Wolf or Coyote
 

Just curious if anyone has seen a wolf in N. IL, or any midwest state. My friend says he saw a pair of them. I told him they had to be coyotes. There are no wolves in Illinois. I have seen a coyote that would go at least 45-50 lbs.

If your friend knows what a wolf looks like, he may be correct. Wolves have really been increasing their territory. Chances are if you ask the local wildlife agent, they will say they are 'big coyotes'. These same wildlife agents like to claim a reported mountain lion sighting as a 'big tomcat'. See what the agent's reaction is that if they are just big coyotes, the next time you see them they will be shot.

Do some google searches. There was a wolf killed last year in the Rockford area and one caught on trail cam in the Peoria area.

http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/...t_in_illinois/

theres probably some in that have wanderd in from wisconsin, heck 2 years ago a black bear was roaming around jo davies county, and a few years ago there was a mountain lion in stephenson county.

It certainly wouldn't be a stretch for a wolf in N. IL. There have been numerous wolves around the Madison area, so a good long walk puts those wolves in IL.

They found a collared wolf from WI in Missouri a couple of years ago, so it's not out of the question. AFAIK there aren't many (any?) established packs south of WI but occasionally young wolves will get kicked from the packs up north and they go wandering about.

There is a lot of wolves in central WI, so northern IL isn't really that far. The packs around here are growing so they need to expand there area

My Uncle lives in IL and he has seen A TON of coyotes around his area.
He lives in Woodstalk
But I bet it was probably a huge coyote and not a wolf.

yeah its like in that in VA they deny mountain lions in VA. Yet we had one at work that had castings made of its tracks and caught on a trail cam about a mile from where I worked. Not mention the new shorts my boss needed when it walked out on him closing the gate one evening. This is eastern Va now, more and more are being caught on trail cams further west.

But they aren't here. :happy0157:

Yes there are wolves in Illinois, along with mountain lions. But I still wonder how many people are seeing coyotes and mistaking them for wolves.


If the IL DNR is saying that there are wolves in Illinois, then there must be. It's gotten to the point where they can't deny it anymore.

Yes. There are no mountain lions in VA. Even though I had one jump from one tree to another right over my head, so that I had to dodge the falling branches. It also screamed at me one morning from about 40 or 50 yards away when I was putting up my climbing sticks. Scared the beJesus out of me in the dark.

But the mountain lions here are really probably freed/escaped captive exotics. People get these wild animals as "pets" because it sounds cool or makes them feel wild or like a man or something. Then they realize it isn't a pet and they decide to let it go into the forest somewhere, where people like me (and a half dozen other poeple I know of) see them. I don;t really think there are breeding prides of mountain lions here. Just the occasional escapee.

It may be the same with wolves. A neighbor of mine when I was a kid got a timber wolf pup and raised it. It was a cool pet. One day I was playing with it while he was away (he knew I was in his yard playing with it) and it went for a tennis ball it missed and snapped its chain. Then my friend and I had to go chasing it around the neighborhood and tie it back up again. Yours might have just gotten away from its master and liked its freedom. Or, as other have said, maybe it was a renegade from an established pack further west. Lots of weird stuff in the woods.

Have seen 1 wolf here in Fulton county it was black and silver and at least 90-100 pounds,it was crossing a creek I raised my shotgun up but decided not to shoot haven't seen it since.I suspect he traveled to some mine ground a couple miles away but who knows. He looked just like this when you see one you don't forget it.