Advertisement Thiel, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist, knows how to make the sound well. He used it to help monitor the return of a few timber wolves to the state from neighboring Minnesota in the late 1970s. He was then appointed project leader of the Wisconsin Wolf Recovery Project from 1979 to 1989.
 |
A blue jay stuffs its face with bread left on the ground on Goose Island near La Crosse. The bread also attracts deer, making the person who left it liable for illegally feeding deer. Check out the new Ridgerunner Reports photo gallery to see more pictures by Jim Solberg.
Photo by Jim Solberg |
The 1973 designation of the gray wolf as endangered by the federal government helped protect the wolves as the DNR carefully monitored their gradual increase from no animals in 1970 to around 550 in the state today. But Thiel noted this very success also has brought problems as some of the usually people-shy wolves come into conflict with Wisconsin’s human population.
They haven’t been attacking people, he stressed, but two of their natural behaviors have got them into trouble occasionally. First, a few individual wolves have found it easier to feed on livestock rather than their natural prey, the white-tailed deer.
Also, each wolf family, or pack, establishes and scent-marks a very well defined territory of 30 to 50 square miles. They fiercely defend that area from other canids, including domestic dogs, especially when the pups leave the dens in early summer. Sadly, as a result of this instinctive behavior, unaccompanied pets and hunting dogs are sometimes ruthlessly killed in wolf territories.
Under endangered species protection, even the DNR was helpless to actually remove problem animals and the state depended on less reliable deterrent methods and rather expensive compensation programs for victims. When the timber wolf was delisted in March 2007 however, the DNR could legally remove problem wolves or authorize farmers and pet owners to protect their animals during wolf predation.
But a lawsuit by the Humane Society and other animal protectionists resulted in a federal court decision in late September of this year that put the wolves back on the endangered list. That might sound great to some people, but to Thiel and others who want to keep wolves and people living together in harmony, delisting removed a crucial wolf management tool.
They hope wolves will be delisted once again so they can be better managed to keep the wolf population limited to areas where they have enough room to find enough natural food. The public also will need to avoid letting pets or hounds run freely into known wolf territories. The DNR has maps showing exactly where special caution is needed. With common sense, reasonable precautions and proper management we should all be able to coexist.
Feeding birds
November is a special month for those of us who love the outdoors. For many it means deer hunting and a taste of early mornings in the woods. In years past, it sometimes brought early ice and the first excitement of ice fishing.
And of course, November brings Thanksgiving with its special feelings of sharing and gratitude at wonderful family gatherings.
In the past few years, it has also become the time to begin watching the birds at winter feeders for me. I have been checking Goose Island south of La Crosse for awhile to see if the birds were coming in yet. Finally, after several stops with little to see, I noticed that they were definitely back.
One cold, cloudy November day, in a period of about an hour, I saw a dozen species come by. The usual gang was there of course — the assertive little black-capped chickadees, the white-breasted nuthatch, blue jays, cardinals, slate colored juncos, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers and red-bellied woodpeckers. Also there were some special guests — the red-breasted nuthatch, mourning doves, redwing blackbirds and a migrating white-crowned sparrow.
Surprisingly, the next day was sunny and pleasant but less than half of those species showed up. Go figure. But overall, that was a very encouraging start for the season. The only downer was the sight of white bread spread on the ground the first day I went.
Sure, the birds will eat it, and I doubt if it harms them much, but it also attracts the deer, which makes dumping it there illegal. The bread actually does harm the deer in various ways, so I hope those doing it will think better of it.
As I watched the birds, an eight-point buck sauntered by along the marsh. It seemed to be following the scent of a doe, but he suddenly began to drift toward the bread, sniffing all the way. Finally he went for a slice and would probably have eaten it all if I hadn’t chased him back into the woods.
Each year, the public has become much more responsible about letting the deer on Goose Island return to normal feeding patterns. I see far less dumping of junk food for the deer and some of the old haunts where the habituated deer congregated have returned to a more natural setting.
That’s great, but best of all, the deer on the island are learning to behave much more like wild deer again.
Whaditiz
A typical Wisconsin wolf pack consists of an alpha male and female (the parents) and three to five pups. There might also be a hanger-on or two and half of the year’s pups might die during the summer so a typical pack might have around five wolves.
Contact Jim Solberg at nitefrogger@charter.net or (608) 782-2560.
