I saw a road killed wolf on I-94 east of Madison WI last night (just west of the Lake Mills exit). A state trooper was parked next to it. Someone had taken the head. It looked huge, much bigger than the female we saw in Quetico this summer. I predict that in the next few decades strains of wolf that are not averse to living in woodlots in farm country will reestablish packs throughout most of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Last year a young male with a Neceedah Wildlife Refuge tag was roadkilled in Antioch IL, another made it to the Indiana-Ohio border and was found dead by a farmer.

I have heard wolves in the BW many times. Have not seen one yet. Here in the urban sprawl of The Woodlands (just north on Houston). We have trouble with Coyotes. Over the past year they have greatly reduced the population of house cats. Seems they have a taste for the little furry things. Do the northern urban areas have this problem also?

Lots more up in Northern Minnesota too. In the last ten years there has been a huge surge of wolf sightings, everywhere. Some are even becoming tame, like the fox.

I had to stop for a wolf in the road just a mile west of Ely as I was leaving from my last adventure. (about July 24th, 7 AM)

Mickeal, are cougars still listed as vermin in Texas? We go crazy over sightings up north, Texas considers them pests. There are sporadic sightings of jaguars in the border states. That's pretty cool! A New Mexico rancher photographed one that his dogs cornered. We stayed on a dairy farm in Belize years ago where the farmer, a Mormon from upstate New York had a jag hide tacked to the barn. He said it was killing calves. They had live ocelots for sale for $25 in the market.

I have seen many cougars. They are a beautiful animal. To me it makes no sense to kill one. They are still killed by ranchers, especially out west. Parks and Wildlife likes for people to report sightings and mortalities. They can be hunted for sport. You need a Texas hunting license(resident or non)and property owners permission. I had one take a small deer last year near my stand. I did not know it was in the area and neither did the deer. As far as jaguars, I have not seen one yet, but now that I hunt 75 mile west of Del Rio and about 4 miles from the border there is a chance.

Mickeal, I've seen Coyotes in the woods near my cabin for years, but in the last few years I've seen them near my home in Southern Michigan, and even in the city of Lansing. Definitely becoming more numerous.

I've seen two coyotes in the past two years in the cities.
One in the dead of winter in Minnetonka, and the other on W. 78th street coming out of downtown Chanhassen just North of Highway 5, trotting down the sidewalk, a couple months ago, drove right buy it with the wife and kids, didn't appear to have been skipping meals either.

Helle

Mickeal,

Several years ago, I was in Sanderson TX and met a sheep rancher with a stack of pictures 2 inches high with the cougars he killed. He said cougar is the best tasting game bar none. A few of them were huge, well over 150 pounds. They are quite plentiful in SW Texas and northern Mexico along the Rio Grande.

I have a friend who has a place on Rock Lake in Lake Mills. I will ask her to watch the local paper about this and if I hear anything I will let everyone know. It doesn't surprise me . I have heard reports of wolves near the area where I hunt although I have not seen any. Just coyotes. And the coyotes are in the Milwaukee, Wi area too as we have seen them in our neighborhood. Izzy

Chicago has more than a few Coyotes - not only in the suburbs are the housecats and small dogs living (or perishing) in terror, but there was one in the absolute downtown Chicago last Spring that walked into a sandwich shop.... and proceeded to sit in the open cooler.

In my neighborhood the racoon population is noticeably smaller.;-)

Wolves we don't have. Except for a Hockey team.

Coyotes are everywhere. When I lived in Boston, MA about 6 years ago the city of Fall River, MA hired someone to come in and kill the coyotes that were living in the city. Have not heard of that with wolves yet, but they certainly seem to be getting less shy around people. I saw one last spring crossing the hwy near Brainerd, MN. 2 years ago on Ensign lake we had one come into our camp while we were sitting there and just look at us for about 30 seconds.

The amazing thing about the influx of coyotes is how fast they established populations in suburban areas once they got started. Twenty five years ago there were none in the Chicago area, now they are common, and becoming more so. A farmer in downstate Illinois told me that until the 1950's there were no whitetail deer in Clark County. They had been completely extirpated by about 1920. Until the 1970's they were rare. Now of course they are everywhere. Canada geese did the same thing. There is a natural selection that favors individuals that are not hardwired to avoid man made landscapes and human activity. They can exploit a new opportunity. I believe that this is what will happen with timber wolves and farm country, as long as they are protected and there is an abundant supply of deer. These dogs are at the wolf center in Ely.

I can't wait for them to repopulate the Midwest. I'm from Indiana, I thought it was great to hear that a Wolf made it this far south.

It was unfortunate that it was found dead though.

We saw a wolf, probably a female, last May on our way over to the Burntside public access. There are plenty of coyotes in the west metro. We used to hear them out in the Medina/Loretto area and I spent one night camping in Victoria last fall and heard coyotes all night.

I saw one cross the fernberg road in the middle of the afternoon this past june.

On our drive home from the North Shore this fall we were approaching Duluth on 61 the Expressway (From Two Harbors). Given the highway speeds I could not say 100% that what I saw was a wolf and not a coyote, but I can say that it appeared to be 80+# which from reading would make it the largest coyote on record. It stepped out of the woods on the north side of the highway as we were passing by-when I saw the movement I expected to see a deer but to my amazement pretty sure it was a wolf-the first I have seen in the wild. I have seen plenty of coyotes around the TC. Those opossum and redtail hawks seem to be thriving in spite of the urban sprawl.
tg

my favorite wolf story is courtesy of TGO-i think...someone posted about hearing wolves all night in the Burntside area-come to find out there is a dog kennel (sled dogs presumably) near by-lol.
tg

Pretty sure we saw a wolf on 61 as well on the way back from GM this last labor day. It lumbered across the road and we had to slam on our breaks. It was literally heading right for Betties Pies. It slowly walked across the road and was easily 90+ lbs. I thought it was odd though as it wasn't scared of cars, and was heading right for a Betties Pies.

Hey TG;

Possum in the Twin Cities? Wow, in 23 years living there I never saw one.

Now, in the Chicago area, where I've been for the past 10 years, they are almost as numerous as the squirrels.

Interesting to know that they've made their way that far north. More evidence of global warming?

Although there may be a "dog yard" on Burntside there are also plenty of wolves in that area. Sled dogs and wolves actually sound quite different if you have heard both. I spend a lot of time on Burntside and have seen and heard wolves on the West End and North Arm.

Saw a dead Possum near Little Falls, MN last week. The mild winters we have been having lately have been allowing them to migrate further north than ever.

I've spent some time on Burntside the last few years and have heard both. Big difference between sled dog & wolf howls. You can almost set your watch by the sled dogs! However, I did hear wolves when I was up there last June. :) :) :) I'm presuming it was the Burntside Pack.

i didn't mean to suggest there was no way it was wolves-but if it were me, knowing that there is a kennel in the area would at least put my "encounter" into question. kinda burst the bubble-so i thought it was funny. i've taken a dozen or so trips into the BWCA and i've heard what i suspect were wolves but i know better than to assume. until i hear and see them side by side i guess i will remain ignorant or at least uncertain. perhaps it was my mistake taking TGOs word as gospel, but I trust his experience and knowledge of the area being a resident and all...back when he made the comment it didn't ruffle nearly this many feathers:)

nolan-i can't remember seeing one until the last few years. they're always roadkill-have yet to see one breathing.

tg

tg,
No feathers ruffled here. I also believe that many times people hear a dog yard or coyotes and mistake them for wolves. I also know TGO knows the area very well and agree with him that there are some dog teams in the area. I also know it would be foolish to say there aren't MANY wolves in the Burntside area (Ely area in general) right now. I've seen them and heard them. I've also been around many dog teams and there is no mistake between a hungry bunch of pullers and a pack of wolves if you know the difference.

I think that the main distinction between adult wolf and dog vocalizations is that wolves very seldom bark. When they do, it is in very short, private communications between individuals. Dogs of course bark in loud rhythmic and often group vocalizations. If you hear barking, it's dogs. The wolf howling I have heard is long and sounds meaningful. Often in a call and response manner between individuals and groups separated by some pretty long distances,(the lake I'm camped on if I'm lucky). If it sounds like Charles Manson has escaped prison, dropped acid and is now gleefully torturing the neighbor's cat, that's a coyote.

An interesting side effect of the establishment of strong and stable wolf packs in northern Wisconsin is that they will not tolerate packs of bear hounds parading through their territories. They see them as intruders from unknown packs, to be dealt with violently. The hounds are pretty small compare to wolves and don't stand a chance. And typically their handlers are trailing behind somewhere. A bear hunter that runs a pack in Forest County told me he has lost some pretty valuable dogs to wolves. When his hounds smell or hear wolves now, they shut down like scared puppies. Won't get out of their crates. And these are dogs that are completely fearless in the face of a big cornered boar black bear.

I contend that a hungry, well organized pack of wolves is the climax predator on this continent. The old adage of wolves preying on only the weak and old is fantasy. It's all about risk and reward. Post rut bull moose in the prime of life gets caught in deep snow by a hungry pack, he's a goner. That pack has to kill to eat and reproduce. Losing individuals to formidable prey is the price they pay. It's all about the pack, not the individual wolf.

right on guys-local i'm very jealous...i have had great luck spotting moose and avoiding bears:) but significantly less luck with wolf encounters.

i love wolves! baked ,broiled ,and barbecued!

Just the response I expected from the east! One of ignorance.

In 2005 my partner and I encountered a very large male timberwolf on the gravel road that goes back into the Entry Point #84 area. He sauntered out of the woods right in front of us, turned as if to say, Ahh a buffet and then headed down the road in front of us. It was the second wolf sighting of the summer for me. The first occurred on Highway 77 east of Minong, Wisconsin (about 3 miles east near Wagonner's). The nursing female came out of the trees on the south side of the highway and ran directly down the middle of the highway right at us. I stopped and she ran right next to my car (about 5 feet away). She turned to look at me and say hello then crossed the road and headed north right past an old shack that stands on that piece of property. I have a retreat west of Minong and have on two occasions lsitened to timberwolves howling in that area. The DNR says that there is a pack of them south of Highway 77 but I'm sure the wolves do not know that they are not supposed to cross north of that highway to hunt and howl.

I have plenty of coyotes surrounding my home right here in central Columbia County, Wisconsin (20 miles north of Madison). I could tell you a hair-raising story about being surrounded by a pack of those devils one night in the dark after they'd eaten about half of a whitetailed deer we were looking for that had been shot just before dark. Those critters were not willing to give up the meat and in the end they didn't give it up - we did.

We have tons of coyotes here in SE MN. I've caught a glimpse of them occasionally while hunting. I see a few a year that were hit by cars. The thing that hunters in my area needed to be concerned about in the past was a pack of feral dogs. Coyotes were shy and skittish, but the dogs were aggressive. I have heard about them in a couple years. I think they were "taken care of".

Attention wolf fans: check out PBS/Nature next Sunday, November 4 for the premier of filmmaker Bob Landis' latest project. He spent 3 years filming Yellowstone's famed Druid Pack.

In the Valley of the Wolves

There are several healthy pack in the Neecdah WLR, 50 miles north of Madison WI. That area is it seems the source of the adolescent males that wander south in search of the ladies and some territory to support them. I know that there have been manmade reintroductions into Yellowstone, but didn't some of those wolves find their way south on their own from Alberta? I read that a stud male that wandered down from Canada and sired over a hundred descendants died recently in Yellowstone. Ripped to shreds and devoured by his own grandsons. I'm all for establishing healthy self sustaining packs wherever the land can support them. Predation by wolves down here can only improve the quality of the whitetail herd, by reducing the quantity. But the definition of a truly robust wolf population is the day I can apply for a tag to hunt these marvelous beast.

Last night, driving back from a Huskers game in Indiana, I saw what appeared to be a wolf crossing Interstate 90/94, a little east of Wisconsin Dells. It was WAY too big to be a Coyote.

There was one killed by a car in Crawford County WI (SW WI) in 2021…DNR confirmed. Young male, probably on walkabout…many species do this. I’ve seen individual moose and wolverine hundreds of miles out of their normal range…

Wisconsin Duck Hunter Shoots, Kills One of Five Gray Wolves That Surrounded His Blind. A 19-year-old Wisconsin duck hunter shot and killed a gray wolf at point-blank range on Sept. 21 while hunting on public land in Oneida County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Findian: "Wisconsin Duck Hunter Shoots, Kills One of Five Gray Wolves That Surrounded His Blind. A 19-year-old Wisconsin duck hunter shot and killed a gray wolf at point-blank range on Sept. 21 while hunting on public land in Oneida County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources "

Wow. You need to be really close to kill an animal that size with a shotgun, especially with bird shot. Self-defense sounds right to me.

nolanbunch: "Hey TG;



Possum in the Twin Cities? Wow, in 23 years living there I never saw one.



Now, in the Chicago area, where I've been for the past 10 years, they are almost as numerous as the squirrels.



Interesting to know that they've made their way that far north. More evidence of global warming?"

About 8 years ago a few opossums moved into the Brainerd area. I think they disappeared after that.
I hope we don't get them here; they are an exotic and are good egg nest robbers of eggs like Ruff Grouse.

We have wolves in the back yard.