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Email: timberwolfinfonetwork@gmail.com
Email: timberwolfinfonetwork@gmail.com

OR: Third kill chalked up to Rogue wolf pack

BUTTE FALLS — Officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed the Rogue Pack of gray wolves was responsible for two more killings of cow calves on a Butte Falls ranch last week, bringing the total loss for rancher Ted Birdseye to three calves within a week.

ODFW officials had already believed the second calf had been killed by the Rogue Pack, but waited another day to investigate further before confirming Friday, Jan. 12, that the pack had been responsible. In the interim, however, another calf was killed, within 500 yards of the first two casualties, according to a press release from ODFW.

GPS frequencies from the pack’s only collared member, a 2-year-old female called OR-54, helped authorities determine the pack was responsibility. Data collected at 2 a.m. Jan. 10 placed her 10 yards from the second carcass, and a reading at the same time Jan. 11 placed her 50 yards from the third carcass.

Physical evidence also is used to determine whether a pack made a kill. The most recent calf killed had several identifiable bite marks. The release said authorities found several wolf tracks and hair tufts along a chase scene that stretched 10 yards.

The second attack, which took two days to confirm, had less clear evidence of an attack, such as tracks or visible bite marks before death.

After the late-night attack Jan. 9, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist John Stephenson said the agency would continue to try using nonlethal deterrents to prevent any more kills. No official could be reached Monday to confirm whether that was still the case.

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