Keep an eye on your Dogs when traveling in Northern Wisconsin Wolf Country.
At least 24 dogs were killed by Wolves in the third quarter of this year.
And so far in the fourth quarter a pet German short haired pointer was killed in her owner's yard in Ashland County.
Of course these numbers are likely to be underestimations since many other dogs just disappear without any witnesses as to what happened to them while playing in the woods.
It is no secret that our wolf populations are out of control in Wisconsin after years of being on the federal endangered species list, even long after they were no longer endangered. This last year the DNR even admitted that the populations were at 3 to 400 percent above a manageable population.
A portion of these were thinned out this past year with our first wolf hunting season since the feds lifted the ban on shooting wolves.
Over the years of working in the woods at Woodland Management Service I have only occasionally worried about my foresters working in these areas however we do have safety talks occasionally that primarily deal with how to react to wolf encounters, namely, be aggressive toward the wolves, and never ever run away from them.
However I do worry about my dogs when I head out to the woods in both Northern and Western Wisconsin where we see signs of these plentiful critters often.
My dogs like to run around and explore as we do our work in the woods, yet they do stay fairly close to us, always within earshot and generally within view.
Yet with all of the recent attacks, I am starting to worry that even a few feet may be too far away.
Especially with Wolves venturing into a family's yard to snag the family pet in Ashland county.
So while you are out enjoying the Northwoods this fall, keep a close eye on your pets and your kids.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/wolf/dogdeps.html
NPS Photo/Nathan Kostegian
Wi Dnr photo
NFWS photo
All from creative commons
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