Cry Wolf

[Rooster Rules]

At 6:30 AM, my 2 dogs were barking up a storm, I look out front window, and see wolf about 100 yards from door, my Golden Retriever male went into pursuit, the dog and wolf circling each other momentarily, I went running out towards them. As soon as the wolf seen me,it took off a runnin, then both dogs chased it into the field, my female is a border collie cross, she was gone a long time, but then came back unscathed.
I live only 18 miles north of a major city, but lot of wildlife here, gonna be fun with the chickens, no peeps yet, just gettin set up...

 

[Chicken Slave]

Go heavy duty w/ your pen and coop! Bury heavy gauge wire below the pen frame. Sounds like you have good dogs but be aware, he was a scout. They don't frequently travel alone. Please don't shoot them! There are several ways of deterring them humanely.

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

Wolves are generally not brave enough to try and break into anything, so as long as you dont have anything free range you should be reasonably safe. I think they were more interested in your dogs then anything(they want to lure them away and kill them thinking they are a rival pack) We have 2 packs that move thru our place every couple weeks, one is a pack of 3 and the other a pack of 9, they generally stick to the wooded part of the property, and you only hear their howls at night(I actually sit on my porch howling

cause its really cool when they answer). Our livestock dogs are smart enough to know they are no match and will not follow them into the woods.
So far I prefer them to those rotten yodel-dogs(coyotes).

But regardless, when they get bold enough to give me a visual of them they are toast, wolves with a healthy respect for people will not show themselfs, once they dare show themself in the open there may be something wrong or -like in banff- where someones been feeding them to the point they approach stopped cars on the highway(have actually seen that about a month ago, they seriously walked up to cars looking into windows begging for food, WILD WOLVES! it was mortifying to see people being delighted by that opening their doors to feed them).

 

[Rooster Rules]

Wolves are generally not brave enough to try and break into anything, so as long as you dont have anything free range you should be reasonably safe. I think they were more interested in your dogs then anything(they want to lure them away and kill them thinking they are a rival pack) We have 2 packs that move thru our place every couple weeks, one is a pack of 3 and the other a pack of 9, they generally stick to the wooded part of the property, and you only hear their howls at night(I actually sit on my porch howling

cause its really cool when they answer). Our livestock dogs are smart enough to know they are no match and will not follow them into the woods.
So far I prefer them to those rotten yodel-dogs(coyotes).

But regardless, when they get bold enough to give me a visual of them they are toast, wolves with a healthy respect for people will not show themselfs, once they dare show themself in the open there may be something wrong or -like in banff- where someones been feeding them to the point they approach stopped cars on the highway(have actually seen that about a month ago, they seriously walked up to cars looking into windows begging for food, WILD WOLVES! it was mortifying to see people being delighted by that opening their doors to feed them).

Hi, I agree with your post,wolves rarely travel alone. I have only seen 2 at a time around here, never a pack, nor has anyone else, but that does not mean there aren't packs. Always had Coyotes around here, but have not heard any for a few years, which means wolves= no coyotes all dead.
As it was dark, sure this wolf had no intention of showing itself, if I had a gun in my hands it would have been shot at. I have young children, and worry more about wolves than black bears.
These wolves seem to be a hybrid, slightly smaller than a Timber wolf, they call em "bush wolves". I have seen wolves that are huge over 120 lbs easy, this one looked about 80 lbs or so, maybe a young male kicked out of a pack.
Oh well the fun of the country life, I am so close to Winnipeg, the glow of the city lights up the sky, and the wildlife is all around me....

 

[Rooster Rules]

Go heavy duty w/ your pen and coop! Bury heavy gauge wire below the pen frame. Sounds like you have good dogs but be aware, he was a scout. They don't frequently travel alone. Please don't shoot them! There are several ways of deterring them humanely.

I would not shoot any wild life, unless they become a serious threat, but any aggressive, brave wolves will get it, I do have young kids at home too, that have to go and get on school bus in winter it is slightly dark at that time...

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

We are 11 km from the biggest city in the area, nothin the size of winnipeg tho but still. We live on a wildlife super highway according to the conservation officers, grizzlies, black bears, cougars, wolves, we got it all. Yay for life in the rockie mountains. The wolves really made a comeback in the last 5 yrs tho.

With small children you even have to watch the coyotes at times, ours arent nearly as big as the prarie ones but our neighbour had them approach their 7 yr old daughter playing the yard a couple years ago. But yotes are bolder then any canine out there.

We got the timber wolves, but depending on the pack- sizes vary greatly. A friend of mine is a trapper and I help him every winter with skinning wolves for the fur market and average seems to be around 100lbs, the odd one pushing 140lbs(alpha males usually).

Yours was propbably the lowest ranked in the pack(smallest, usually used as bait to lure dogs/coyotes/other packs into abushes). Them are smart dogs, most of the times you dont even know they are there and they move thru undetected. We didnt notice the pack of 9 all winter until I went for a hike, and seen tracks on the mountain bordering our property, I howled and got 9 answers. Pretty cool, but a bit scary in waist deep snow, its getting dark, on a mountain side and all im packing is 3 little knifes.......

 

[centrarchid]

Lonewolves do travel alone and such is not rare. They do not defend a territory and will more more inclined to have non-violent interactions with other large canids. Such animals might also be more willing to experiment with types of game consumed, especially when moving through areas where typical large game absent or not abundant.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I suggest that you find a way to prevent your dogs from following the wolves into the woods. You are worrying about chickens you don't even have yet, and you should be worrying about your dogs.

 

[Rooster Rules]

I suggest that you find a way to prevent your dogs from following the wolves into the woods. You are worrying about chickens you don't even have yet, and you should be worrying about your dogs.

Thanx OB, but my dogs and all the neighbours dog free range, most of the land is crop land, but we are just miles from where the boreal forest begin in this part of central Canada. The dogs stay inside of the heated shop at nights, so are not running loose in the dark, and vulnerable to attack, very hard to cage them up in a run, out here in the country.
I am not worrying about anything BTW, just making friendly conversation, and the bantams could be here as early as this week.....

 

[Pullet Surprise]

Might want to send all the men you know out to pee around the perimiter of your coop and run....lots of tea should do it!

About all you can do is make sure your coop & run are as secure as possible and then some. There are many threads with
info on secure coops etc. Just take a good hard critical look at your set up and see what else could be done.