All I know is what I saw and the casts of the prints that I made and the stride distance that the animal had in the mud and snow of early spring. I was as skeptical as anyone until I saw these prints. Couple this with the numerous sightings by many people on the island, the fact that people describe slightly different colored animals and the fact that the coast guard helicopter spotted two wolves on the ice north and east of garden island a few years ago make it plausible that there are a pair of wolves on the island. BTW wolves won't do a very good job of controlling cormorants, they are just far too resourceful and adaptable to allow a couple of predators from reducing their numbers. As for the debate, their really isn't any. Several people have seen some very large carnivores on the island, until someone is lucky enough to get a close up photo of the animals no one will know for sure.
Jeff Powers DVM
Wolves on Beaver Island?
Moderator: Gillespie
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Linda Gallagher
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 8:20 am
- Location: Central Lake, Michigan
wolves on Beaver
TD-good point about the howling, but, c'mon, how many people ever get to the interior of the island? Ever been turkey hunting down there? A gobble can be heard a long way when the bird is in a big field, but in the deep woods and hills, such as the interior of Beaver Island, you'll only hear a gobble if you're less than 300 or so yards away. I know-I turkey hunt the south end of Beaver Island. We had to be right on top of the birds most of the time, and the island was dead silent, very few people around the first part of May.
And how often do you hear coyotes howling or yipping on the island-and they're all over. I've never heard any, and I'm on the island in the last few years roughly once a year during quieter seasons, spring and fall. Coyotes howl most often in cold weather, so do wolves.
Yes, they can be "howled in", has anyone ever tried? Probably not. It's tough to imitate a wolf. I've been trying to get my hands on a wolf howl tape for a couple of months now to send over to Jeff. Actual Michigan wolf howls, not a commercial tape.
And wouldn't the track of a coy-dog, with most dogs under 100 pounds and all coyotes under 45 pounds, be a lot smaller than the very large tracks Jeff found??
Anyway, who knows, but I still believe there's a better chance of a real wolf on the island than there is of a coy-dog-that one just doesn't fly, not with the relatively small amount of domestic dogs on the island, and the fact that most of them are in town, not way down on the south end. And coyotes mating with dogs may be common in the southwest, but I've never seen it documented in Michigan, have you?
Have a great holiday weekend!
And how often do you hear coyotes howling or yipping on the island-and they're all over. I've never heard any, and I'm on the island in the last few years roughly once a year during quieter seasons, spring and fall. Coyotes howl most often in cold weather, so do wolves.
Yes, they can be "howled in", has anyone ever tried? Probably not. It's tough to imitate a wolf. I've been trying to get my hands on a wolf howl tape for a couple of months now to send over to Jeff. Actual Michigan wolf howls, not a commercial tape.
And wouldn't the track of a coy-dog, with most dogs under 100 pounds and all coyotes under 45 pounds, be a lot smaller than the very large tracks Jeff found??
Anyway, who knows, but I still believe there's a better chance of a real wolf on the island than there is of a coy-dog-that one just doesn't fly, not with the relatively small amount of domestic dogs on the island, and the fact that most of them are in town, not way down on the south end. And coyotes mating with dogs may be common in the southwest, but I've never seen it documented in Michigan, have you?
Have a great holiday weekend!
Linda
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Chamber of Commerce
- Posts: 1274
- Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:35 am
- Location: chamber@beaverisland.org
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Howl
Jacque LaFreniere has a "howl tape". She and Elaine West are planning a "sound search". Also my son (Capt. USMC) is on the Island untill July 9. He has night vision equipment with him. Perhaps he could help.