Tuesday, April 24, 2012

# 4 -The Grey Wolf: A Reintroduction

Grey wolves are the larger of the two species of wolf (Red and Grey here discussed) which have been reintroduced into the Land of the Free.
Regarding size, some researchers have determined that Grey Wolves are an "Indeterminate" species - in that their size is largely determined by their diet.  We don't have to look far to find a similar example: American's could be said to be Indeterminate when it comes to size as well.  Below are some rather large examples of Grey Wolves, is it the order of "half a cow" each that makes them so large (Ordo ab Chao anyone?)?
The above Grey was apparently taken in a Bear Trap after he had been observed chasing the bear away!  Note the left front bloody paw in concordance with the trap description.
A large Grey Wolf - Note to reader, this site does not promote hunting of wolves nor is it against wolf hunting/regulation.  Simply going after the truth of wolves, their relative size and reintroduction habits.

Unless this guy is like 5' 1" I'd qualify this grey wolf as "One Big Bad Wolf."  I believe it still has a radio collar on too...  Wonder who thought we should have wolves again???
Oh wait the cork?!  Are those Wolves standing around the 'Tree of Life?'  - What kind of a wolf in sheeps clothing Protocol is this anyway???

# 3 - Red Wolf Awareness Project: Identifing Wolves by Scat

Foxes, Coyotes and Wolves each have different feeding patterns - each targets different levels of the food chain.  Foxes tend to target things as small as insects (locusts), mice and rodents up to rabbits and medium sized birds.  Coyotes focus more on rodents, rabbits and an occasional young deer. Wolves primarly feed on deer (White Tailed deer in the NC region).  Since the bone and hair commonly passes undigested through the animal - its scat (fecal matter) is helpful in identification of the animal.  Below you see a Coyotes scat - notice its descanted (dry) white color, this is common for Coyotes.
The white grey fur is likely to be rabbit and rodent.  Below are images of Wolf scat, notice that instead of fur you see coarse hair - this is typical of deer.  Also in fresher samples the scat is quit dark almost black - typical of high flesh/blood content and less commonly seen in Coyote.
For better dimensions, that is a rabbit pellet at lower right of the wolf scat.

An interesting but not conclusive find was made when one of our trackers happened to make his mark next to the below wolf scat with dung beetles around it.
This scat was at one of the backwoods main entrances - as though marking the forest as wolf territory.  The following week our team returned to the site but the scat was completely removed - no hair or sign of the decayed matter.  Perhaps the beetles?  Did the wolf feel challenged and remove his/her mark?  Or was it more like 'oh, beg your pardon, by all means come into our woods...' grin.  Till next time - keep alert in the forest!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

# 2 - Never Cry Wolf: Coyotes Maybe...

Overcoming the illusion that Wolves are friendly - human fearing creatures may be hard for us.  Wolves are natural born killers.  True, in times past they were made to fear us - but then many of us carried guns and considered "Aggressive Predators" a worthy hunt.  Today, there are laws which protect wolves and very few people carry self defense guns or weapons sufficient to fend off a pack of hungry wolves.  Movies like this one
 and Dances with Wolves effectively cast a spell over the cultural mind of Americans - blinding them to the problems of releasing wolves back into the wild.  Except for man and starvation wolves really don't have any natural predators to keep their population in check.  So what will happen when the number of White Tailed Deer is sufficiently diminished through predation?  Why its obvious isn't it?  First cats will go missing, then dogs, then homeless people living under bridges and finally children, joggers and other exposed individuals.

When wolves move into an area, they usually set about removing the other preditor species - namely Coyotes.  On two occasions in 2011 as I sat on my back porch late at night I heard the Coyotes rally cries (they know their only chance to hold their turf is in their numbers).  Then the wolf cries, deep and hair raising - then the fighting broke out.  On the first occasion the Coyotes could be heard still yipping and barking after the wolf crys disappeared... But on the second the Wolves were the victors.  Shortly after this event, I myself was chased out of the woods by this mated pair of Red Wolves...  I could hear them triangulating my position between them and I made a quick exit from the deep woods.  Upon entering a farmers pasture land I discovered the skull of a healthy adult deer (Coyotes don't take down adult deer) - the body was no where to be found.  Further up the hill I found the body of a Coyote - its spin punctured by large canine teeth.  Here is a picture of a second deer skull I found in this area with the lower jaw bone of the Coyote (note the canine teeth of the Coyote).
The punctured Coyote spine which went with the Coyote jaw above here follows:
As a comparative visual note I also submit the jaw bone of the Coyote next to the jaw bone of a cat - so that we can rule out a foxes jaw bone by size ratio.  I traded a young friend of mine the Coyotes tooth for the cats jaw bone in case you were wondering.
Finally this young deer which was found eaten about two blocks from my house is to be considered.  It is thought that the deer was struck by a car - but the way the skin is pulled down or even totally removed - as in the lower jaw of this deer - cause scavenging Wolves to be suspect - simply by the shear biting power...  Wolves have a 1500 pounds per square inch bite, three times that of a German shepherd.  Again notice the way the ankle skin is stripped back...

Awareness is our best defense... Yes size matters!
 Cat Jawbone 2 1/4"

Coyote Jawbone 4 1/4"



Wolf or Dog Jawbone

Monday, April 16, 2012

# 1 - Start Here - The Red Wolf & Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel


If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck than it probably is a duck.
If it has big teeth, likes to eat 5lbs of meat a day and gets really hungry in winter...

Welcome to the Red Wolf Awareness Project, I'm Matt Wyman and I'll be your host as we walk the slippery slope between Good Wolf & Bad Wolf.  After all as Hegel pointed out, there are very few better ways to control the Sheeple of the world than Hegel's Technique.  Simply divide the People into two camps and make them hate each other... Isn't that the saying? "United We Stand, Divided We Fall?"  So what we need are facts and open minds willing not only to look at the true information but also able to control the impulse to jump to conclusions.  Let's start with the fact that some people have decided for the rest of the US and North Carolina in particular that Red Wolves would be a good Tax Dollar investment - and that these wolves should then be released back into the wild backyard of America.  Who are the some people?  That is a question for another Blog.  The fact we are after is "is it true that Red Wolves have been released in North Carolina?"  Simply do a search on Red Wolves North Carolina and you find that yes!  Over 100 Red Wolves have been released.  http://www.fws.gov/redwolf/

OK so we have Red Wolves in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina.  
That was 2003 however... The Wolves have naturally migrated to other parts of the state including my own backyard.  I'm an old school naturalist who believes in getting out into the back woods and turning over rocks and fallen logs to see what curious creatures are hidden there.  Imagine my surprise when I began being run out of the woods by wolves!  Now I live in an Autobahn sanctioned society in Northern Durham County, so we cherish our wild life.  Durham by the way is in the middle of the State.  It is a fact however that I do not wish to be attacked or eaten.  I don't like the idea of wolves here at all, namely because it is no longer safe to go in the woods alone.  Last weekend I took some time to scout the perimeter of these back woods and photographed the prints made in last weeks rain drenched mud.  Unlike dogs, whose tracks meander, wolves and coyotes travel in strait lines - these were just such tracks...  Have a look:
Well that's all for now folks!  But I'll leave you with some good plain advice if you do go out in the back woods (and I'm not talking about your local park or trail walks in commonly used National Forests):

Surviving A Wolf Attack 

Questions? Feel Free To Email Me