Timber Wolf of the North Endangered or Not. Also Called The Gray Wolf.

Wolf packs in the north have grown. We are now seeing them around where we live. Our son lives just down the road from us and has had them in his yard. He followed wolf tracks into our drive-way.

Last winter we were driving down the highway just about into town when a wolf jumped in front of our car after a deer that was on the run from the wolf. The deer ended up in front of the cars in front of us and walked slowly down highway staying close to the cars. Everyone slowed down let the deer walk close by. The wolf then took off in the other direction. The deer went in the opposite direction and was safe for another day.

About 5940 deer may be consumed by wolves annually. 40,000 deer hit by cars each year, and about 450,000 deer shot by hunters each year.

We use to live on a lake and to go into town we had to take a long winding wooded road out to the highway. There was always lots of wildlife on this road. One day I saw something in the bushes along side the road and I stopped to see what it was. It was a wolf. I rolled my window down just a little and talked to the wolf. He sat right there looking right at me not moving a muscle then he just turned and walked into the woods. I saw that wolf a few more times after that.

When I got home and told my husband about it he said:

1. Must be a coyote
2. Must be a malamute
3. Couldn't be a wolf

I said "NO, it wasn't a dog. I know what a coyota looks like. It was a wolf."

MEN!!!!

Later I ran into a lady that lived right by where I had seen the wolf. She ask me if I had seen a wolf around her place because they had spotted it and wondered if anyone else had.

I was thrilled to go home and tell my husband that I wasn't the only one that had seen the wolf. I was the only one that had talked to the wolf.

Picture of the gray wolf to right looks like the wolf I saw. The picture of the wolf in the weeds is exactly like he was looking at me.

Total count in Wisconsin of timber wolves (gray wolves )(Canis lupus) for 2008 is 520. The farmers aren't happy about them because they have attacked livestock.

They have attacked and killed hunting dogs. Wild animals and pets are going to cross paths there is just not much we can do about that. We keep our dogs in an electric fence so they can't get out of the yard but a wolf could come into the yard just like the bears do. If we're going to live out here we have to expect that

Alpha male and female wolf mate for life. Only the alpha female of pack has pups.

Many believe the deer count is going down because of the wolves. Which would mean no deer for hunting season. Something that this state survives on. As of Jan 27, 2012 wolves are no longer on the federal endangered list for this state. The wolf count for 2011 was 800 wolves.

Even though they are off the list of endangered you still can't go out and hunt them. I'm sure as the numbers grow there will be a hunting season for them just like for bear.

My family members were born and raised here and they are hunters but I see no real reason in hunting a wolf they are not food. People won't be cutting them up putting them in their freeze for food for the winter. To me there is no use in it.

There are stories of attacks on humans. While walking in areas where wolves are humans should use caution. The DNR says to throw anything you have rocks or whatever to run off a wolf. If it's a pack of wolves...........Your in trouble. They are out for food and don't connect the difference between a human or a deer. There was a schoolteacher in Alaska that was fatally attacked by wolves.

If a coyotes can kill a folk singer on a path that many people traveled on than why wouldn't a wolf also attack humans. I saw the story of this attack on tv and they said the coyotes were hybrid they had, breed with wolves. I see so many stories on the internet where people will say wolves have never attacked humans. Just not true.

We have a friend that walks in an area where there is wolf pack and we have warned her to carry a gun just in case.

My husband works for a potato farm and says there is a wolf pack out there. They see them in the fields. He said one of the wolves is all black.

Of course I said to him your just seeing a coyote!!!!!!!!!

This year 2011 there is more then one black wolf in field. They have seen them even up close to the green houses. The potato farm doesn't worry about them. There is nothing they can hurt there unless they were to stalk the humans that work there.

They are brave have no problem following the tractors around the field. The guy that drives the tractor said he doesn't know what they expect to get from the tractor unless it's him. The tracker is digging up the ground and they could be looking for mice, shews or grubs. If their hungry they would eat anything.

We recently saw a wolf on a deer kill on the highway. I wanted a picture but it was hard to get one with so many cars slowing down to look.

Learn how to track a wolf. There are classes on that, it will only cost you $800.00. Way more than I would pay for a class but they have no trouble getting people in the class. I saw a story of it on tv and was shocked at how many people were in the class.

Endangered Resources Fund on the Wisconsin Income Tax Form, purchases of Endangered Resoures License Plates and support of private groups that promote sound wolf management.

Wolves are endangered and need to be protected but there are times when they are a danger to people and pets. They are putting radio collars on as many as they can to track them and see what their movements are.