Is it time to cry wolf? (Wolves in Vermont?)

St Albans (VT) Messenger ^ | Friday, November 15 | LEON THOMPSON

[Straight Vermonter]

SWANTON ­­ Tim Kougias has a mystery on his hands, and he knows it may remain unsolved, but it has added a touch of excitement to his life nonetheless.

On Tuesday, the Swanton resident and his wife, Maria, had just returned from a lengthy trip to Greece, Tim's homeland. As they settled back into their Country Club Estates home, Tim set his video camera on the kitchen counter.

"What is that?" Maria asked suddenly, pointing to the edge of their backyard, which straddles a wooded area.

Roaming along that border was a dog, or so Tim thought, until he noticed it was abnormally large, gray with a rusty tint and collar-less.

"It was big and huge," he recalled yesterday. "I knew it wasn't a dog, and I knew it wasn't a fox."

So Tim shot it.

With his video camera.

Tim's short footage is a bit shaky, but the animal can be seen clearly. As Tim's camera zooms in on the creature, it looks amazingly like a wolf.

Or a large coyote.

Or a wolf.

Or a large coyote.

"I don't know which one it is," Tim said.

When Tim's friend Joe Desrochers, of Swanton, saw the enigmatic footage, he told Kougias about the small pack of wolves experts say live in the Quebec wilderness, about 20 miles from the U.S. border on the south side of the St. Lawrence River.

Desrochers knew experts had predicted those wolves or their offspring will find their way to northern New England forests.

European settlers worked for centuries to eliminate wolves from the Northeastern U.S. and succeeded about a century ago. There has been debate about whether wolves should be reintroduced to the region, but the recent developments in Quebec could stop that argument.

Now another question remains: Did Tim Kougias photograph a wolf?

"When I saw Tim's film and remembered what I heard about in Quebec, I thought, 'This is weird timing,'" Desrochers said. "It looks like a wolf to me, but I'm no expert."

Residents from northeastern sections of the county, where coyotes are rampant, said yesterday they thought the animal looked like the coyotes they see roaming near their homes. Kougias and Desrochers hope to show the footage to a wildlife expert for a more educated guess.

In any event, the Kougiases have captured a gorgeous wild animal in a sliver of time.

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Contact Leon Thompson at 524-9771, ext. 112, or leon@samessenger.com

[bandleader]

What rifle do you use for .30/06?I'm kind of old fashioned,I like .45/70.Iroll my own"and use a model 1886 as my delivery system.

[philetus]

Wolves are dangerous. They are wild animals.
Most of the time they will not approach a human, but a small child alone in the woods and a hungry wolf pack could be a bad combination.

I like wolves. They are a lot more honorable than a lot of humans,, but if I'm alone in the woods where wolves are present, I will have a gun. Just in case.

[jart]

hello

about 3 or 4 years ago i saw a wolf several times in
a marsh at lighthouse point park here in new haven ct.
in fact we watched one morning as it hunted and got a
shorebird.

we also have tons of coyotes here in ct, i mean tons.

bear and mountain lion have been seen in ct.

so much for vanishing species.

[Dick Vomer]

I like the 30.06 ..... cause I've always hunted with it... nice little Remington, Leopold site and muzzle brake. sweet!

[ReaganIsRight]

Mountain Lion or Lynx? I've read rumors of the Eastern cougar for years, and had a future wildlife major friend at Penn State who thought one stalked him back in '69 in the area.

The only confirmed sighting I've heard of was Delaware County, PA and that one escaped or was let loose. Wreaked some havok, and I don't know the outcome.

The last good article I read debunked all cougar sightings from TN North.

[Clemenza]

I think we want the wolves. The deer population would certainly benefit from their presence.

I was just thinking that. I here that in a few years, that we will have mountain lions as far east as New Jersey/Upstate New York. All the better to control the "rats with antlers."

[The Other Harry]

From the reports I've read, everywhere wolves have been introduced, the deer population has plummeted.

This is what needs to happen. I recently read in a different thread that the deer population in CT has tripled in the past five years. Nationwide, deer are responsible for more deaths than sharks, bears, rattlesnakes, and alligators combined.

Actually, I think the re-introduction has a motive other than 'natural, native species'.

If deer and elk become scarce then hunting can be stopped. The liberals can argue there is no need for firearms at all. ( Some liberals grudgingly give us hunting as a reason to own certain types of firearms.)

I don't know about elk, but deer are hardly scarce these days. There aren't enough hunters to control their burgeoning numbers.

[toddst]

I don't know about elk, but deer are hardly scarce these days. There aren't enough hunters to control their burgeoning numbers.

If that's the case the hunting season needs to be extended and quotas per hunter raised. Generally there are plenty of hunters interested in taking deer, but they follow the law.

Overpopulation can be dealt with through adjusted hunting regulations (where pro-hunting officials are running the program.) Wolves we don't need for this purpose.

[Gideon7]

The wolf population in northern MN has exploded to over 3000. When the Interior department recommended de-listing the wolf from the list of endangered species in MN, the environmentalists had a conniption fit.

A bill to allow hunting of wolves was also turned back by the environmentalists, most of whom live in the Twin Cities and have never seen a wolf. It is illegal to shoot a wolf unless in the actual process of attacking livestock. The number of sheep in farms in northern MN has dropped 54%, and there is no longer open grazing for most cattle during most of the year.

Just a taste of what you ranchers in Vermont can look forward to.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Coyotes will perform magic acts to steal a cat

And to think I used to hate coyotes. What this world needs is a few more of them.

[Straight Vermonter]

The last good article I read debunked all cougar sightings from TN North.

We had a cougar sighting here confirmed through DNA from scat found at the spot of the sighting. State biologists thought it was either a runaway domestic animal (who the hell keeps cougars?) or an animal that was just "passing through" the area.

[BillCompton]

I disagree. Back up your assertion, please. As a varmiter I can tell you that feral dog packs are very dangerous to people. This is well documented throughout the south by surveyers and others working the timber stands. And you are going to tell me that wolf packs are not a threat to humans? I want to see some evidence.

I tried to google it, but was unsuccessful in a brief attempt. This is what I remember: Isaak Asimov (sp?) used to publish books on scientific facts. One I remember is almost verbatim: There has never been a documented case of a non-rabid wolf killing a human.

In the 25 years since I read that, I would have definately remembered a news account or other account of a real wolf killing (other than the fantasy Beauty and the Beast variety). True, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but at least it is not well-known that they are human-killers. On the other hand, I have heard of numerous bear and mountain lion fatal attack stories.

[BillCompton]

Unless they have rabies, wolves are not dangerous. You have watched one too many disney movies.

>Shall I assume you are not a farmer or rancher?

That is certainly a different matter. The post I referred to concerned: "Backpackers" who "will become endangered."

Wolves are hell on livestock, but there is a common misconception that they are, in packs, human killers. They are not.

[Caipirabob]

It's been years since I went skiing on Killington. Isn't Pico Peaks part of it now (yes, that long.)? How much is a lift ticket these days? At any rate, I've long since decided the only snow and ice I wanted to see should be in the freezer on or the weather channel, but I do miss skiing.

[Wrigley]

I've read accounts of Cougars seen out in Will and DeKalb counties. Any truth to that?

[Judith Anne]

Wolves are opportunists and pack hunters. They will eat what it is easy to get. An unarmed backpacker alone is easy for a pack to get.

I like wolves just fine; there are lots of wild animals in my area, including bears, panthers, coyotes, deer, beavers, groundhogs, armadillos, you name it, it's here...my neighbor videotaped a bear eating Golden Grain out of a sack in a shed, other neighbors who raise cattle saw, in daylight, a pair of panthers kill a calving cow...

But liking the wildlife, and living by choice among all of them, does not mean that any of them are to be trusted around humans, especially wolves in packs.

[BillCompton]

Wolves are opportunists and pack hunters. They will eat what it is easy to get. An unarmed backpacker alone is easy for a pack to get.

I am no authority in the subject for sure, but have you ever heard of wolves (non-rabid) _ever_ killing a human? My information is that there is not a single documented case of it happening.

P.S. I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[toddst]

I tried to google it, but was unsuccessful in a brief attempt. This is what I remember: Isaak Asimov (sp?) used to publish books on scientific facts. One I remember is almost verbatim: There has never been a documented case of a non-rabid wolf killing a human.

I appreciate your effort to back up your statement with documentation. I am going to search this also.

I have hunted feral dog packs for years, at the invitation of farmers who experience losses from predation of their sheep and cattle herds. The dog packs are exceptionally dangerous and can only be fired on from a respectable distance, with the capacity to fire on multiple targets fairly rapidly. The problem is well known in agricultural communities.

Wolves are another matter altogether. I have never hunted wolves so have no direct experience with them. However, I have spent time in Northern Greece and villagers there will quickly relate their experiences in dealing with wolves during winter. Many farmers and herders are constantly armed with shotguns specifically to deal with both feral dogs and wolves.

I would like to find some documented cases of wolf attacks in North America, will search my sources. Based on my direct experiences with feral dog packs I would want nothing whatever to do with a wolf pack in the wild, especially in winter.

I believe the dangers created through re-introduction of wolves in the US is being suppressed by advocates of such practices.

[Betteboop]

It's been years for me too (too big and too crowded) but they are one--not yet connected--but you can share a ticket, I believe.
I haven't yet given up on cold and snow---ice I can do without, except in a drink!

[usconservative]

I haven't seen any, and I did't know they were indigenous to the area. I always thought Cougars were more West/Southweset states?