(NY) Hunter's Shot in Dark Finds Unlikely Prey (Wolf Alert)

The Times Union ^

[12GA]

It was more than two years ago that Russ Lawrence shot and killed what he thought was an unusually large coyote one moonlit night. Or perhaps some sort of wolf-dog hybrid. FEATURED ADVERTISER

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State environmental officials agreed, but then, just last month, federal wildlife agents came to his door -- and demanded that he turn over the pelt from the 85-pound male canid he had hung on his porch.

It turns out it was no coyote, or even a hybrid. Lawrence had shot a purebred gray wolf, the first wolf found in New York state since 1899.

[12GA]

I think that they ought to give the guy his pelt back.

[lepton]

The finding is so far being treated as an isolated discovery. Weaver said Fish and Wildlife officials will wait for additional confirmations of wolves in the Adirondacks before creating legal protections for the creatures.

Given the way that such things are done, this should greatly reduce the chances of wolves becoming known and thriving.

[ZULU]

I agree. I have no problem with deer, bear or cougar hunting, or hunting anything else, but shooting coyotes or wolves is too much like shooting dogs and I love dogs.

It would be neat to have wolf packs back in the remoter parts of the east coast.

I think black bears are a far more dangerous threat to human lives and livestock than any wolves could ever be, and we have too damn many of them.

[muawiyah]

Well, anyway, shooting dogs with a shotgun does damage the meat.

[toomuchcoffee]

You must not be a rancher.

[DefCon]

"... shooting coyotes or wolves
is too much like shooting dogs and I love dogs..."
-
I've shot plenty of wild dogs out in the pasture messing with the cows.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"...It would be neat to have wolf packs back
in the remoter parts of the east coast..."
-
No.
You are wrong.
It would not be 'neat'.

[B4Ranch]

Wolves kill ranch dog

DUBOIS, Wyo. (AP) – Wolves ended a summer-long truce on a ranch outside town by killing and partially eating a 14-year-old house dog.

The dog’s owners slept just 30 yards away from the attack Tuesday night on the Diamond G Ranch.

“All predators have a signature way they kill. This is definitely a wolf kill,” said Merrill Nelson, western district supervisor for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services.

Wolves have killed seven dogs on the ranch in three years, but it was the first verified wolf kill on the ranch this summer, according to ranch manager Jon Robinett.

Robbie was a black McNab, a northern California breed that is a cross between a border collie and a Scottish collie.

Robinett said he and his wife, Debbie, were awakened by a dog whining, but they did know their dog was dead until daylight.

“They dragged her off into the willows, where Debbie found her” about 200 to 300 yards from the house, he said.

Robbie had disappeared by the time the couple were awakened and ran outside Tuesday night. When the moon came up, the Robinetts looked through a night scope and saw three wolves near the ranch.

“We watched them for four and a half hours,” he said. “They were howling and barking. They chased the horses around in the front pen. About 4:30, they left.”

Nelson said the dog carcass had massive wounds across the back, neck and front shoulder, as is consistent with a wolf kill. One of the animal’s shoulders was partially eaten.

“When wolves and dogs intermingle, if wolves can get to the dog, the dog is going to take the short end of the stick,” Nelson said.

He planned to spend several days at the Diamond G setting and checking wolf traps. None of the wolves involved in the kill was fitted with a radio collar, so Nelson planned to collar and release any wolves he trapped.

Wildlife officials may opt to kill wolves that depredate livestock, but Nelson said lethal control is not used when pets are killed.

Nelson was not optimistic about being able to catch a wolf.

“This time of year, they’re going here, there and everywhere,” he said. “I haven’t seen any tracks up here; I’m kind of shooting in the dark here.”

Wildlife Services is under contract with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to respond to wolf-livestock problems in Wyoming.

The only other verified wolf kill in Wyoming this summer that Nelson knows about was a calf two weeks ago on the Upper Green Fish Creek cow camp, about 8 miles southwest of Union Pass, he said.

“That appeared to be one lone wolf,” he said.

No one knows for sure how many wolves frequent the Diamond G area.

“Jon has seen tracks, now and again, all summer long. They never ever completely left the ranch for a very long period of time,” he said. “They’re coming and going, as many as one or three.”

Robinett said he has been watching wolves all summer.

“Fish and Wildlife Services assured us there were no wolves in the area,” he said.

Grizzly bears have killed at least two calves on the Diamond G this summer. One was verified by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department several days ago, Nelson said.

http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2004/01/20/build/wildlife/wyowolf-op.php?nnn=2.

[Lucky Lyn]

Check this:http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_14658996.shtml
A black bear may get into your bird feeder but wolves
run in packs that destroy livestock and even pet animals,
please research 'wolves killing cattle' on your search
browser and become informed before you think that it would
be "neat" to have wolves in the remoter parts of the east
coast. The problem is they don't stay there, they head
for the farms

[crz]

Ever see a wolf rip a dog to pieces? Although I havent eyewhitneesed it, I did see the after effects of a wolf"s" attack on a BIG dog. A leg here a piece of hide there a paw there, blood, guts and parts all over.

I never saw wolves untill about 8 years ago. Now I see them once a month or so. This year has been a nasty winter so the deer population will have suffered. Its all a matter of time before there is a wolf attack on someones child waiting for the school bus.

[templar]

It would be neat to have wolf packs back in the remoter parts of the east coast.

As long a you are not one of the people in that remoter part of the east coast. Our ancestors of a couple generations back hunted and killed the things for a reason. Wolves aren't domestic dogs.

[Sacajaweau]

The pioneers killed wolves for a reason. Wolves killed ruthlessly. Go back and read some pioneer tales about wolves that killed their foodstock.

Go back and also read about filling the swamps, those wonderful areas harboring mosquitoes and disease.

Reversing their "common sense" work equates to "anti-man".

One of my friends WAS a strict environmentalist....until the day he spent four hours watching the doctors pick glass out of his daughter's face. A deer had crossed the road in a highly populated area which was considering what to do about the deer in the area.

The truth of the matter is: Humans have a right to exist with all the safeguards we can give them and in fact, health, safety and welfare are the rules under which our Government acts. Promoting disease (preserving swamps) and letting wolves run wild (promoting death and destruction) should not be part of their agenda.

[DeaconBenjamin]

Which is why I would like to see the packs in Georgetown, Potomac, and other places where the overpaid Eco-nazis congregate.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I agree. I have no problem with deer, bear or cougar hunting, or hunting anything else, but shooting coyotes or wolves is too much like shooting dogs and I love dogs.

However, Wolves and/or Coyotes don't feel the same way. THey have no compunction about coming into your yard and killing your domestic dog.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Expect more of this sort of thing.
Not enough people hunt deer so deer are thriving in suburban and urban areas. This will, naturally, attract predators.

[AlbertWang]

This past June Coyotes killed our Collie pup. Last week they started killing newborn calves.


I've started killing coyotes.

[AF68]

My dogs have been in four altercations with coyotes; one of which drew quite a bit of blood from my Golden Retriever. They are peaceful, friendly dogs and were attacked without provocation. I shoot coyotes on sight around the house and actively hunt them on my property because there are so many.

[Gritty]

I was deer hunting a few years ago only a few miles from the Town of Day (the location in the article) in another remote, mountainous, Adirondack area. As I stood watching over a large run, a very large, lightish grey canine passed perpendicularly across the trail less than 40 yards away. I got a good look at it. It was much, much larger than a coyote or any coy dog I've ever seen, the size of a German Shepard, and was moving like a ghost. I didn't shoot at it but was certain at the time it was a wolf.

So, I have been convinced for a long time wolves are in the area.

[sergeantdave]

I'd start watching the US Fish & Wildlife. I wouldn't put it past them to be illegally planting wolves.

The orginal congressional legislation to plant wolves applied to the Yellowstone area. Fish & Wildlife was to make a study of this matter and report back to congress. F & W refused to do the study.

The legislation also states that wolf reintroduction must not harm local economic activity.

This would be good grounds to sue F & W and demand they submit a report on economic damage caused by wolf reintroduction.

[Capriole]

Whether or not it's going to be "neat" to have wolves in the East, chances are we're going to have them, since there is more than adequate foodstock for them here, with the boundless proliferation of deer. I'm sure that there are already lots of them out there. Wildlife authorities and park rangers are always years behind in admitting this. They still haven't admitted that there are mountain lions in the woods of Loudoun and Fauquier Counties in suburban northern Virginia, even though the cats have been caught on tape by the security cameras at AOL headquarters.

Anybody who "just loves" wolves and wild dogs will stop loving them pretty fast after seeing what they do to calves, goats, or sheep. You never see what they do to your pets since the pets are simply gone, but the remains of the sheep are horrifying and would make anyone pick up a rifle.