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.”
Hot dogs would work.
Wolves and ranchers…..natural enemies
Not saying it can’t be done. But they will treat it like a homicide.
Carry the collars several miles away, put them in a blackout bag, go a few more miles and bury the bag.
I can believe that.
This is just south of where I live in Wyoming. A couple of the wolves made it back across and they were shot.
I know people were going down to the Wyoming/Colorado boarder to see if they could get one.
It would be terrible if the wolves feasted on some big steaks that were laced with something.
Becomes more complicated when you have collars. You would have to somehow get the collar off, and even if you could take it on foot through rough terrain to make it look like it fell off somewhere, you’d have to have shoes that left behind wolf footprints in the snow, and you would have to clean up a kill site in snow in the event they backtracked to previous positions, and you would have to not leave footprints at the site to wherever you took it.
Now it is getting complicated.
Definitely way too much government when you have city leftists using government to put predators that eat your animals on your rural property and Federal LE assigned as federal Secret Service protection to make sure you do not harm them as they kill your dogs.
Thank you.
Glad to post it.
It’s really alarming that they intend to do this. First I’d heard about it.
Jared Schutz Polis is punishing working family farmers and ranchers .. get ready for higher food prices.
In Idaho a wolf tag costs twelve bucks. Down from 18.
I’ve heard that if you Shoot one with an air in pellet tipped with ricin it takes several days to take effect. However one should not be found with castor beans or pellet guns if one does such an ungreen act.
My brother used to guide out of Craig. I sent article to him.
He was born 100+ years to early. When there was no one to guide, he would grab his ruck and strike out looking for new trails and which ones were abandoned that season. Everyday he’d make sure he was on a ridge to call the lodge to see if they had hunters arriving in the next couple days.
To city people food comes from a supermarket, electricity comes from a socket and gasoline comes from a pump.
Lots of shopped meat with metal shavings.
“Chopped meat’’. Typo.
probably have toxicologist on hand for each odd wolf death.
why are they reintroducing wolves, again? I am sure there is a benefit here (probably not for people that live there)....
Relocate the damn wolves to downtown Boulder
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