Rumor of the demise of the pack not true-
Earlier someone commented that Phantom Hill wolf pack which generally lives northwest of SunValley/Ketchum, Idaho had been killed off in the wolf hunt. It turns out only 2 of the pack of now 6-8 wolves were shot, but they are staying away from town so far this winter.
Phantom Hill wolves elusive this winter. Resident pack members staying away from developed areas. By Jon Duval. Idaho Mountain Express Staff Writer
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
The sightings that have occurred in the Elkhorn area of Sun Valley prompted the insanity which is described in an article from last weeks addition of same paper in which the SV mayor lectured citizens (allowed no comment from audience) and IF&G on how best to deal with the wintering elk herd in the area and possibility of predators close to residences.
This has been an ongoing issue here in which some residents have raised concern with the financial losses associated with landscaping destruction on their private property by elk and now they are using the highly charged wolf issue to bolster their argument for feeding elk.
Here’s the link:
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005130227&var_Year=2010&var_Month=02&var_Day=26
It is good that the wolves are not hanging around town. They will be much safer.
I suspect that it’s got as much to do with our poor snowpack this year, and the availability of natural feed (vs the usual hay and landscaping) as much as anything else.
Always blame the wolves, thank God they are staying away from town.If you love wolves you will take precautions to keep your property safe, including your pets.People who hate wolves, have a different opinion but that makes me sad that they have a treasure and they are vermin.
p.s. I mean to say the people in Idaho think of them as vermin.
When the wolf hunt was set it was 100% assured this pack would be gone, from members on this site and others! What happened? Just like I predicted we would never reach the 220 goal with hunting alone! The Wolves learned like the ELK to stay away from your Nemesis.
Well…the zone quota here was ten, over a vast area, and I never heard anyone around town making the claim that the Phantom Hill Pack would be wiped out…if anything, wolves in Blaine County may have bit more safety than in, say, Custer County, just because of county demographics and politics.
I do agree that the 220 will never be reached by hunting.
As for them staying away, I’d see what happens in a hard winter before making any predictions. The elk, on the other hand, have learned that the best place to go in a bad winter, or when subject to canine and human hunting pressure is right down into the subdivisions on the valley floor, where (I’m assuming) predators other than man are (used to be?) more reluctant to go. This has been the case in the last two years before this extremely mild season.
There are wolves around but no one is talking.