Alison Morrow, KING
The first central Washington rancher to lose cows to wolves is now bracing for another grazing season.
Earlier this month, Sam Kayser moved his cattle from his ranch in Ellensburg to a grassy area in the Teanaway Valley. It’s a day that comes every year, a centuries-old practice with modern day cowboys.
For the full grown cows, the Teanaway Valley is a second home. The bulls are quick to return to their old routine. But for the calves, this is new grass and a new adventure.
Their only protection is their mom and the herd.
Kayser invited us to see where the cattle will graze until October. It’s state owned land that Kayser rents, a spot that’s also home to a new predator.
“Putting a plate of candy in front of a kid before dinner,” Bill Johnson said. “You want to keep the two separate by as much real estate as possible.”
Johnson is a range rider with Conservation Northwest, tasked with moving cattle away from wolves that live nearby.
This year, space is tight and the Teanaway pack’s den is not far from where they’ll graze.
The cows don’t like the noise or the stress of the cattle drive. It’s like New York City rush hour in the middle of nowhere, but separation from the herd can be deadly.
“It’s interesting how quickly the scavenging animals take care of the carcasses. Within a week, there wasn’t a bone to be found on this site,” Johnson said.
Johnson pointed to the spot where wolves attacked a 400-pound calf last year. It was one of two cows owned by Kayser that wolves killed in the area.
“When a wolf attacks an animal, they come in from the back-end. They attack these big muscles right here. When they bite down, it cramps the muscle on the hind quarter. It brings the animal down,” Johnson said.
That’s how Johnson and wildlife officials identify a wolf kill.
Kayser is the first central Washington rancher to lose cattle to wolves.
“They’re going to be here and I suppose it’s going to happen,” Kayser replied.
Over the years, the Teanaway wolf pack has split up. Some went north, but those who stayed in the Teanaway Valley aren’t collared with GPS, so now there’s no way for Johnson to monitor their movement remotely from his computer like he has in the past.
“I don’t know where the wolves are, I could be driving with the young calves right into the jaws of those wolves,” Johnson said.
Johnson believes the cows discovered wolves long before humans did.
“Five years ago, the cows turned and started chasing the dogs, attacking the dogs,” he said. “And the cattle would start bunching in groups.”
Wolves can smell the cows from miles away.
“The wolves are here to stay, but they’re kind of like people in Seattle. When you have too many of them, you have trouble downtown.”
Kayser hopes this “downtown” is big enough for both wolves and his cattle. He’ll wait five months for the answer.