Author Topic: Lousey Wolves (Read 691 times)

Sourdough · « **on:** March 31, 2006, 06:38:08 AM »

Been down in the Alaska Range this week, looking around and checking things out for the upcoming Bear Season there. Got a miner friend down there that will put me up the entire month of may, if I will shoot his problem bears this spring. Seems he has a Grizzly boar that waits till he hears the equipment start before he comes to the cabins looking for trouble. With only three men on the place it takes all of them to run the equipmant and work the sluice. But I digress.

The real reason I am writing. Met a trapper that had caught five wolves. Saw the pelts when I first got over there. He had them dried and stretched, ready for market. The pelts were not the best looking I had seen. The trapper said the wolves had lice. The trapper took them in and only got $50.00 each for them. All the wolves he took this year was like that. I asked what was going on, I already knew but I wanted to hear his explination.

Several years ago our governor Tony Knowles, bowing to the environmental groups, instead of killing excess wolves decided to relocate them. Wolves were trapped in the McGrath area and in the 40 mile country near Eagle. These wolves were taken to the Keni pennisula, where the numbers of wolves were low due to lice infestation. They turned these wolves loose where they got infested with lice from the locals. Then almost everyone of them returned home, taking the lice with them, and passing them out along the way. Now our wolves here in the interior are infested to such and extent their pelts are almost worthless. The environmentalist agenda is working they are putting a stop to trapping, but at what cost and misery to the wolves? One hard winter and their will be a massive die off. Wolves cann't live with out their fur. The bald spots will frost bit and get infected, then slow aggonising death.

corbanzo · « **Reply #1 on:** April 01, 2006, 04:33:07 PM »

I have lived on the Kenai pen. my entire life, and have not once seen a wolf down here, I know there are a few, but not many. The reason there aren't here and are up north is because that is a better environment for them, and they live better there. If a poplation is low and unhealthy, moving other animals to that location is never the answer. Besides exposing them to those diseases and such, it is just a less productive and therfor harsher environment in general. Local population control is the only truly viable answer, which is why they make special hunts and deregulate and such.

Thebear_78 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 01, 2006, 06:58:08 PM »

well at least if there is a major lice infestation they wolf numbers will go down and moose numbers should rise. its just natures way of limiting the predators, we can't seem to get the job done!

AKCAT · « **Reply #3 on:** April 02, 2006, 01:10:12 PM »

Friend of mine has trapped to wolves this year and both were in good shape, they were probably a little ways north but compared to a wolves stomping grounds they were in the same neighborhood. I think he said they were worth around $400.

Stringer · « **Reply #4 on:** May 02, 2006, 04:15:35 PM »

I snared 7 wolves on the Kenai Pen. this year, and 4 of them were in good shape no lice. As far as the population goes from what I have seen there are plenty of wolves, and their #'s are growing. I knew of several moose kills with in 5 miles of McDonalds in Soldotna. There is not enough trapping/hunting pressure because the hides are bad, and the winters are not cold enough anymore to kill the infested ones in my opinion.