Posted on 04/18/2007 10:39:24 PM PDT by george76
When conservation officer Steve Peterson got a call that a timber wolf was chasing vehicles on a country road near Brimson, he thought it was prank or a misidentified German shepherd. But then he saw it firsthand.
"I couldn't believe it. It was like a dog chasing cars," Peterson said. "It looked like a big, healthy male wolf. No mange."
Responding to the call last Friday, Peterson saw the animal hide in the ditch as a pickup approached and then come bounding out to chase it.
The wolf did the same when Peterson drove to that spot, where he stopped his vehicle.
"He hung around for a minute or 90 seconds and then walked off. I haven't heard any more reports since then," Peterson said. "I don't know if it was protecting some food or what. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen turkeys and ducks and geese chase after people's cars, but never a wolf before."
Roughly 3,000 wolves live in northern Minnesota. Usually, wolves stay away from people and vehicles.
Maybe the wolf was bored?
or rabid ?
Why does this wolf still have a carbon footprint?
Very strange. I’ve hunted those areas for years, and although I’ve heard wolves and seen their tracks and scat, I’ve never actually seen one. They’re skittish as hell of people.
I have seen dogs “ chase after people’s cars, but never a wolf before.”
Weird. We have Coyote around and they sometimes “play” with one another as dogs will do (front legs stretched out and lowered, rump in the air with tail wagging) but any I’ve seen near a road have been dead.
I’ve only seen Wolves in captivity, never in person. I think I’ll keep it that way, LOL! :)
On Friday morning I spotted a nice big (400+ lbs) grizzly leaving the grounds of the Old Faithful geyser area. A couple hours later, I spotted another one on the west side of the road between Old Faithful and Biscuit Basin. More good video and snapshots of that bear.
Yesterday, April 20, was opening day for Yellowstone National Park. Given all the grizzly sightings, I would recommend being very vigilant as you visit the areas between Madison Junction and Old Faithful.
The back of our property here in the Black Hills adjoins the back of a fenced, tourist attraction, wildlife park (”Bear Country, USA”). A few times a year, the wolves escape and wander on to our property. They hang around for a few days and then head back to “Bear Country” where the livin’ is easy and the food is free. We, and all our neighbors, call them “Democrat Wolves”. (When the snow drifts over the fence, we get an occassional black bear or two. They don’t hang around long either.)
Never saw one chase a car. That would involve effort, and would belie their Democrat status.
Thanks.
We were at the Old Faithful 100th and never saw bears near the geysers. There were several big buffalo. I was always looking around there and at other sites in case one was behind us. We saw bears at other places.
How does the remodeled Inn look ?
Re; the wolves howling in response to a siren. This happens alot here, also. I love listening to them. They get especially active during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Lots of sirens then.........and lots of howling.
Are you seeing more mountain lions where you live? We are having quite a problem here with them. Two of my neighbors lost small dogs in the past month, one had a yearling horse mauled last week, the deer population is much smaller, and during the last snow storm, we had one on our back deck looking in the sliding glass door. By the time Mr. RR got the rifle, it took off into the woods. Kinda scary when I have toddler grandchildren playing outside all the time. I make sure the big (and very protective) dogs are always with them.
Even with that threat, I much prefer living in the woods than in the city.........where the man-made threats are greater.
Colorado is having a big and expanding problem with expanding mountain lion populations.
We see signs around town where people are asking if anyone has seen their dog.
One family was sitting in their back yard as they watched a lion grab their dog off the lawn and away for lunch.
Hunters have been harassed by eco-nut laws that make it expensive and difficult to hunt.
South Dakota, two years ago, opened a larger mountain lion hunting season. It has helped some, but the cat population is growing faster than the control can handle. I believe the limit will be expanded again quite soon. Fortunately, this is still a “red” state, and the voters here believe that a human life is more valuable than that of a mountain lion, so the support for the expanded season is strong. We used to have lots of wild turkeys. A few years ago, I could count over a hundred below our back deck in the mornings. In the past year, I can count no more than about thirty each morning. I’m sure the cats are getting them. (My son is a bow hunter, and his aim isn’t THAT good....so I can’t blame him.)
How frightening it must have been to watch a lion from your backyard grab a dog and spirit it away!
The city areas of Boulder and Denver have huge and growing populations of city people who do not hunt, fish, farm, ranch...thus the rural areas that do are getting out voted on a statewide basis.
We lost our spring bear hunting season too. We are thefore also having a bad and soon to be worse bear problem.
The city lawyers are even taking away water from farmers so that city project have first rights.
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