Wolves may be returning to Door County (Wisconsin)

AP ^ | 6-29-03

[Dan from Michigan]

Wolves may be returning to Door County

The Associated Press
6/29/2003, 2:02 p.m. ET

NEWPORT STATE PARK, Wis. (AP) — Wolves are continuing their remarkable comeback by returning to one of the most unlikely spots in northern Wisconsin — tourist-rich Door County.

There may now be as many as a half dozen animals in the county coming in from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, said Adrian Wydeven, head of the state Department of Natural Resources wolf recovery program.

Door County is an unlikely spot for wolves because it is cut off from northern Wisconsin wolf packs by the Sturgeon Bay canal and by the City of Green Bay and its suburbs.

"Door County has never had a confirmed wolf," DNR warden Mike Neal said. "They're not supposed to be here."

But last month, an 82-pound timber wolf was shot by a hunter at the northern end of the county. The shooter claimed he mistook the wolf for a coyote.

Although it is illegal for a hunter to shoot a timber wolf, the hunter was not charged.

The wolves may be crossing Green Bay through Chambers Island, about seven miles away from both Door County and Michigan's Menominee County. The animals could also be island-hopping south from the Garden Peninsula.

Wisconsin may be overfilling with wolves, which are steadily creeping out of the forests and into the paved corners of the state.

The latest count in the state is 335, though Wydeven said there may be more, since wolves that leave their packs are hard to track.

The comeback is just the latest chapter for the once-reviled species.

Wolves in Wisconsin were hunted, trapped and poisoned to near extinction by the 1950s, but under protections from the Endangered Species Act, they have steadily expanded in the past two decades from northern Minnesota into Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.

The federal government in April reclassified the wolf from "endangered" to "threatened." That means problem animals, such as those that grow addicted to livestock or pets, can be killed by state or federal employees.

[agitator]

ummmmmmmm isn't it a little difficult to mistake a 35lb coyote for an 83lb wolf?

[TheCrusader]

"Wolves are continuing their remarkable comeback by returning to one of the most unlikely spots in northern Wisconsin"

They've returned to the Supreme Court too.

[niteowl77]

It's all them doggone lighthouses- wolves is drawed right to 'em.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[TheSpottedOwl]

Let's see how hard they cry when a pet or a child of theirs gets snatched. The more I know about my neigbors, the more I like wild animals....

[Catspaw]

This may mean we can get a campsite at Peninsula State Park this summer. There's the Great Outdoors (Bambi) and then there's the GREAT OUTDOORS (Hungry Like The....). I figure once they see a wolf, they'll be packing up & heading out.

[Dan from Michigan]

Don't they already have Bears up there? I know North Michigan has em, and the UP is known for them.

Bears would scare me more than a wolf.

[Catspaw]

Sure they have bears, primarily in northern Door. There have been a few seen in Peninsula State Park & in the wooded areas around Door County (north and south). Heck, they've even had bears wander into Appleton and that's 30 miles south of me (Green Bay).

I do remember getting a campsite at Peninsula a few years back when a skunk wandered through a campsite & the family was outta there early next morning. "Outdoors" for cityfolk means cute deer and a few birds. They only realize that there are racoons in the park when the stuff they left out on the picnic table disappears overnight. Telling them that bear & wolf are wandering the park would clear out about 75% of the campers.

[Dan from Michigan]

I'd pay big bucks to see a populated camp get cleared out by a bear or wolf...especially if I had a camera and was nearby.

[Bluntpoint]

I came face to face with a wolf in my back pasture last winter. This happened in S.E. Indiana. I fed it Polska Kielbasa.

It was an escapee from my neigbor's sanctuary.

[Catspaw]

I'd pay big bucks to see a populated camp get cleared out by a bear or wolf...especially if I had a camera and was nearby.

LOL! So would I. Communing with nature has its limits :-))

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.

[Carry_Okie]

May all the local environmentalists now fear to tread in the forest.

[headsonpikes]

Four years ago I was camping on Lake Tahoe.

The city-slickers in the campsite(50%+) left their coolers, etc. on their tables overnight, and attracted a black bear two nights in a row. The first night of destroyed coolers and freaked-out kids wasn't enough, evidently.

Both nights the bear fled after I blew my whistle. Those whistles do work, you know. ;^)

[headsonpikes]

Four years ago I was camping on Lake Tahoe.

The city-slickers in the campsite(50%+) left their coolers, etc. on their tables overnight, and attracted a black bear two nights in a row. The first night of destroyed coolers and freaked-out kids wasn't enough, evidently.

Both nights the bear fled after I blew my whistle. Those whistles do work, you know. ;^)

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!