Posted on 03/18/2023 12:27:19 PM PDT by george76
North Park rancher Greg Sykes said he has tried to do things the right way since wolves migrated across the boarder from Wyoming into the area near Walden.
He has kept an eye on the predators as they could be seen in the distance around the ranch he manages and got guardian dogs to watch over his cattle.
“I was that one rancher that said, ‘OK, they’re here. Let’s figure out how to get along,'” Sykes said. “That’s what I intended to do.”
Early on Monday, March 13, wolves killed one of his cattle dogs named Cisco, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Wildlife officials observed wolf tracks near the dog, which Sykes estimates was within about 30 yards of his house. CPW also has GPS tracking collar data showing wolves in the area when Sykes’ dog was killed.
A day later, wolves attacked another dog nearby, this time a family pet. While the dog survived the initial attack, it later needed to be put down due to its injuries, according to CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan.
“Wildlife officers found wolf tracks in the vicinity and GPS collar data for both incidents that also indicated wolves were in the area during the time the dogs were attacked,” Duncan said in an email.
CPW provides compensation for livestock guardian dogs killed by wolves, but not for animals that are considered pets. Payment is based on the “actual value of the property at the time and place of loss,” Duncan said.
Sykes said the attack on his dog happened around 4 a.m. Monday, shortly after he let the dogs out in the morning. When he went to call them to eat, two dogs that typically respond the best did not return.
Some of his larger guardian dogs had showed up at the house, which Sykes said was unusual, as they generally don’t appear until the sun comes up. Two more of his cattle dogs ran right into the house when he called — “another thing that was amuck.”
He then noticed a black figure against the snow.
“It was my dog,” Sykes said. “When I got out there, the second dog that I was looking for was laying with him … wouldn’t leave his side.”
...
Sykes said he immediately called CPW, and local wildlife officers responded quickly and were “good to work with” in what was a traumatic situation.
CPW collared a pair of wolves in North Park in early February, but the tracker on a male wolf fell off days later. The agency tracked down and recollared Wolf 2101 on Feb. 18.
The wolves have been causing issues in North Park since December 2021, when a 500-pound heifer was killed and eaten by the pack that is believed to be Colorado’s first breeding pair in decades. Since then, other dogs and cattle have been attacked by the pack.
The area has been described as ground zero for wolf conflicts that ranchers fear will become common once wolves are reintroduced in the state by the end of this year. The CPW Commission will consider approval of a plan for wolf reintroduction in May.
Reintroduction stems from a 2020 ballot initiative that Colorado voters narrowly passed, though rural ranching communities in the state generally opposed it by wide margins. More than 63% of Routt County opposed reintroduction.
Sykes said he has seen wolf tracks around the ranch for about a year, but never as close to the house as they came earlier this week. Other than killing antelope, the wolves hadn’t really bothered him before. Now, he said he hasn’t slept past midnight since Monday.
“I stay up the whole time, and now everything I see, I got binoculars on it,” Sykes said. “I want to know where they are at.”
Moose used to frequent his haystack on the ranch, but Sykes said he doesn’t see them anymore.
Sykes said he believes the wolves collared in North Park have risen to the level of problem wolves, and this would be a case where CPW should step in and remove or kill them. He noted the wolves didn’t eat his dog and had killed an elk nearby that they didn’t appear to feed on.
“If they would have killed a calf Monday morning out in the field, I would feel like, ‘OK, I got to change my strategy,'” Sykes said. “This is my dog. This is family.”
I assume they knew because they went to where it was pinging and found it. Point being it won’t be easy to get away with. They will treat it like a homicide case.
The Californication of the rest of the West continues.
I wonder how much it costs to have people ready to go out, find a wolf and re-collar it after it has killed a dog or how about a person?
Wolves are not cuddly at all.
Take the collar to the river. Tie it to an empty milk jug. Throw them in and leave. Pick up your brass. We’ve had wolves for years in ID. Clean up your brass and don’t go near them if they’re not collared.
“Soundes catchy, but they have tracking collars and you will go to prison”
This exact issue came up this last season on the TV show Yellowstone.
I recognize Scott Carpenter. Not the other fellow.
Shoot.
Shovel.
Shut up.
OK. Poison then.
I used to dream of turning a half dozen grizzlies loose in Golden Gate Park and/or the state capitol grounds in Sacramento.
They pull out all stops when it comes investigating deaths of these holy animals.
A Steamboat Springs couple ( 2018 ) had a scary encounter with a mountain lion ... Mark Stanford and his wife.. “I looked up and saw a set of eyes staring back at me… I could see that it was a big cat…
Mark Stanford was carrying a firearm, and he shot off a round to try and scare the animal. It ran off and the couple started hiking again before discovering the animal again on the trail.. They were being hunted.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3687420/posts
Back in 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ( Ed Bangs ) kicked off its “Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Project” with the release of imported, exotic Canadian timber , Huge wolves in Yellowstone National Park. . At that time, Yellowstone’s northern elk herd was 20,000 elk living in the park and in the adjacent areas.
Then, the experimental, non-essential Canadian gray wolf population of the Greater Yellowstone Area decimated the elk, deer, moose .. local populations.
Next stop : destroying Washington, Oregon ...
Dogs did their job. Now get bigger dogs.
Yes
Many years ago I was scarfing down some Macdonald’s breakfast stuff with some friends and we happened to sit near some wolf fanatics. I can’t remember the exact words we overheard, but the subject of wolves killing livestock was mentioned and broadly applauded by the wolf crazies as what the ranchers deserved for killing wolves in the first place. Our group moved because we were getting really annoyed with the wolf worshipping a$$holes who were talking really loudly kind of as though they wanted everyone to hear. While I don’t remember exactly what they looked like they were the stereotypical greasy haired (male) and hog butt ugly (female) freaks that you think of when someone says tree huggers of Sierra Club.
Mountain Lion hunting stripped zebra er... jogger.
Unsuspecting Jogger Passes Within A Few Feet Of Mountain Lion
https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2021/09/22/video-unsuspecting-jogger-passes-within-a-few-feet-of-mountain-lion/
And if done properly, they’d find nothing incriminating.
Lol I like that.
I’d bet they handled it well.
I need to start watching Yellowstone episodes because I’ve heard all good things about it.
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