Chance Is Here Today

Wolf Update

Buddy was never found. We walked the woods and searched with 4 wheelers Saturday, but never seen any sign of him or any blood. He was wearing a collar with a tag with mine and Sandy's phone numbers on it so it will be interesting to see if some day someone finds the collar in the woods and calls.

Sandy is doing OK, just missing her little friend.

Day before yesterday Dan Bergan came out and interviewed the family. He was going to run the story in yesterday's paper, but tried all afternoon to get ahold of the DNR to get their side of the story and no one ever returned his call so the story ran this morning.

Then, today a nice young (good looking for you young girls) guy showed up from the USDA. His name approprately enough, was Abraham Wolf! He went out back behind our house and all around the trails and fire roads back there with his 4-Wheeler. He came back saying there were a pair of wolves and pups back in there and that they had had a den in one of the gravel pits. I guess wolves are not in dens this time of year, they just wander. He said that although wolves taking family pets is not uncommon, this was. He said that usually a wolf will attack a dog for territorial reasons and those dogs are usually Labs or big dogs. Buddy was a weiner dog, I don't think that fits. He also said that sometimes it is because it is an easy prey. However if that was the case here, he would have grabbed Buddy and headed right into the woods to eat. This one walked a 1/4 mile down the middle of the road. So, he said that left him to the conclusion that Buddy was taken back to feed the pups.

After finding out where the wolves are and where there den was, he said he had to call his boss. He said there are many rules that have to be fulfilled before they can set traps. Usually the wolves have to be on the property of the person that is missing the pet (it is not) and the den has to be within so many miles of the occurance. He never told me what that was. But anyway, he got off the phone and said he had permission to trap them.

So he set out with traps in the back of his 4-Wheeler. I guess he set the traps along the road that the wolves had walked earlier today and he will come back tomorrow to see if there is anything in them. Timberwolves do not relocate well, so they have to kill any they trap. He will trap the parents and can not kill the pups if it is before August 27th. I have no clue why, my guess is that they probably will not survive on there own before that date, but after that date, they can kill them.

The whole thing is very sad. On one hand I feel bad about killing such beautiful creatures, and leaving pups to fend for themselves, but on the other hand, we can't have them stealing the family pets.

Last night Lilly Ann just about drove me nuts. There were dogs or brush wolves or coyotes out in the yard last night and I didn't dare let her out so she growled, wined and scratched on the doors until 2:00am.

Hopefully all will be back to normal (whatever that is) on Anderson Road.

Here is the question of the day, if there are so many Timberwolves, coyotes, brush wolves and Mt. Lions around here, how did Bill's body lay there for 15 months without being disturbed at all???? HMMMMM

posted by Colleen @ 7:00 PM