Dog owners wary of wolves
By Jim Lee
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
PARK FALLS As Wisconsins timber wolf population expands, attacks on hunting dogs have become more frequent, particularly in the northern half of the state where the bulk of wolf habitat lies.
Since 1986, when the first claim was filed, weve had 82 dogs killed by wolves and 27 injured that we know of, said Adrian Wydeven, Department of Natural Resources wolf expert. We paid for most of those claims, but there were a few cases when people did not request payment.
As of the end of June, we had paid $144,200 for the 82 dogs killed and about $10,000 for veterinarian bills, most of it for dogs but for other animals as well.
Hunting dog fatalities were infrequent until the mid-1990s.
It seems like every year after 1996 when the wolf population exceeded 100 animals that weve had dogs killed, Wydeven said. Since then, it seems to have become an annual event. The number of dogs killed has been higher in the past four or five years.
Seventeen dogs were killed by wolves in 2001, the highest number of fatal attacks to date. Fifteen dogs were killed in 2004, the second-highest total on record. Five dogs have been lost to wolves thus far in 2005.
Hounds pursuing bear, bobcat or coyote have been the target in almost every wolf attack, Wydeven said. Hounds noisily track their targets well ahead of hunters, often into deeply wooded areas where wolves are the dominant predator and view the dog as an interloper in their territory.
Weve had four or five beagles killed by wolves, Wydeven said. But we havent had any bird dogs attacked by wolves while in a hunting situation. The human presence is a deterrent. Grouse hunters stay close to their dogs. Their whistling and calling is usually enough to prevent wolves from hanging around.
But we have had a couple of bird dogs attacked while just roaming near homes. One was a Brittany spaniel in central Wisconsin that was running on dikes near a cranberry bog.
Wydeven said 80 of the states 108 wolf packs are located where bear hunting with dogs is practiced, and three packs have been responsible for most of the recent attacks. It seems some packs are more prone to attacking dogs, he said.
Minnesota saw its wolf population increase from an estimated 2,450 in 1998 to 3,020 wolves in 2004 while wolf range remain unchanged. That means wolves are occupying smaller territories.
I think were starting to see some of that here, too, Wydeven said. In the last few years, wolf territories have been averaging about 40 square miles. It used to be 50 to 60 square miles. Still, some territories are as small as 20 square miles, and others are as large as 80 to 100 square miles.
A large deer herd can sustain more wolves on less land, he said. Where deer are in shorter supply, a wolf pack needs a larger territory to sustain it.
As wolf packs evolve into tighter territories, the odds of hunters and their dogs encountering wolves increases.
Were starting to see wolves moving into more developed areas, Wydeven said.
Wolf packs have established residence at Mead Wildlife Area and Dewey Marsh Wildlife Area, both tracts of public land in the midst of farm country north of Stevens Point, places that we had considered only marginal habitat for wolves, he said.
The 1999 Wolf Management Plan set a goal of 350 wolves for Wisconsin outside Indian reservations. The most recent estimate not including 2005 production put the state wolf population at 414 to 442 outside reservations.
Wisconsin has downlisted the timber wolf to protected species status, but the federal government still considers it an endangered species and thus entitled to full protection.
If a hunter encounters a wolf attacking his dog, he can shout and try to scare it off, but currently you cant shoot the wolf itself, Wydeven said.
If the federal government delists the timber wolf and restores management authority to the state of Wisconsin, private landowners might be allowed to kill a wolf attacking livestock but that authority is unlikely to be given a hunter defending his dog on public land, Wydeven said.
Hunters warned about poison
Hunters in northwestern Wisconsin are cautioned to be on the alert for a situation poisonous to their dogs.
In March, the Department of Natural Resources found the presence of dog-food type edibles laced with pesticide in backwoods areas of Ashland and Price counties.
“Whether these were put out by someone trying to kill dogs or wolves or some other predator, we don?t know,” said Adrian Wydeven, DNR wolf expert. “We really don’t know if any more is still out there. We want folks to report any findings to us.”
One poisonous portion was found in southern Price County, northwest of Prentice. About a half-dozen portions were found west of Glidden in Ashland County.
They were spotted along remote logging roads by DNR and U.S. Forest Service crews doing wildlife tracking surveys.
“At this time, we haven’t heard of any new locations,” Wydeven said.