By Ann McCreary
John Stevie was awakened about 1:30 a.m. last Sunday (March 10) by frantic barking. His Siberian husky-wolf hybrid, Lopi, was throwing himself at doors leading from the kitchen to an outdoor deck of his home.
Stevie rushed to the kitchen and threw open the French doors to the deck to see what was upsetting Lopi. In the light from the kitchen, he saw his other dog, a 60-pound female husky-wolf hybrid named Shelby, pinned down by another canine that had its jaws around her head.
Stevie began instinctively reaching out to try to pull them apart. The attacking animal was startled by Stevie’s sudden appearance and looked up at him, still gripping Shelby’s head. Stevie realized he was face-to-face with a wolf.
“They’ve got different eyes. Kind of yellowish, greenish. It was showing its teeth,” Stevie said.
A moment later Lopi, who weighs about 100 pounds, bounded onto the deck and attacked the wolf. The two fought briefly before the wolf leaped through the wooden railing around the deck, landed on snow about five feet below the deck and took off running, with Lopi in pursuit.
Stevie has lived at his home on Vista Way for eight years with his partner, Sharon Willoya, and son Seth. Located at the foot of McClure Mountain, the area is a haven for wildlife, and Stevie said he has seen bears, cougars and wolves on many occasions. “I had a bear one time chase my dog up on the deck,” he said.
His home is also near known territory of the Lookout gray wolf pack. Stevie said he has seen wolves about seven times over the years, and four times in the past year, but never this close.
When the wolf got to its feet next to Lopi, the wolf stood about four inches taller than the dog, Stevie said. He guessed the wolf weighed 100 to 140 pounds. The wolf was a silver-beige color with dark, almost black streaks along his sides.
Lopi returned about 6 a.m., unhurt. Shelby sustained puncture wounds and lacerations to her head from the attack, and is slowly recovering, Stevie said.
Stevie called Okanogan County dispatch at about 8 a.m. Sunday to report the attack. Dispatch notified the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Jason Day, an enforcement officer, arrived about 10:30 a.m. He was joined by Troy McCormick, also a WDFW enforcement officer, and Jeff Henlein, WDFW assistant district biologist.
Day said the wildlife officials interviewed Stevie, examined the injured dog, and searched the area for paw prints and other evidence.
Day said the investigators also took swabs from the wounds on Shelby’s head, hoping to obtain a DNA sample from saliva. The dog “was still very traumatized. The most concerning thing was the fact that her whole head had been bitten,” Day said.
“We found several really good tracks in the snow by the deck and by a stream” near the house, Day said. Wolf tracks are distinct from dog tracks; they are larger and have shorter claws, he said.
“When you encounter a wolf track, you’re going to be startled at the size,” Day said. “The male dog’s tracks were only three and a half inches across. The wolf print was wider than four inches.”
He said tracks showed no indication of other wolves in the area.
Based on the evidence, Day said, “there is a high probability that it was a wolf” that attacked Stevie’s dog. “Certainly with the Lookout pack in the area and the size of the tracks” the evidence points to that, Day said. The description of the animal’s coloring, “almost a coyote color with dark sides,” matches the coloring of Lookout pack wolves, Day said.
Wolves are territorial
Day said conflicts between wolves and dogs are natural, because “wolves just don’t like other dogs. They’re very territorial.”
He said it’s not possible to say if the wolf involved in the attack is part of the local Lookout gray wolf pack or if it is a lone wolf passing through the area. “When a wolf decides to go off and find a territory, they’ll wander hundreds of miles,” Day said.
Stevie said Shelby often likes to stay outdoors at night, so it was not unusual for her to be outside. The dog was treated by a local veterinarian Sunday evening, who shaved the fur off areas of her head and neck that had been bitten, cleaned the wounds and gave her antibiotics. Stevie said his vet bills are about $300.
Day said wildlife officials would take action, such as hazing, to prevent any further conflicts, “if there’s a systematic occurrence of attacks.” If not, the incident would be considered “an isolated incident. The wolf is just doing what a wolf does.”
Stevie said he is “anti-wolf completely… there’s a reason they got rid of them. They’re killing machines.”
Stephanie Simek, wildlife conflict section manager for WDFW, said the department recently created a conflict management division to deal with issues involving primarily deer, elk and wolves.
She said the state’s wolf management plan includes provisions for compensation to livestock owners who lose animals to wolf predation, but not for pet owners. Local ranchers Bernard and Diane Thurlow of Carlton were awarded about $1,500 for three calves that were injured last year in a wolf attack and for expenses involved in traveling to check their cattle.
Simek said legislation introduced in the current legislative session might address compensation for pet owners. In the meantime, she said, conservation groups and other “stakeholders” may provide assistance. She said WDFW staff will meet with citizens to provide information about ways to reduce wildlife conflicts. The department has scheduled a meeting for hunters to discuss wolf/ungulate conflicts on March 27 in Colville.
The Methow Valley is home to the first gray wolf pack identified in the state in more than 80 years. The Lookout Pack included at least four adults or yearlings and six pups in the summer of 2008. Poaching decimated the pack, and wildlife officials believe there are two wolves now remaining in the Lookout Pack territory.
Gray wolves are protected in the western two-thirds of Washington state, including the Methow Valley, under the federal Endangered Species Act. They are protected as endangered by state law throughout Washington.