Just got off the phone with our friend, Shirley.

Apparently, her son, Niko, had an interesting encounter last night.  He was driving his girlfriend home over the hill north of town (she lives in Hidden Springs), and stopped when he spotted a pair of eyes in the middle of the road.

Turned out it was a wolf--according to Niko, it wasn't the least bit scared, and it was big enough to look over the hood of his car at him.  Wouldn't get out of the road, either.  They finally had to back up and wait for him to move along.  

Niko was a little bit spooked.  He's only 17, and even if you've got a whole car between yourself and a wolf, it's still an impressive experience for a youngster.

There are a couple of packs roaming the area north of town on into the Payette River watershed--haven't heard them yet, but I suppose it's only a matter of time.

Best,

George

Yeah, that would've scared me too.  :o

Langa

Kewl. 8-)

The grey wolf seems to be making a comeback in our upper peninsula, but rare they cross the ice in winter to the lower.  They number simply in the hundreds up there but became pretty endangered in the sixties then got protection and re-entered again from Canada.  Never have seen one in the wild, guess they stay deep in away from us hunting deer usually.  It's been a long, slow comeback.

They over-ran us back in the 60s around here, but haven't seen any lately. The damn coyotes are returning around here.

Bet Niko was scared to death. Those things look vicious (even from the "inside" looking out).

Hugs BD

Haven't seen/heard wolves here in a long time.  About 20 years ago, I was down in one of the more rural parishes (cattle were still free range there) and we stood outside of my clients's house and listened to the wolves howl.  

We've got some black bear and there has been a panther spotted recently.  Many years ago, we had a panther that would visit us in the late spring/early summer.  Not only was she seen,  her tracks were found.  One year, she brought her baby with her.  Never bothered a thing, too much small game.

Glad it wasn't a panther Niko saw, especially if she had screamed at him.

Carolyn

Wow....I'd love to see one but not 'up close & personal'

Wolves are awesome. I would have really enjoyed that. With the windows up.  ;)

I bet this is what he did when he saw it! [smiley=JAW_DROP.gif]

I would also bet Niko quickly checked to make sure all the windows were up! ;)

My camera is with me 24/7 just for this very reason. 8-)

I love wolves... Here in TN, we have small coyotes. I hear them all the time, howling and yipping in the horse pasture that my land borders. They drive my Great Pyrenees crazy... LOL

In California, the coyotes there were quite large. Almost the size of wolves.

Awesome!!!  I would love to see a wolf up close and personal like that, I bet they are VERY impressive creatures that close, and a tad scary too i am sure!!! I do ALOT of trapping here in Illinois, Have caught alot of BIG coyotes, (have trapped some bigger than german shepards), they are considered vermin here,, we are over-run with them. They are kind of like cockroaches, for every one you see,,, there are 25 you dont!!!  Here in  Illinois, we really dont have any quail or rabbits to speak of anymore,,, the "song-dogs" have killed them all.  Niko needs to keep a camera handy!

Coyote Repellant:

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Here in St. Louis we have a wolf sanctuary that is responsible for a lot of the re- population of many areas.  My daughter's Girl Scout troop visited there and it was really interesting.  The wolves have as little interaction with humans as possible to ensure their survival once back in the wild.  We were able to observe them in their natural habitat.  Part of introducing them back into the wild includes educating the local town's people about them in hopes that they will not shoot them.  They also are never fed beef so that they do not develop a taste for cows..( not sure how well that works!)
 
Anyway... it was cool.  Seeing one totally in the wild would be really neat!

Jeannie

So good to see you back Frank.   ;)

Thank you, Linda! Nice to see you, too! :)

Frank_W wrote on Dec 15^th, 2008 at 1:09pm:

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That'll do it, all right.   ;D

Welcome back, Frank.  Good to see you.

Best,

George

Thanks, George! :)

Wolves have gotten WAY out of hand here in Wisconsin. They were re-introduced here about 10-15 years back and have almost become a nuisance. I hunt deer, and have many friends that do that also. The deer population is WAY down and the wolf population is WAY up due to wolf predation. Let me make myself clear, I am not against the wolf population, I am against our local Department of Natural Resources not admitting that they made a mistake in allowing the wolf population to rise so rapidly because they had no means to control them.

All of the UP NORTH people I know say the new buzz term is "SSS"

Shoot, Shovel, Silence! Pretty hard to cook a wolf I think :-/

Jimmers

Naww... Wolf ain't as tough and stringy as cat is. Pretty gamey tasting, though. It works better in the slow-cooker. ;)

;D

Tastes like chicken?

Jimmers

;D ;D

wrote on Dec 15^th, 2008 at 8:33pm:

Department of Natural Resources

Wolves seem adept at killing a surprising number of deer.  The WI DNR has some ball park figures that are close to ours here in MI comparing to car/deer accidents and winter conditions.  These are probably some figures they go by in a round about way.  

From a publication, Wisconisn DNR Study: Impact of Wolves on Deer in Wisconsin

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MI DNR, The Impacts of Wolves on Deer in the Upper Peninsula

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Quote:

re-introduced

Many wander down from Canada through MN, through northern WI into our western upper peninsula.  The eastern upper gets some that island hop from Canada around Sault Ste. Marie.  Protection since the 70's has helped the population slowly climb.

 Wolves=the three S's.  Shoot, Shovel, Shutup.

  Wolf the other red meat.

            Potter

We are having the opposite problem here.  The deer are taking over.  My mother-in-law called the police last year thinking that someone had tried to break into her home.  Her front picture window was smashed in and the frame was all bent up.  Luckily, is was double paned so they were unable to get in.  After further investigation it was discovered that a deer likely jumped over her bushes and smashed into the window.  Wouldn't that have been something to wake up to find a deer in your family room?

In  certain areas, just outside the city in our suburbs, they are just all over the place.  They are always holding meetings on how to deal with the deer population.  People are always having accidents due ti them.    I guess we'd have a whole new problem if it were wolves running around!

Jeannie

I'd think wolves would be easier to deal with than an out-of-control deer population.

Really???!!!

Wolves, by and large, will avoid human beings and places of human habitation. Deer, on the other hand, being basically stupid animals, become accustomed to humans, and wander out onto the roads. If you hit a wolf, it's not much different than hitting a dog. If you hit a deer, you're in deep shit.

If you all in Missouri are having deer problems and you don't want to deal with wolves, you might consider importing coyotes.  You can have some of ours.   ;)

I'd suggest a few cougars, but they tend to cause an inordinate amount of excitement.  

Best,

George

ZOMG!!! NO COUGARS!!!!  >:(

;D ;D