Posted on 01/28/2010 6:17:03 PM PST by Tom Hawks
I had just finished my first semester of college at the University of Montana where I am studying wildlife biology. I got home for winter break and have been able to get out quite a bit lately. My friends and I have treed several lions and we have taken two.
Yesterday my friend and mentor Mel, invited me to go with him and another fellow named Jay who has two young dogs and a tag for our area. At about 6am we headed up into the Yaak area of northwest Montana. At about 2pm Jay found a track so he turned out his two dogs (Top & Lilly) and I also turned out my two (Elvis & Earl). They took off through the woods but they lost the track where the cat had crossed the Yaak River and had then doubled back across again. Mel and Jay walked downstream to gather dogs and look for the track while I was searching the far bank. We eventually lined out the track and put the dogs back on it. It was tough going so Mel put in his two good dogs (Brody & Fancy). The cat had made a third river crossing and the dogs were now on a fairly fresh trail. Since part of our plan was to get Jay’s dogs Top and Lilly some experience we grabbed Earl and Fancy and put them back in the rig.
At this point we had four dogs heading up over the mountain. We drove about 2 miles up a nearby road to try and close some of the distance. We finally got bogged down in very heavy snow and the Garmin Astro collars were saying that the dogs were still about a mile above us and that they were treeing. We headed up on snowshoes but the going was VERY difficult due to deep snow and thick alder brush. It took about 90 minutes to hike to where the dogs were supposed to be.
As we were hiking we saw on the receiver that Jays dog Lilly was running. Since she is young he just thought that she was running a back trail. As we continued to get closer we could still not hear the dogs. At about 500 yards the Astro showed that the dogs were still treeing but since we could not hear anything we became concerned that the system was not working right. As we got close we had to get out our lights as the sun had set and we could no longer see.
We hiked on and soon the screen showed that the dogs should be right in front of us at about 50 yards. Eerily there was absolutely no sound in the woods. We found the tree surrounded by tracks where they had put up the lion. We immediately began calling out for the dogs. Jay saw some blood by the tree and we assumed that a dog must have cut a pad. Jay started shining his light down the hill and saw two eyes shining about 30 yards away. He started that direction and seconds later we heard him start yelling. Mel and I ran down to where he was and saw something no houndsman ever wants to see.
There in the snow surrounded by blood were two dead dogs. I instantly thought that one of them was my good dog Elvis. My heart was pounding as I got closer. When we got to them we had to check the collar since part of his head was gone. We ultimately discovered that it was Mel’s dog Brody and Jays dog Top. I could not find Elvis anywhere. I could only imagine that the same thing had happened to him and that he was lying in the brush nearby.
As we tried to get over the shock of it all we slowly pieced together what had happened. It became very apparent that a pack of wolves had attacked our hounds as they were baying at the tree. Brody and Top had been killed instantly at the tree and then drug about 30 yards away where the wolves had started to feed on them. The eyes Jay had seen were those of a wolf eating our dogs. Lilly had obviously run away when the attack occurred but there was still no sign of Elvis.
We were all sick about what had just happened but we needed to get down the mountain and try and find Lilly and hopefully Elvis. It was as tough going down as it had been climbing up, and when I broke a strap on my snowshoe I didn’t think things could get any worse. I have hunted these mountains many times but I have never experienced fear like I did on that hike. The thought of the wolves behind us, the dogs that had just been killed and of the two that we could not find were about all I could handle. With broken snowshoes I had to “posthole” most of the way back to the truck.
We finally got back to the trucks and our missing dogs were not there. Before we got out of that deep snow we had to winch ourselves out about five times. It was getting very late and I was both mentally and physically exhausted by the time we got back to the paved road. We were due for some good luck and right then the collars for Lilly and Elvis lit up the screen and appeared to be about 1 mile ahead of us on the main road.
As we got close I could see Lilly by the guardrail so I jumped out to grab her and began yelling for Elvis. I immediately heard barking down below us by the river. I jumped the railing and began calling to him. With my flashlight I could see Elvis ,and he appeared to be lying in the ice on the bank. As I got closer I realized that he was actually in the water and was too exhausted to pull himself up on to the edge of the ice. I was able to reach out to him and pull him to safety. I don’t know how long he had been there but he was shaking so bad I did not know if he would survive. We warmed him up in the truck as we headed for home which was still an hour away on icy roads.
As I write this, Elvis is still so stiff and sore that he can hardly walk but since he is not yet 3 years old he is plenty strong and will be back on the trail soon. I have no idea how he was able to escape the wolf attack and near freezing to death in a river. All I know is that I am very fortunate to have gotten him back. I have not talked to Jay yet this morning but he had put so much time and energy into training Top I can only imagine how crushed he is. I talked to Mel and he is very frustrated, not just because he lost a great dog but also because he called a local game biologist who told him that our dogs were killed not 500 yards from a known denning site. According to the biologist they don’t publicize information like that because people might disrupt the wolves.
R.I.P. Brody and Top, I hope the hunting is good up there in heaven.
You're wrong. These wolves kill for fun, from boredom. Dead, and uneaten elk, deer, cattle, and sheep, that are being killed for fun by non-indigenous wolves are littering the Rockies from the Canadian border to New Mexico.
Wolves this size never lived in the lower 48. It like "reintroducing" African lions to the Rockies.
I'd like to see them all relocated to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Hollywood, etc., where the food supply is more deserving of their company.
>Leave the wild animals alone and quit forcing your domesticated dogs to run around in the wilderness pissing off wild animals.<
Mountain lions are attacking people in parts of the country. Hunting is a tradition in this country and the use of dogs is necessary when hunting predators.
Perhaps GS would prefer we cruel humans not “enslave” dogs at all, keeping them as pets?
“Those dogs were following orders from you and your friends, and those orders directly resulted in their deaths.”
Factually incorrect, as the hounds were sent to tree a cougar. The wolves attacked because they were not afraid of either the hounds or the men.
As Dr. J. Pederhans said, for most of man’s history he was a slow moving source of protein for predators.
There are numerous references in the older literature about the salutory influence of gunpowder on the predatory beasts of America.
With the merging of communism and environmentalism, “the right and duty of the citizen to be at all times armed” was infringed.
Beasts fattened themselves. True for beasts on four legs and two.
"For most of man’s history he was a slow moving source of protein for predators."Do you have a reference for that quote? It would sure be good for future debates on the subject of self defense.
That is a situation which is often artificially controlled as well, and has been 'managed' to create the 'need' for predators.
When 'Fifi' and 'Fu-fu start disapearing off of leashes and children go missing, maybe people will realize there is a reason the predators were hunted back away from humans.
I have no doubt denial will play a huge role in delaying this as long as possible, and also delay the inevitable remediation which will be necessary if humans are going to live outside the urban cesspools.
In the meantime, city folks don't give a diddley-damn whether a rancher loses his means of making a living. They all know meat comes from the store.
---or the cougar!. Think about that.
Very well said! And, the comment is well deserved.
Since their reintroduction into Montana, they have killed or maimed scores of domestic animals, not to mention hundred of livestock. As I tell my brother, who lives in Montana, shoot 'em and let 'em lay. Ranchers and sportsman alike, will thank him!
Very well said! And, the comment is well deserved.
Since their reintroduction into Montana, they have killed or maimed scores of domestic animals, not to mention hundred of livestock. As I tell my brother, who lives in Montana, shoot 'em and let 'em lay. Ranchers and sportsman alike, will thank him!
It’s good to see that a more reasonable wildlife biologist is on the way. Find some plans for a good incinerator with a spark arrestor on top of the flue—a very useful piece of equipment for a shop or shed.
So this is a thread about the feral German shepherds or giant coyotes (little humor and practicality there) that have been ripping the soft parts out of cattle. They won’t be around in packs of more than one again for long, so animal worshippers can go back to getting their thrills from Disney movies.
It would take an unprecedentedly big, socialist government to monitor activities on the ranches of the West, and we’re looking at a big default in the near future. Too many corporate-government-supported liberal city folks have wandered to us from around the coasts. Due to the next wave of foreclosures, more of them will be leaving us to return to where they belong. Those who fund lobbies from the cities will also be lacking revenues for their efforts against agriculture. They couldn’t stand our weather anyway. Good riddance.
“Your neighborhood” ping.
read later...
I’m guessing the cougar was the only reason the other two dogs got away. Either that or the pack was focused on the two dogs they had already killed (or were in the process of killing). I’m really surprised this isn’t a story of these men losing ALL of their dogs (or even their own lives)!
My theory regarding these wolves not being afraid of humans in the least is because the original ones to be released were partially domesticated (raised from pups by humans). I can’t explain HOW it happens, but information like that IS passed down from generation to generation among animals (it’s the same way other animals learn to be afraid of hunters). Perhaps we have always been seen as “weak” by the wolves, however I don’t think the environmentalists in charge of the reintroduction program have helped at all. If anything the ones who worked with the original wolves were probably thought of as “kind” or “trusting” (maybe “too trusting”), and “kindness” is definitely a weakness when it comes to wildlife. All JMHO and a theory... :)
I posted on the other thread what a tragedy this is, and I really feel for the men who lost their beloved dogs. I expect we’ll be hearing more cases like this and others as the population of the wolves swells to the breaking point...
Thanks SB. Coyotes do this as well, they’ll eat fido right off the chain.
That was a convoluted way to get around the fact that these wolves need to be shot and killed.
wrong again kemosabe..I never even implicated that these animals should not be exterminated. I did, however, say that you don’t blame a wild animal for being a wild animal....evil as such, does not exist in nature. You might not like what an animal does, but it’s just that your opinion and that of the animal differ.. Believe me, I’m not an animal hugger (except for my kitty) I hunt, fish, and eat meat but I am also realistic. Blame the nitwits that reintroduced the wolves into your area, but be careful in doing so because some species have gotten out of control because they have no natural predators. Animals have no rights whatsoever, but we, as humans, certainly have responsibilities toward animals. If you don’t like the wolves, ask those who reintroduced them, find out what their reasons were, and come to an intelligent, human consensus as to whether or not it was a wise decision. You run your mouth with name calling nonsense when you have no idea of what you are talking about. I make a simple statement....animals are never evil, they can be dangerous, out of place, hurt, sick, wounded, mean, protective, and whatever else, but they are never evil, they just do what a wild animal does in a particular circumstance.....if you don’t like it, shoot the animal and shut up
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Actually, you guys who live among the wolves should simply capture them and release them in the backyards of liberals responsible for this.
All states except Hawaii were once wolf habitat so why can’t they be re-introduced to say, Berkeley? Washington DC?
Stay in your city and leave “country” living to those of us who actually live there.You obviously have never seen what a pack of wolves does to a HEALTHY herd of deer, or your neighbors horses (in the barn),or your grandmothers poodle in her front yard.
“All states except Hawaii were once wolf habitat so why can’t they be re-introduced to say, Berkeley? Washington DC?”
Works for me.
Stay in your city and leave “country” living to those of us who actually live there.You obviously have never seen what a pack of wolves does to a HEALTHY herd of deer, or your neighbors horses (in the barn),or your grandmothers poodle in her front yard.
I was born and raised in northern Wisconsin, plenty of critters there. If grandma’s poodle got eaten by wolves, it is because liberal nincompoop tree huggers and animal “rights” activists decided to introduce animals into an area where they may not have been suitable......Never, however, blame the animal. If the animal becomes a nuisance, shoot it, grandma needs a good 20 gauge shotgun. The animal, however, was not evil....maybe hungry, maybe mean, maybe trying to “get along” with the poodle9 you know how fickle poodles are) and things went terribly wrong....just saying
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