats steaks!

[wolfbait]

Carlton resident says wolves killed chickens

 
By Joyce Campbell

“I saw it twice and I really think it’s a wolf,” said Michelle Mondot, who learned the hard way that protecting her chickens from predators starts with prevention, not with scaring them off.

She went out to do chicken chores on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 2, and found eight dead birds and six more missing. She saw the back half of a large dark grey canine with a fluffy tail disappearing into the brushy hillside behind her Libby Creek home.

“He or she left, and I saw it again Sunday night because I was keeping an eye on everything,” said Mondot. She went out in the dark with a flashlight and stick around 9:30 p.m. and yelled, screamed and beat the stick on the ground and the animal took off after about 10 seconds. So long, she said, that she realized the animal was not afraid.

She got a .30-30 rifle and shot into the hill past her house and has not seen the predator again. “I think I’ve scared it off, at least for now,” she said.

State wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin is skeptical that the predator was a wolf.

“The fact that the animal appeared unafraid, I’m more skeptical that it was a wolf,” said Fitkin. “The fact that she went out and yelled and banged things, it’s not characteristic of wolves, who seem skittish. We’ve not ruled out it being a wolf,” he said. “We have no evidence except her eyewitness, but we are looking for more information.”

He sent two wildlife field technicians to set up a remote sensor camera at the site, but no photos of a wolf or any other canid have been captured. Radio telemetry was used for several days and showed that the radio-collared adults in the Lookout Pack were not present. A compost pile at the site contained the remains of butchered chickens, an attractant for carnivores.

Fitkin said being surrounded by public land and wildlife is a little different than having a chicken coop in town. Chances are greater for attracting predators looking for a meal.

“We’ve got the top predator of the West here and we need to know how to secure our livestock,” said Mondot. She said she felt responsible that her setup was only minimally secure. She had become lax over the years, chasing off one golden eagle and a weasel or raccoon, but felt unprepared for wolves.

She was instructed by the wildlife field biologist to bury attractants – any meat and scraps that are not vegetation.  She wants to make sure her chickens are wolf-secure, but doesn’t know exactly what that means. She has covered plastic netting with chicken wire on her portable coops.

Fitkin said that wolves and cougars are easier to keep out, but bear-proofing is the most difficult predator prevention, because of their agile, dexterous and extremely strong front paws.

“We can co-exist, but we need to modify our behavior,” said Mondot. She said people need to not be attracting, feeding or being nice to the wolves. “I want them to be afraid. This is not part of their hunting territory. They can have all the rest.”

For more information on preventing wildlife conflicts with livestock and pets, visit the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website on living with wildlife at www.wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living. The state’s draft gray wolf conservation and management plan has a section on preventing conflicts and is available at www.wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversty/soc/gray_wolf.

A film and panel discussion on predators will be presented Sept. 16 at the Twisp River Pub. The Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators is a new film on wolves and other top predators and will be presented in the Methow Valley by Conservation Northwest.

Photo by Joyce Campbell

These chickens survived a nighttime raid by a large canid that Michelle Mondot thinks was a wolf. She feels responsible for making her poultry wolf-secure, but isn’t sure what that means.

 

[mulehunter]

Kain...pretty safe to assume none of those pics were reported, nor was the dead cattle that he found.

too bad, because that is the only way we will get anywhere closer to  delisting. we can post pictures on here all day long, and as interesting as it is for us to see, it means nothing towards progressing to delisting. as much as some think they will never get delisted here in WA...it's real safe to say that if nobody reports this stuff, we will absolutely NEVER get delisted.

those pics have pretty much all been posted on here before..does anyone have any new ones?

Hey Can u explain to me why u all people suggest me to keep report WDFW and keep reporting or any Kill by Wolves. Any pictures, Anything I found will not do any BETTER, Even There is Cattle were killed also again recently Chicken got killed.
Read Two Local NEWS about it.

Go figure! We will NEVER GET DELISTED! NEVER will. Now you see why Biologlist were TRAINNED by FEDS to LIE to people and They wouldnt even TRY hire houndmen to on tracks see what ANIMALS has done to Chicken or Cattles?   I found a POORLY JOB By WDFW!  

Thats why I already knew it three years ago before you all think it gonna work BUT NOT going any better!! Its going make EVERY RANCHER ANGRY. SO AM I!

I am RANCHER! I raise Sheep, Goats, Pigs, and Chicken. I feel so bad for Larry and Michelle loss livestock and there will be MORE coming this fall!  

By the way If michelle mondot said she WITNESSED TWICE and Scott Fitkin said Not enough EVIDENCE! By the way Michelle should have shot them to protect their livestock and any Rancher SHOULD! I cant afford loose my livestocks.  

Why not Scott Fitkin Contact houndman to bring dogs and Lets try turn loose with hounds with Gamedept see whats catch on hot tracks? Why not they do it? maybe it would be Cougar or Bears NEVER KNOW?? They arent trying HARDER enough!  

WHOA... Wait min!!!  Do they have Collar radio tracking on Wolves.. I see he said on news. It said

He sent two wildlife field technicians to set up a remote sensor camera at the site, but no photos of a wolf or any other canid have been captured. Radio telemetry was used for several days and showed that the radio-collared adults in the Lookout Pack were not present.



I see why those Two wildlife Field agent working for HIM on tracking those Collar wolf and try to push them away from livestock kill during investagtor week so thing make it look CLEAN on Scott Fitkin story.  

Let me CLEAR I remember  few pups this spring and it would be large number of Wolves in Libby Creek, Plus 9 Wolves in Wintrop East of Lake Patterson with some new pups unknow number. Its going to be UGLY later.

Here picture for u! Caught on TrailCamera by Mulehunter family.  Red Tag on Ear. Hanging out in Libby Creek around March 09 . Thats where She bring Pups down to Kill Chicken. I believe so.

If you anyone want to know where they hang out. I can tell u WHERE exactly with GoogleEARTH map and I can PIN so you can Enjoy your time scouting up there.



Mulehunter  

[mulehunter]

while ago,
Here this Picture I found up on hill in Libby Creek area.

Mulehunter 

[mulehunter]

This is 2nd time he wont ADMIT it.

After reading this it would appear that these wolves are not that skitish, also it is rather peculiar that some lady said she saw some puppies and they believed her, yet some other lady said she saw a wolf that had killed her chickens and they don't think its a wolf on her say so.  Seems like Fitkin is underestimating the number of wolves in the Methow once again.

GO FIGURE!

Mulehunter   
 
 


Sighting confirms trio of wolf cubs

By Joyce Campbell

A visitor to the valley was the first to sight three gray wolf pups and wildlife biologists have confirmed that the Lookout Pack is raising at least a trio with the help of a “babysitter.”

“There’s one,” said Barbara Mattingly, an earth science teacher from Indiana who was visiting family members in the area. She saw some motion out of the corner of her eye and came eye-to-eye with a half-grown wolf pup about 50 feet away.

Mattingly was gazing into the eyes of the offspring of Washington’s first confirmed wolf pack in more than 70 years. The wolf pup was calmly looking back.

“They were very calm and we were very calm, and they were very well camouflaged,” said Mattingly. The pups moved from left to right within 30 seconds and quickly disappeared into the camouflage of the forest before either of the pair of humans could get any good photos. “It looked at me, stared at me right in the eye. Each one stopped and stared at us and walked away into the woods. It was the coolest thing ever.”

Mattingly had hoped to see the print of a wolf track when she and a Forest Service wildlife field biologist went out on July 30 to set up a remote sensor camera to try and capture images of the pups. A howling survey a day earlier confirmed the presence of an undetermined number of pups, and cameras have only picked up photos of single pups.

“We had guessed there were three from the howling response,” said state wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin. The Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Forest Service and the citizens’ organization Conservation Northwest have been collaboratively monitoring the Lookout Pack since spring of 2008.

A third adult wolf is confirmed to be traveling with the pack. A wolf howl was heard with the higher pitched howls of pups during a time when the radio-collared adults were out of the rendezvous area, presumably hunting, according to Fitkin. Pups are typically left at a rendezvous site with a babysitter, which could be a wolf from a previous year’s litter of pups or any other member of the pack.

The alpha male and female were trapped and radio-collared with the help of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July 2008. Radio-telemetry from ground and air, remote sensor cameras, ground tracking and scat analysis have been used to follow and collect information about the wolf pack, including their six pups from last year.

By winter’s end, only three wolves remained in the pack, confirmed by visual sightings, radio surveys, photos and ground tracking. Wolf pups typically suffer 40 to 50 percent mortality from natural causes, according to wolf specialist Bill Gaines with the Forest Service. He said he was disappointed by the apparent survival of only one of the pack’s six pups.

This year, Gaines led a team of researchers collecting data from the denning site after the wolves moved on to a nearby rendezvous site in the Lookout Mountain area southwest of Twisp.

“It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we got lucky and walked right into it,” said Gaines. He said the well-concealed den had three different ways in and out of an underground chamber. The crew collected puppy scat for DNA analysis to determine a minimum number of pups and what they had been eating.

The year-round territory of the pack covers 350 square miles, said Gaines. It might be different this year due to the lack of snow in the Sawtooths.

“These wolves could easily travel 30 to 40 miles in a day,” said Gaines. He said as people get out and hike he expects to get more reports of hearing and seeing the pack.

“They are still around the low elevations of their range,” said Fitkin. He said there are indications that the pack is starting to move to the higher elevation of their summer range, following the migrating mule deer herds. 

To report wolf sightings call the toll free Wolf Reporting Hotline for Washington (888) 584-9038.

Photo courtesy of WSDFW, USFS and Conservation Northwest
This wolf pup was photographed by a remote camera near the Lookout Pack’s rendezvous site southwest of Lookout Mountain on Aug. 9.


 
 
Date: 08-12-2009  |  Volume: 107  |  Issue: 13
 

[Elkaholic daWg]

Alittle something from our neighbors to the east.......


View Post
Here is some more news on the Phantom Hill Pack - Sun Valley's poster pack. Apparently they have went on a killing spree and killed 12 sheep in one night, even with the hippies trailing the sheep around trying to keep them safe. Now it looks like they may be on the exterminiation list. That will be guarenteed to get the Suzanne Stones and the Rahph Maughans all riled up.

Off to see if Ralphie has a blog post about this. It will be fun to watch him whine.

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005127344

[bearpaw]

Alittle something from our neighbors to the east.......


View Post
Here is some more news on the Phantom Hill Pack - Sun Valley's poster pack. Apparently they have went on a killing spree and killed 12 sheep in one night, even with the hippies trailing the sheep around trying to keep them safe. Now it looks like they may be on the exterminiation list. That will be guarenteed to get the Suzanne Stones and the Rahph Maughans all riled up.

Off to see if Ralphie has a blog post about this. It will be fun to watch him whine.

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005127344

I had a good laugh about that....I can see a buch of granola munchers following the sheep around thinking they are going to save that wolf pack. 

Idaho will probably call in the guy that exterminated the Salmon wolf pack that was eating sheep. That guy gets about $1500 for each wolf, plus flight time. Uses a military style rifle and 12 gauge shotgun from a helicopter to dispatch wolves. 

I testified at the commission meeting about this guy and what he makes. I told the commission if they were going to use professional hunters for exterminating excess wolves instead of approving hunting in the future that I wanted to be on the list of professional hunters. I told them I would be more than happy to work professionally shooting wolves, or they could approve hunting and give me a tag and I would hunt wolves for free. 

I also asked the commission who was going to pay for wolf management? How much is it going to cost taxpayers? (much of the meeting had been spent addressing the budget crisis in the WDFW) I also explained that hunting and tag sales could make the wolves less of a liabilty to the state. I asked the Commission if they were going to ask Senator Morton for money from the legislature to shoot wolves? 

It was worth my time going to the Commission meeting just to ask these questions when testifying...

[boneaddict]

Get any answers when you asked those questions. LOL

[bearpaw]

By the way If michelle mondot said she WITNESSED TWICE and Scott Fitkin said Not enough EVIDENCE! By the way Michelle should have shot them to protect their livestock and any Rancher SHOULD! I cant afford loose my livestocks.

Enough of this happens and I think we can pressure County Commissioners and Legislators to request a replacement of a WDFW biologist.

Remember, the WDFW is going to have to get extra money from the legislature for the wolf program. Legislators can make effective requests that get results because they have to pass any legislation requesting WDFW funding. Many of the county commissioners are against these wolves right now. If we write to them and show them how this biologist Fitkins will always say and do things to protect wolves they might ask the legislators to get a biologist that is not biased, a biologist with actual wolf experience in Idaho or Montana and who is not opposed to hunting as a tool for managemement. (Hunting could eventually save this state hundreds of thousands of wolf management dollars when wolf numbers explode like we all know they will.)

This is why we all need to keep posting these stories on this public forum and we need to report every incident to the authorities. Then when the authorities keep dismissing evidence as not being wolves eventually someone will have to answer for this.

Write letters to the county commissioners and legislators complaining that the state is being inadequate in their wolf management.   Eventually when DFW needs money they may have to answer to the legislature for this failure to cooperate to public damage complaints.

It all boils down to "money" being the possible solution for getting wolf management to include hunting of wolves....

Right now it is important that we get the commission to include "hunting" in the wolf plan as the "eventual" management tool.

[bearpaw]

Remember....nothing happens without money....legislators have more control than you realize, they will have to approve management money and they can attach strings to this money, "getting an experienced biologist that will work with the people who need help".

WRITE TO YOUR COUNTY COMMISSIONER AND LEGISLATORS
It don't have to be long, just send short notes explaining why you think the WDFW is not responding to livestock damage problems. 

Also send short notes explaining that you are concerned about sportsmen not coming to these counties to hunt anymore. Sportsmens dollars are important to county commissioners, county commissioners work closely with legislators and can request the legislators to do something about this situation....legislators can do something about this when the WDFW needs money..... 

The squeeky wheel always gets the grease.

I will post commissioner and legislator contact info: USE IT   

[WAcoyotehunter]

By the way If michelle mondot said she WITNESSED TWICE and Scott Fitkin said Not enough EVIDENCE! By the way Michelle should have shot them to protect their livestock and any Rancher SHOULD! I cant afford loose my livestocks.

Enough of this happens and I think we can pressure County Commissioners and Legislators to request a replacement of a WDFW biologist.

 If we write to them and show them how this biologist Fitkins will always say and do things to protect wolves they might ask the legislators to get a biologist that is not biased, a biologist with actual wolf experience in Idaho or Montana and who is not opposed to hunting as a tool for managemement.
This is why we all need to keep posting these stories on this public forum and we need to report every incident to the authorities. Then when the authorities keep dismissing evidence as not being wolves eventually someone will have to answer for this.

Write letters to the county commissioners and legislators complaining that the state is being inadequate in their wolf management.  Eventually when DFW needs money they may have to answer to the legislature for this failure to cooperate to public damage complaints.

It all boils down to "money" being the possible solution for getting wolf management to include hunting of wolves....

Right now it is important that we get the commission to include "hunting" in the wolf plan as the "eventual" management tool.

I agree with much of what you're saying.  The state needs dedicated wolf biologists- the state needs money for wolf surveys and tracking to gather evidence for delisting, the state could also use some help from people like us.  Where are all of you when they need volunteers?  That's not a challenge- i know lots of us are busy, but many of us could help out here and there.  Give it a shot.

Have you ever met Scott Fitkin?  I have- he's a reasonable person and a sharp biologist.  Put yourself in his shoes and try to imagine the idiots he deals with every day because of this...  I don't blame him for being skeptical on wolf reports and depredation.  Just because an animal is dead in wolf country does not mean wolves killed it (though it's always a possibility) there has to be some evidence that can make it seem legit.  It sounds like the chicken killing incident may or may not have been a wolf...who knows if it was a coyote, or a neighbors dog?  I don't blame Scott Fitkin for asking the questions...that's his job. 

Why don't some of you ask to volunteer for a day?  I bet a day in the field with a bio would be helpful.  Who knows- if nothing else you have an audience for your stance on wolves.  Maybe there would be some useful dialogue. 

[bearpaw]

Don't know the man....But when I read his comments they are missing any kind of reassuring comments. Maybe something like this would not make it look like he is not anti-hunting or anti wolf management.....

"We are concerned about this incident and while we can not confirm wolves were  responsible for killing the livestock, we will closely monitor the wolves in this area to try and prevent possible future predations."

I guess it is up to him to show people why we should employ him!

Right now everything I read indicates he is doing the community, the ranchers, and the wolf no favors by trying to cover their tracks.

It certainly raises some questions......

Is Fitkins in favor of eventual wolf management by hunting?
Why does the wolf plan not include hunting as the eventual management tool?
Who makes recommendations for the plan, maybe the biologist?

[mulehunter]

   what I learn that I believe this what happen to michelle and larry, maybe Gary and few Rancehr will start to share a good chat in town.
ONCE wolve made a kill on next livestock will be SHOT so soon Scott Fitkin will better confirmed wolves did this.

I am postive those rancher won't get cited for shoot wolves right afte  livestock are killed.
State law allowed us  we must protect our animals and our children and our rancher. We pay tax on property. Don't even think u can control us and allow wolves eat some of ours.

I heard they all ranchers are totally angry today. Whoa..... And most rancher totally disagree with scott fitkin. So am I. After 3 newspapers

Game are ON.
Oh by the way how do we know it was coyote or dogs or anything. We will shoot right there and here ur evidence.

Good luck.


Mulehunter