RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

I see by your name on here you are a rancher. The ranchers out here have to sleep with their cows and haze the wolves. We were not supposed to have any wolves for many years when I was seeing them while out hunting. I had them come into turkey calls even. I told fish and game and they said no way I didn't see a wolf. My brother in law found 10 elk kills this last year. The feds turned the laws around and ranchers were going to be given the right to kill wolves that attacked the cattle and also Idaho fish and game would have been able to dipatch those in areas with depleted game. The greenies stepped in and overturned the ruling saying that Bush violated the laws and illegaly removed the protection order. You can hear the wolves howl at night almost anywhere in Idaho now. To me they are vermin and there is a reason why they were killed off in this area many years ago. I can't wait to see what happens when they expand the recovery range for the grizzly.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Yep. Raise cattle and also sheep and worked with some ranchers out in Montana when I lived there. Loved it out there but I don't envy the environment, the land prices per production, or the depredation they have to deal with. We have yotes and I had a bunch of sheep and lamb kills this year from them. Finally a neighbor took out a pack, yes a pack, of 7 in one night and the problem stopped. I haven't had problems until this year with them so I basically left them alone. I was always taught that sometimes, if you have predators around and they aren't killing your stock, you are best to leave them alone as they will keep other predators away. Well, either someone shot the resident pack, a new male came in or the deer population is down this winter (I don't think that one is it). Oh well, we are starting the investment in Guardian dogs to deal with the growing predator problem. Won't stop the problem but might keep it from getting out of countrol.

When I lived in Montana a person near Red Lodge looked out her window and saw a 3 year old Griz chasing her horses. She ran outside with a .22LR and shot at the bear to scar it away. Somehow, the bullet clipped the femoral artery (I think that is the one) and the bear bled out. since the horse was not injured she was prosecuted for not calling the game wardens first to deal with this endangered species. If the horse was being injured it is okay to shoot they told her. So you have to wait until your expensive cutting horse is being torn up and mad useless before shooting the bear with a 22LR. Come on now. She got fined BIG time 10,000+ and some other stuff. This is why shoot, shovel and shut up has become a way of life for people out in the countryside out there.

I'm sure you have heard that Defenders of Wildlife, the group that promissed to pay Ranchers for their livestock kills by the wolves and bears have now decided that they won't do that if the kill happened on public lands... Ahh, and they wonder why farmers and ranchers don't give much credit to Fish and Game or environmental groups word.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

HA! :D

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

I was in my treestand lat year 2003 and had 2 timber wolves come in about 10 yards below me. I have seen a thousand coyotes and these were not coyotes as i got a great look at them and gave a few lip squeeks to get their attention. I am in henderson county Illinois on the mississippi river. I spent hours in the tree this year 2004 and did not see any though but the couger that was found dead was less than 10 miles from where i hunt. Thats kinda scarry.

RE: Wolves in Illinois?
 

Suspected timber wolf found near Chain O' Lakes
By Sue Ter Maat Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted 2/19/2005
Born in central Wisconsin, he made his way to Illinois, traveling south along the natural corridor of the Fox River.

Along the way, he ate roadkill, mice and raccoons. At some point, he found himself in the Chain O' Lakes State Park in Lake County.

On Thursday morning, he was crossing Route 173, about a mile from Wilmot Road, when a car struck him, cracking his pelvis and crushing his internal organs.

At the side of the road, he died - a young eastern timber wolf whose kind died out a century ago in Illinois.

It's a likely scenario assuming the dead animal is truly an eastern timber wolf, considered a threatened species by the federal government.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources are trying to figure out if the animal - which has all the physical hallmarks of a timber wolf - is indeed just that and not a hybrid or a domesticated wolf.

If it is, it would be an encouraging find, more proof Wisconsin wolves are thriving, said Brad Semel, a natural resources specialist with the Illinois department.

Last year, a female timber wolf with a Wisconsin radio collar was found in northwest Indiana, he said.

These lone wolves do not signal the species is re-populating itself in Illinois, Semel said. The state no longer has the type of habitat it once had to support these animals.

"It won't be packs moving out," Semel said. "It will be the aberrant wolf that is setting out."

Residents should not be alarmed. Wolves are afraid of people and there is no documented case in North America of a wolf killing someone.

However, the migration story may be unfounded after all. The dead animal could turn out to be a wolf that was locally raised. Sometimes when a domesticated wolf pup grows up, people find it difficult to manage and it's discarded.

More worrisome is the possibility it is a wolf hybrid - half dog and half wolf.

Hybrids retain their natural wolf instincts, but being part dog, they don't fear humans. Hybrids have been known to attack people, Semel said.

Still, this animal's narrow chest, large head and big paws suggest he's a wolf that migrated to Illinois from a Wisconsin pack, Semel said.

A DNA test would settle the matter. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether a test will be done, Semel said. A necropsy will be performed in upcoming days.

Eastern timber wolves once roamed large swaths of North America, but they died off more than 100 years ago when settlers moved in and the wolves' natural hunting habitats were plowed up for farms.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, more than 350 timber wolves were counted there in 2003. Wisconsin is one of 12 states where timber wolf packs still exist in the wild.

As a federally protected species, it's unlawful to harm a timber wolf.

The dead wolf was spotted by a passing driver, who put it in the back of his pickup and dropped it off at the state natural resources department offices in Lake County.

Semel examined the 88-pound male, about 1¨ years old, looking at the shape of the head and thickness of the coat.

No ribs were showing, so the wolf was eating well. His coat was filled with sticky burdock seeds, indicating he'd recently been out in open fields.

"I think it's intriguing that there is still a little bit of the wild left in Illinois," Semel said. "You never know what to expect if you're out enjoying the open landscape.

"It makes you realize what it could've been like 100 years ago."

Wolf: Expert says animal likely traveled alone from Wisconsin



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