Post by: howlow on March 28, 2013, 09:06:54 AM
Post by: BIGINNER on March 28, 2013, 09:07:23 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on March 28, 2013, 09:07:59 AM
....
"Two wolves"
Post by: 6x6in6 on March 28, 2013, 09:10:58 AM
Captured through a rifle scope during hazing.
Captured a photo while doing a necropsy on a dead cow.
Did you mean capture as in a trapper caught them? :chuckle:
Post by: jackelope on March 28, 2013, 09:13:58 AM
Confirmation of the Wenatchee pack thread.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,121656.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,121656.0.html)
1st wolf attack by the Wenatchee pack thread.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,121751.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,121751.0.html)
WDFW denies 1st attack by the Wenatchee pack, says they're not wolf kills thread.
Post by: howlow on March 28, 2013, 09:20:50 AM
Post by: jackelope on March 28, 2013, 09:31:12 AM
I just heard. I think it's in Spokane paper?
Its on the cover of the Wenatchee World.
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on March 28, 2013, 09:44:21 AM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on March 28, 2013, 09:49:16 AM
Wolves didn’t kill cow, state says
By Michelle McNiel
World staff writer
Thursday, March 28, 2013
WENATCHEE — State wildlife experts have concluded that a pregnant cow found dead south of Wenatchee on Tuesday was not killed by a wolf.
However they are still worried about the two gray wolves that appear to be establishing territory on or near a cattle ranch in Pitcher Canyon.
“We’re just kind of on pins and needles hoping that this livestock operator doesn’t have any more issues with dead cows,” said Matt Monda, regional wildlife program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Once wolves learn that livestock is a meal, then we will have to go in and take action.”
In extreme cases, the action may require killing wolves, which are protected under federal and state endangered species laws.
“But that’s a very volatile path to take,” he added.
Pictures of the wolves have been captured on remote camera feeding on elk carcasses on the ranch for the last week and a half, though wildlife experts also concluded that the wolves had not killed at least one of those elks.
Monda said if the wolves had just come across a dead elk, they could feed on it for a week or more. So the agency doesn’t know if the wolves are just lingering in the canyon right now because they’ve found dead animals to eat or whether they’ve established a territory that now includes the ranch.
“As long as they have something to eat, there’s no reason for them to go somewhere else,” he said.
State biologists and enforcement officers dissected the dead cow in Pitcher Canyon on Tuesday with the ranchers present. Monda said they did not find any puncture holes, crushing bruises or internal bleeding that are characteristic of wolves or other predators having killed an animal.
“Something did eat the cow, but all evidence indicated that it was fed upon after it died,” he said. “But there was no sign of a scuffle, no torn-up ground, no blood. There was absolutely no sign that it was killed by a predator of any kind.”
The agency hopes to trap one or both of the wolves this spring. Once the animals are outfitted with tracking collars, the agency can get a better idea of their territory and movement patterns.
Monda said the two closest wolf packs to Wenatchee — the Teanaway pack near Cle Elum and the Lookout pack in the Methow Valley — have very different territory patterns. The Teanaway pack tends to stay at lower elevations year round as it follows the deer and elk populations. The Lookout pack in the Methow Valley moves from lower, more populated elevations in the winter to higher, more backcountry locations in the summer, with the migration of the deer..
“So we don’t know if these (Wenatchee) wolves will move further and further away from Wenatchee as the summer progresses,” Monda said.
Pitcher Canyon is on the fringe of the Colockum elk habitat, “in an area where we would expect a wolf pack to do well,” he said.
Monda said the agency has no prediction on how large a pack could grow near Wenatchee. He said the Lookout pack to the north is “tenuous at best” with just two known wolves right now.
“They are just barely hanging on up there,” he said, adding that while the territory in North Central Washington is prime for wolves, “They aren’t taking off (in numbers) here like they have in other areas.”
The state agency had expected wolves to have established themselves more by now in the area between Wenatchee and the Methow Valley, he said.
If the two wolves spotted near Wenatchee are establishing a pack here, then Wenatchee would be the largest city in the state to have a wolf pack so close. However, many smaller communities do have wolves routinely nearby, including Winthrop and Twisp.
If the wolves hang around, Monda said the agency will make a “concerted effort” to educate people in the area about them.
The most likely interactions between people and wolves are either ranches or people who are hiking or working in wolf territory.
But Monda said it’s no different than the expectation that you might encounter a black bear, coyote, cougar or bobcat in the same areas.
“Is there any added risks with the wolves? I would say probably not,” he said.
Michelle McNiel: 664-7152
mcniel@wenatcheeworld.com
Post by: Elkaholic daWg on March 28, 2013, 09:54:27 AM
I just heard. I think it's in Spokane paper?Just read it. Thanks. Now to check out the WW story.2 free views left
Post by: Curly on March 28, 2013, 09:59:09 AM
Quote
“Is there any added risks with the wolves? I would say probably not,” he said.
What about the spread of hydatid (http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/diseaseEchinococcusWolves.pdf) disease? :dunno:
Post by: zackmioli on March 28, 2013, 12:07:21 PM
Post by: NoImpactNoIdea on March 28, 2013, 01:16:42 PM
"Wolves in North Bend!!"
"Wolves in Snoqualmie!!"
"Wolves in Issaquah!!"
Post by: palousehunter on March 28, 2013, 01:54:58 PM
Post by: howlow on March 28, 2013, 03:08:20 PM
Post by: coachcw on March 28, 2013, 08:55:12 PM
Soon thread titles will be:What makes you think that there not there now ?
"Wolves in North Bend!!"
"Wolves in Snoqualmie!!"
"Wolves in Issaquah!!"
Post by: GoPlayOutside on March 28, 2013, 09:05:46 PM
Post by: NoImpactNoIdea on March 28, 2013, 09:21:33 PM
Soon thread titles will be:What makes you think that there not there now ?
"Wolves in North Bend!!"
"Wolves in Snoqualmie!!"
"Wolves in Issaquah!!"
That lack of newspaper headlines!! :yike:
They may be but I dont think they are yet. Give it a few months.
Post by: rtspring on March 28, 2013, 09:29:19 PM
Post by: coachcw on March 28, 2013, 09:32:51 PM
Post by: Elkaholic daWg on March 29, 2013, 03:31:06 PM
Gentlemen, they have been around there for years. Just not in the numbers we are hearing about and seeing these days, strap in and hold on tight. It will get worse in the days ahead
Growing up hunting the Colockum...and still hunting the Colockum and all Wenatchee areas...I'm not officially saying that the crosshairs will or will not jump a bit if a wolf crosses them >:(
Elk hunting late October 1988 For Corners, Swift creek, Whiskey Corner area, I had a black one scare the hell out of me as it darted out from under the low hanging branches of a tree as we both seemed to be on the same set of tracks with occasional blood spots in them. Now mind you I got money that says it was not of the same lineage of the ones showing up now.
Post by: fishingnut71 on April 01, 2013, 07:11:28 AM
Post by: headshot5 on April 01, 2013, 07:45:22 AM
Post by: fishingnut71 on April 01, 2013, 03:22:00 PM
Post by: Curly on April 01, 2013, 03:55:11 PM
Post by: Elkaholic daWg on April 01, 2013, 04:55:22 PM
Just so you know, King County and Pierce County are not on the coast. :rolleyes:
Haven't spent much time in the NE huh? :chuckle: If its not landlocked then what is it? :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: howlow on April 01, 2013, 06:31:53 PM
Post by: furiouzgeorge on April 01, 2013, 06:44:16 PM
Post by: 2labs on April 01, 2013, 07:15:12 PM
between coasties and wolfs were doomed.
Careful how you use that coastle term!
Post by: fishingnut71 on April 01, 2013, 07:28:40 PM
Post by: 2labs on April 01, 2013, 07:39:50 PM
Just calling it the way I see it!!
I feel for eastsiders. King county runs our state!! I refuse to go to Seattle ever again. As a contractor I need products from lib town. Ship it. Ill pay the freight. Fishnut the area code is 206. That's the one to be concerned with!
Post by: fishingnut71 on April 02, 2013, 07:49:46 AM
Post by: whitey on April 02, 2013, 08:08:25 AM
Soon thread titles will be:What makes you think that there not there now ?
"Wolves in North Bend!!"
"Wolves in Snoqualmie!!"
"Wolves in Issaquah!!"
Exactly.
I was Mt biking above Index a few years ago and came across one standing in the trail. Big Freaking dogs forsure.
The next time I went up to that same trail head (Blanca Lake) there were signs posted by WDFW asking for Us to report seeing them.
They are here. :dunno:
There has been reports of one milling about east of Gold Bar, which isnt to far from where I seen that one.