Wolves Being Reintroduced to Virginia and West Virginia

[jsbhike]

@OH58D

Dealing with predators is a way of life in ranching. Last year we lost calves to a Mountain Lion (Puma Concolor). We brought in a tracker with hounds and chased it up on to some rugged mesas where it ventured over to the neighboring ranch. It was never caught. Here’s a pic of two of our calves killed last year by the Lion. It’s apparent the Lion fed for a short time but never finished:

That’s about the only 4 legged thing in this area that would be a concern from what I have heard and that is likely lightning strike/lotto winning odds. Would like to see one and bear, just preferably not waking up to one face to face.

[OH58D]

@Circle_10

I’m probably in the minority on this board, but coyotes are actually one of my favorite animals. In part because of their aptitude for thriving despite all attempts to wipe them off the face of the earth. Not only do they persist, but they actually expand their range, move into new areas, and live under our very noses. They are fantastically smart and have really succeeded under circumstances and in habitats where wolves just can’t.
Except for the wolves we domesticated and turned into dogs of course.

Canis Latrans (Coyote) are really interesting critters out here in the rural west. They are a lot leaner here than the ones in Maine and other parts of the East. They also serve a purpose of keeping the rodent population down.

Some years back I was camped with a roundup crew on a mesa near here and we were all in a canvas base camp tent in our sleeping bags. That night had a full moon. Around 2am we started hearing a lot of yipping and commotion. I went to the door and about 100 yard away were a group of Coyotes jumping around, chasing each other, and having a grand ol’ time under that bright full moon. I will never forget that sight - normally you only see them individually on the move in daylight.

[Kyohte]

Obviously I’m also partial to coyotes (thus the name). The “Coywolves” of the NE actually have dog in them too. The coyotes out here aren’t really a threat to anything bigger than a small deer and mostly eat rodents, as someone stated. It’s really cool to hear them howl out in the desert. It’s said that once humanity blows itself to oblivion, a coyote will be there to piss on the bones.

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[Nightvisionary]

@John_W

Wolves are in Idaho and Deer/Elk/Mountain Lions and Moose are in abundance. Elk bugle all the time.

//youtu.be/ysa5OBhXz-Q

You are comparing apples to oranges. In Idaho you can hunt wolves and hunt cougar with dogs. In Oregon you cannot. Wolves are a lesser issue in Idaho because they are managed.

[jpmuscle]

In a similar vein I often ponder the self righteousness of man as it relates to the natural world and I lol.

Like, man goes into the ocean and gets eaten by a shark, then EVERYONE LOSES THEIR DAMN MINDS.

I find it bemusing since once you step of the sidewalk and into the wilderness we’re not the Apex predator anymore one on one.

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[teufelhund1918]

@Circle_10

I just noticed that the article linked above is dated 2002…so I’m guessing this never ended up happening anyway.

Lol… you are 100% correct. The original article I was emailed has the dates moved to reflect 2020, etc. Part of the article I was sent via email:

“By Peter McPherson, Affiliated Press Services, 12/18/19*
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Calling several counties in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia “ideal habitat, some of the best wolf territory in the southeast”, officials from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U. S. Forest Service announced the planned initial release of six gray wolf breeding pairs in the Monongahela and George Washington National Forests during January, 2022.
Additional breeding pairs are scheduled to be released during 2022 and 2024. The wolves were raised at the USFWS breeding station in Maine and Minnesota and transported to an undisclosed holding area in Virginia.”

While the date is old on the article, there is a push here for their reintroduction. Lots of folks think it has already happened, along with them releasing cougars and mountain lions. A few of those cats have met their maker the last few years even though Va Dept of Game says they aren’t here.

I got sucka’d… I guess Abe Lincoln said it best when he said, “The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine.”

[Adrenaline_6]

I’m no expert either, but watching a documentary on how it affected Yellowstone was very interesting. Who knew the effects it had on the overall behavior of prey animals and the landscape that they fed and walked on.

We, as humans eff up so many things without even realizing what we’ve done.

[Circle_10]

@teufelhund1918

Lol… you are 100% correct. The original article I was emailed has the dates moved to reflect 2020, etc. Part of the article I was sent via email:

“By Peter McPherson, Affiliated Press Services, 12/18/19*
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Calling several counties in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia “ideal habitat, some of the best wolf territory in the southeast”, officials from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U. S. Forest Service announced the planned initial release of six gray wolf breeding pairs in the Monongahela and George Washington National Forests during January, 2022.
Additional breeding pairs are scheduled to be released during 2022 and 2024. The wolves were raised at the USFWS breeding station in Maine and Minnesota and transported to an undisclosed holding area in Virginia.”

While the date is old on the article, there is a push here for their reintroduction. Lots of folks think it has already happened, along with them releasing cougars and mountain lions. A few of those cats have met their maker the last few years even though Va Dept of Game says they aren’t here.

I got sucka’d… I guess Abe Lincoln said it best when he said, “The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine.”

Yeah, I mean I’m obviously not completely apprised of everything .gov does in my state, but I’ve never heard of the USFWS running a wolf breeding facility in Maine.
There were discussions in the early 2000s (probably around the same time the article you linked to was written) about reintroducing wolves to Maine too, but it never went anywhere. In part because nobody was totally sure what type of wolf we even had in Maine (Grey? Red? “Eastern”? Or are they all so similar it doesn’t matter??), and also our coyotes were becoming so wolf like on their own via hybridization and filling a vacant niche that there wasn’t much sense in bringing actual wolves back. Plus there was the pushback from hunters and farmers etc…
I don’t see reintroduction of wolves in Maine ever happening and I don’t think it needs to happen. If they migrate back into the state on their own from Canada I’m in favor of protecting them but there’s no sense in getting government agencies involved in making it happen artificially.

[Johnny_Rico]

@Circle_10

Here’s one of our big wolfish Maine coyotes. That’s my shed and the corner of my house in the background. I live in a semi-suburban/rural neighborhood so I’m not way out in the sticks or something.

Even if we had actual wolves in Maine I doubt they would come this close to civilization, they are a lot less tolerant of proximity to humans than their smaller cousins.

What is that? A direyote?