By Rob Ruth
Wallowa County Chieftain
State wildlife investigators confirmed a recent wolf attack on a calf in Wallowa County and determined that the calf’s mother cow had sustained “probable” wolf attack injuries.
According to an investigation summary released by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, ODFW received a report of an injured cow and calf on Sept. 3. The pair were on a U.S. Forest Service allotment on Jaynes Ridge, in a forested area frequented by the Imnaha Pack.
Wallowa County commissioner Susan Roberts, who was on hand for the Sept. 3 depredation investigation, said the cow and calf belonged to the Grouse Creek Ranch.
Both animals were alive at the time of the investigation. The wolf attack had apparently taken place weeks earlier. Investigators found the approximately 350-pound steer calf “had major injuries in the soft tissue between the hind legs (groin area) that were healing, but some were still open and draining. There were bite scrapes (some with scabs) on the lower hindquarters, groin and front legs,” the ODFW summary states.
The summary notes similarities between this calf’s injuries and those sustained by a calf discovered freshly injured at a location three miles away on July 26. “The size, location and depth of the bite wounds are typical of wolf attack,” the document states.
The cow’s physical injuries, though probably wolf-inflicted, weren’t nearly so extensive, amounting to three “small scrapes on the hindquarters,” according to ODFW.
The cow’s behavior had changed dramatically, though, a fact noted in the summary and confirmed by Roberts. “You couldn’t get close to her,” the commissioner said, describing the cow’s “highly agitated” reaction to anyone who approached the trailer where it was being held. She said the cow was previously known to be gentle but henceforth would require special handling.
Roberts said she and others at the investigation were surprised that the calf hadn’t succumbed to its injuries. “The fact that it was alive was absolutely amazing,” she said. “Huge hunks were healing where all the hide had been ripped off… Probably what saved him was he was in pretty good shape.”
Although the calf survived, its future value is greatly diminished. Roberts said the county’s depredation compensation fund would probably pay out for the loss calculated at the animal’s estimated full-grown weight, roughly 900 pounds.
Ranchers currently have to wait longer than a year to receive approved compensation amounts.