More info from feds urged after hounds killed, injured.
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Wolves killed or injured four dogs in Jackson Hole this month, even as residents and wildlife managers worked to come to grips with the predators expanding their territory and moving closer to humans.
The most recent incident occurred in Buffalo Valley, where a pack killed three hounds that went missing from their yard near the Blackrock Ranger Station on March 7.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel helped the dogs’ owner, Jack Hatch, find and retrieve the carcasses March 16.
A fourth dog returned to Hatch’s cabin uninjured March 10.
The four dogs disappeared after Hatch heard them get into a scuffle.
“I usually give them a couple of hours in the morning to run in the yard,” he said. “I was in my tack room, and that’s when I heard a commotion.”
Hatch attempted to follow the dogs on snowshoes and horseback, but snow and high water made pursuit impossible, he said.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel warned that wolves were nearby right after the dogs went missing, but the warning came too late.
“One of the wolf guys called and asked me if I had any problems because he tracked the wolves to my house,” Hatch said.
Hatch and his neighbors looked for the dogs for several days before Fish and Wildlife personnel said they found their carcasses.
“They found one of the dogs on a ridge, and then 200 yards away they found another dog, and then after another 200 yards they found another dog,” Hatch said.
The dogs were partially eaten.
“They’re family dogs,” Hatch said. “They were born and raised here from pups. They were trained to follow my horse. They’re [some] of the most personable, friendly dogs you could be around.”
Hatch and his wife considered giving the dogs away.
“I was afraid of this happening,” he said. “I have to lock them up in boxes at night.”
Hatch also built a 5-foot-high fence around a portion of his property to protect the dogs.
The incident in Buffalo Valley comes after a group of wolves that has roamed subdivisions in west Jackson, South Park and south of Wilson attacked and injured a dog last week. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf manager Mike Jimenez would not say where the incident occurred, but he has estimated two wolves are currently traveling together.
Jimenez’s unwillingness to disclose the location of the attack is a disservice to the community, said Alice Eve Richter, who lives in the Skyline Ranch subdivision west of Jackson and owns four dogs.
“I was very disappointed in Mike,” she said. “He refused to tell me where that wolf attack occurred. I don’t think that was right.
“An animal, if it becomes a pet, becomes part of the family, and I think you want to protect your family,” Richter continued. “Before you know it, you have an investment in those animals, a financial and emotional investment.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to release more information about the incident doesn’t help wolves or the people who live among them, said Chris Colligan, Wyoming wildlife advocate for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
“Agencies really run into difficulty when they aren’t transparent,” he said. “With transparency comes trust. Because there hasn’t been transparency, the public has some valid questions.”
Colligan was quick to say that Jimenez has done a good job keeping the public informed in the past.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could better serve the public by educating people, not keeping them in the dark, Colligan said.
“Residents of Jackson Hole need to be proactive — keeping their dogs on a leash, keeping them contained and keeping pet foods away from all wildlife,” he said. “The better informed people are, the better decisions people can make in adapting their own behavior. This is cutting-edge wildlife management.”
Jimenez defended his decision not to disclose the location of the wolf attack, saying the incident occurred on private property. Also, wolves range widely and rarely attack in the same place, he said.
“Where these wolves were has little to do with where wolves are,” he said. “How many times do wolves kill in the same spot? Virtually never.”
“We’ve had 153 dogs killed in the three states since the early ’90s,” Jimenez said. “This is the whole point of saying this is an inappropriate place for a wolf.”
Colligan said Jackson Hole residents have begun to adapt to grizzly bears by enacting Teton County regulations on keeping garbage and other human sources of food secure. Residents will need a similar effort to adapt as wolves expand their territory.
“Where else in the lower 48 do we have an intact ecosystem will all four large carnivores?” Colligan asked. “Residents in and around the town of Jackson will need to become as proactive as someone who lives in Buffalo Valley. It’s no different than what we’ve seen with bears.”
Wildlife managers need to step up wolf management and give landowners more latitude when dealing with the predators, Hatch said.
“I don’t have anything against the wolf people,” he said, “but I think that there’s some things that need to change. You have to let people protect their personal property. It’s just being a poor neighbor turning these things loose and not managing them.”
Wildlife managers plan to capture and kill the wolves involved in the dog injury in west Jackson, but at least one outfitter says the wolves should be allowed to stay where they are.
“Those wolves are actually doing more good because that is the area where we can’t get a harvest on those elk,” said B.J. Hill, owner of Swift Creek Outfitters. “If the wolf lovers want these wolves, then they need to learn to live with them, especially when you live next to a national park.”