Wolves Gone Wild

I was prowling through the old Mexican Gray Wolf reports and I found a paragraph in the report from the wolf report wild side. from the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Update October 20 - November 1, 2001

CAPTIVE MANAGEMENT On October 24, two wolves (M184, M520) were transferred from the Ladder Ranch and Sevilleta wolf facilities to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas. These two males were removed as potential release candidates due to behavioral (would not pair bond) and physical (inability to breed) reasons.

Ok so what does “inability to breed” mean? These Mexican wolves are gay?

Or maybe they just did not want to mate with their sisters.

You see the original breeding consisted of 4 males and one remaining female. So all these wolves are really closely related. Those wolves must have known we don’t do that sort of thing in the Southwestern United States at least not in their historical range.

Maybe they needed to show these boys a little wolf on wolf action or send them to the bar so they could get their beer goggles on.

Sorry if anyone is offended, but this little paragraph buried in an old report was just too absurd not to post.

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Racy title for something that sounds so mundane and nice doesn’t it. The Sky Islands is really all about the twist in how it will be used. Whether you live near or far from the southwestern Sky Islands area you will be affected by the future environmental extreme perfect storm.

 

Corridor of Protection  

Here is what the Sky Island people would like you to believe. That is all about preserving a corridor for plants and animals. Maintaining animals that are endangered like the Mexican Gray Wolf sounds nice what has been implemented is not with consideration of the whole ecosystem, you see introducing dangerous predators comes with a whole goodie bag of problems. 

 

Take a look at both maps.

Does anything about this corridor to Mexico bother you?

 

 

 

 

Source biology.usgs.gov      

Please do not fall into the trap of thinking this is about protecting lands for future use. It is not. I am very environmental and want lands protected as well as animals. But the friction occurs because we should be able to enjoy and appreciate these lands. We should be able to live in and around these lands in harmony without fear of dealing with dangerous predators like the wolf and jaguar and the special protection that goes with these government protected animals. So while the Sky Islands might sound lovely the devil is in the details, the controlling agencies and implementation. 

From the Sky Islands website 

Weldon Heald coined the term “sky islands” in 1967 to denote mountain ranges that are isolated from each other by intervening valleys of grassland or desert. The valleys of this basin and range country act as barriers to the movement of woodland and forest species somewhat like saltwater seas isolate plants and animals on oceanic islands. The 40 ranges of the Sky Island system may be thought of as an archipelago.

What we have seen in in the ”managed” wolf program was wolves really traveling.  These saltwater sea like deserts are nothing to stop a predator from exploring for a new mate or diner. 

 

Follow the Money (Everyone wants to be a Rock Star)

The scientific studies done by these biologists benefiting with fame and finances (not to mention a sweet government paid for 4×4 ride), is expectedly skewed to their benefit and does not take the whole ecosystem including humans into the mix. Often these rock star biologists exaggerate the number of prey animals available for these predators, how much meat they will actually eat and then ignore, as in the case of the wolf, the number of animals killed just for sport.

The studies also commonly ignore the human toll. Just how many dead calves do you have to pick up before you just get sick of it? How many business do you have to destroy before you consider something recovered? If you think it is not your horse, dog, or favorite animal think again. Predators are opportunistic and do not eat only one variety of prey.

 

Locking Down the Land

 

 

The twist is that this designation will be used to lock down these areas from use by the people that are paying the tab. What is worse is as dangerous predators are introduced to these habit areas as has been done in the Apache Sitgreaves and Gila National Forests anyone with in hundreds of miles of these Sky Islands will be at risk or again paying the tab.            

With the removal of roads the forest service will not be able to effectively fight fires which in that last decade have been close to our homes. These roads often serve as the only fire break that keeps a mild fire from jumping into some desirable fuel and quickly growing out of control. These roads do act as a buffer. The forest service will also not have access to not only fight the fires safely but effectively protect the endangered species they must protect during a wildland use fire.

But don’t think for a second that I am not for improving roads and having these roads have less of an ecological impact through proper maintenance and working with nature. You see I do not want the land abused, but land does thrive on being properly managed and used.

How does removal of the few roads remaining help protect the land with habitats being consumed by fire and endangered species running for their lives like a scene out of the Bambi movie?

The removal or roads will also lock out the hiker, biker, hunter, trail rider and anyone else that wants to enjoy the landscape. Access will be limited to fewer and fewer until no one can appreciate these areas because in their lifetime they never had a chance to enjoy them.

 

Danger in Your Backyard

But with locking down the wilderness and preventing you from going in, they are not preventing the animals from leaving. Many of the Mexican Gray Wolves have dispersed hundreds of miles. Even the US Fish and Wildlife, Wolf Managers, own documentation show one of their wolves was south of I-10 hanging out in Deming, New Mexico maybe he wanted to head to hatch for some good green chili. Another Mexican Gray wolf was south of Silver City (picked up near the Tyrone Mine), another wolf cruised all the west way to check out one of the only natural lakes in Arizona just south of Flagstaff, and another was spotted in Durango Colorado. All these had collars so they knew sort of where their were. What about the wolves that slipped their collars or never even had a tracking collar?

So anyone that thinks these big predators they plan to release in these Sky Islands are going to stay might have been doing some serious majic mushrooms. As the predators move in the prey leaves and then the predators follow after of course picking off your dog, cat, horse, cow or even staking a human on the way. The residents living in and around the Gila National Forest in New Mexico with the Mexican Gray wolf program know this tango all too well. People here have been followed and even encircled by wolves but nothing has been done to protect and preserve us.

We were all told by the Wolf Mangers that they would control their dispersing wolves (that is the word for when a wolf is old enough and leaves pack or when a wolf wanders off the wolf managers radar screen). Even their own reports all these uncollared wolves just show up and start hanging out with the collard “managed” wolves. They always seam so surprised and excited in their reports.

The wolf managers have no control or even idea how many wolves are currently running around here even though they would like you to believe they can count to 59. The people living with these habitual wolves will tell you the number is far greater.

Jaguar’s travel even further covering more terrain than a wolf can think about. Mountain lions having already been in and around Phoenix and Tucson and causing trouble and in one case staking children in Sabino Canyon north of Tucson  (other sightings in Sabino) . A jaguar would make a mountain lion problem look like a cute kitty stuck in a tree.

So which would you prefer a jaguar or a pack of human raised habitual Mexican Gray Wolves in your back yard? Whether you decide or not the choice is being made for you by Arizona Department Game and Fish. Notice their website link Jaguar Management (dot) shtml, just so you know who is doing the management.

Now in these Sky Island areas and sea like deserts many people call these lands HOME. But with the current contentious and horribly mismanaged Mexican Gray Wolf program and the future planned introduction of the Jaguar what is to keep these animals on their islands?

Nothing!

 

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American Dinosaur is on it again. I am not worthy!!!

I am sure you would enjoy biting into Wolf Kisser some where along the line.

With a simple pointed picture American Dinosaur makes it clear what the campers here have to look forward to this summer in the land where these wonderful wolves romp through our private lands.

It is a boondoggle to steel tax payer’s money and land use.

So many of these incidents happen on private land … I would have stamped across the image “private land” since that really seams to matter to these people hating wolf kissers.

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In a recent blog article at WolfCrossing.org, in their artcile titled US Fish and Wildlife Services Releases Dangerous Mexican Gray Wolf; Catron County Demands Removal, they mention how US Fish and Wildlife Service have gone ahead with an early release of a 2 strike pregnant wolf who allegedly may have bitten a person and drawn blood.

The release of this wolf was moved up by 24 hours and I only can determine that this was because US Fish and Wildlife Service was concerned by the legal actions being taken by one tough county in New Mexico.  You can read Catron County’s Notice of Finding of Imminent Danger, Wolf Durango F924.

Arizona Game and Fish, an IFT member on the wolf program, sent out early chaff to distract people from what is going on in their “Endangered Species Updates” electronic news letter.

This news letter as of late has been used solely to bash and punish people that ask questions.

This week’s installation was even better than normal when humorlessly state that the Standard Operating Procedures, which they wrote in reference to SOP 13 do not apply to them.

These wolf managers’ jobs should become endangered!

from Endangered Species Updates email April 26, 2007 from Az Department of Game and Fish

Background

The male wolf, AM 973 was born in the wild to the Aspen Pack and translocated to the Gila Wilderness in 2005. It was captured and moved to the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge wolf facility in September 2006 after it had been hanging around residences. The female wolf, AF 924, was wild-born to the Francisco Pack, captured as a pup and translocated to the Gila Wilderness in June 2006 with the Granite pack.  The female was captured and moved to Sevilleta after two livestock depredations in November 2006.

Following its capture and removal from the wild in 2006, a rumor began to circulate that F924 had bitten a member of the wolf field team.  A thorough investigation was conducted, and it was determined that no bite occurred. However, F924 may have scratched the handler while it was being restrained and removed from the trap.  Rules governing the reintroduction project require that any wild, free-ranging wolf that bites or scratches a human will be euthanized and tested for rabies.

This rule does not apply to the wolf program personnel while conducting program duties.  “Handling any wild animal has inherent risks to the both the captor and the captured, and should only be attempted by lawfully authorized professionals with the proper training and equipment. The project takes overall public safety issues very seriously,” says John Morgart.

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April 26, 2007Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Southwest Regional Office
500 Gold Avenue SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Registered Mail, Return Receipt Request

SUBJECT: Notice of Finding of Imminent Danger, Wolf Durango F924

Dear Dr. Tuggle:

This letter is a Notice of Finding of Imminent Danger by the Catron County Commission and constitutes a demand for immediate removal of Mexican wolf F924 from the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery program as per Catron County Amended Ordinance 001-2007 and pursuant to 63 C.F.R. § 1752 and 1759 and 50 C.F.R. § 17.84(k).

For the reasons set forth herein and pursuant to Amended Catron County Ordinance 001-2007 (“Ordinance”), the Catron County Commission has determined that Mexican wolf F924 (“wolf”) is by definition a threat to human safety and a problem wolf as per the ordinance and federal regulation. Specifically this wolf has a known history of causing imminent danger to humans, including children or other defenseless persons, domestic animals and/or livestock pursuant to Section 1 and Section 2 of the Ordinance. Because of this wolf’s past behavior, pursuant to section 4 of Ordinance 001-2007, Catron County submits this demand for immediate removal of this wolf from the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery program. The facts surrounding this request are as follows:

On November 17, 2006 Wolf F924 was captured in the Gila National Forest with two strikes. During the capture, an IFT member was bitten on the fingers by the wolf, causing bleeding. The IFT member failed to report the biting incident per SOP 13 (3)(f) “…wolves that AMOC (i.e. including the Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator or his designee) determines to represent a potential or actual human safety hazard will be promptly removed from the wild and retained in captivity or euthanized (i.e. no wolf that represents a safety hazard to humans will be released or relocated). Any wolf that has bitten or scratched a human will be euthanized and tested for rabies”.

On April 12, 2007 along with M973 (a wolf captured from Arizona because of nuisance behavior) as “Durango Pack”, the wolf was translocated to a release site at Miller Springs in Grant County, ten miles from the Catron County border. This wolf is scheduled for release into the wild on April 25, 2007 and is expected to whelp on or about April 27, 2007. Although the wolf is not yet two years old, she has been captured and transported seven times already, and she has been additionally handled by humans for vaccinations, veterinary inspection and collaring. Note that this wolf still has two strikes against it as per SOP 13, and should an additional strike occur prior to mid-August, 2007, will have incurred a third strike: “Wolves known or likely to have committed three depredation incidents within a period of 365 days shall be permanently removed from the wild as expeditiously as possible (i.e. “3 strikes and out”)”. Control of Mexican Wolves SOP Number 13.0

Since this wolf is familiar with the release area, has a strong history of predation, is likely to be human habituated and since the areas the wolf is scheduled to be released in is both near (within 10 miles) a retirement community and near areas where cattle are present with young calves, once released, wolf F924 clearly presents imminent danger.

Catron County Amended Ordinance 001-2007 was passed in order to protect the lives and property of humans in Catron County. The County has already submitted a petition for an incidental take permit to FWS; however the processing of that permit will not be complete prior to the scheduled release of F924. The Catron County Commission has met in emergency session and has voted to issue this Notice and hereby demands the immediate removal of F924 from the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program.

History:

• Born in 2005 into the San Francisco Pack in New Mexico in the Gila National Forest
• Captured at 6 weeks of age with the rest of the San Francisco Pack (removed due to intense livestock predation under a lethal take order if trapping was not successful)
• Transported to Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility
• Transported to the Ladder Ranch Wolf Management Facility late September 2005
• Transported back to Sevilleta in January 2006
• Released June 6, 2006, along with other wolves (“Granite Pack”) into the Gila Wilderness
• Confirmed as involved with killing a cow in mid-August, 2006 (strike one).
• Confirmed as involved with second depredation November 13, 2006 (strike two).
• Captured, bites human, transferred to Sevilleta November 17, 2006
• Bred while in captivity
• Transported April 12, 2007 (“Durango Pack”) to soft pen near Miller Creek in Grant County, scheduled for release on Wednesday April 25.

CC: Shawn Menges, Catron County Sheriff
Ron Shortes, Catron County Attorney
Alan May, State Director USDA/APHIS/WS
Bruce Thompson, New Mexico Game and Fish
John Mogart, Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator
Alfredo Montoya, New Mexico Game Commission
Terry Johnson, AMOC Chairman
US Senator Jeff Bingaman
US Senator Pete Domenici
US Representative Steve Pearce
NM Senator Ben Altamirano
NM Representative Don Tripp
Loren Cushman, Reserve School Superintendent
Grant county commission
Sierra county commission

Sincerely,

Ed Wehrheim, Chairman Hugh B. McKeen, Member
Catron County Commission

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