On the 4th of July a Jackson Wyoming couple and their dog, came upon the den of the new Flat Creek Pack, led by former Druid 253M, the wolf with a limp that went to Utah several years ago.

253M pushed them about 2 miles before he let up.  Mike Jimenez told me, it was their dog that was the most serious problem, but they the wolves' reaction was similar to when he (Jimenez) has come onto dens -- the wolves don't attack, but they often stand their ground, angrily bark and circle you, until you leave. The distance they follow may vary, but wolf researchers have been followed a couple miles.

Here is the story by Whitney Royster. Jimenez said her article is pretty accurate. "Group stumbles into wolf ground." Casper Star Tribune. July 6, 2005

253M's pack has 6 pups. Fortunately Flat Creek, in the mountains, does not have easy legal access. I've tried to get there but get bogged down on the Elk Refuge.

Note 7-7. Although Royster's story may be "pretty accurate," a number of people have pointed out the substantial  distance discrepancies in the story. Royster replied  that the discrepancy was because the people were  being pushed away from their vehicle.

Update 7-8. Here is USFWS description of the event.

On July 3rd, a man, his girlfriend and dog walked into the #253 den [Flat Creek pack] north of Jackson, WY. The pack has 3 adults and 6 pups. The healer-mix dog was held by its collar and was unharmed. However it was reportedly a frightening experience for the couple, who knew nothing about wild wolf behavior.
When wolves attempt to protect their pups- especially if a dog is involved- they bark howl and run around close-by, but do not bite or attack people. They will kill trespassing dogs that are perceived as a threat to their pups, if given a chance. Reportedly, the male wolf was barking, howling, and closely followed the people for nearly a mile [sometimes within 15m], until he had ‘escorted’ the people & dog a safe distance from the pups. Don’t we all wish for a Dad like that...
The man contacted the media.
Old-time wolf bounty hunters used to use dogs near dens to draw the protective adults in so they and the pups could be easily killed. This technique is still used to kill denning coyotes. The media story apparently attracted both the ‘normal’ and polarized extreme camps- the antis [wolves attack people, feds are liars, etc.] and pros [close sites around dens, prohibit dogs while hiking, etc] responded strongly enough that the reporter is doing another story on the huge emotional response... and so on it goes.

Update 7-12. Although Whitney Royster's article describes the "very very aggressive wolf" as "the father," it is not certain it was 253M because there is no mention of a radio collar, a limp, plus 253M is (or was) a black wolf. However, as with most black wolves, he may have faded to dark gray. An observer of the pack describes the trio as 2 blacks and, one light brownish gray.  I think the latter may be the alpha female. The wolf, first reported as the father, might instead have been the mother!

7-12. I liked this LTE in the Casper Star Tribune. Wolf Tale is Instructional.

7-17. Another den or rendezvous site interaction was emailed to me today. This one came from Robert Parker of West Yellowstone.  He and his spouse say an Agate wolf drive a grizzly boar from the area. Parker gave me permission to post a description.

I want to share an interesting and exciting wolf - grizzly interaction that my wife Claudia and I observed last Saturday, July 9th.
We had positioned ourselves above the Antelope Creek basin during this evening in hopes of observing members of the Agate Creek pack, who have been very visible in this area over past weeks (denned or at a rendezvous site?).

Not observing any wolves around the site, we proceeded to glass the meadows and came across an adult male grizzly. The bear was moving slowly south to north, occasionally stopping to dig and to eat plants. We observed this bear for approximately 20 minutes, as he continued to amble northward and eventually arrive very near the den site.

Suddenly entering the view of my scope from the east, with teeth barred and hackles up, was a female gray-colored wolf, wearing a collar.
This female wolf proceeded to lunge repeatedly at the bear, who turned and tried to run. Upon turning, the  wolf jumped onto the hindquarters of the bear and took a definite bite in the area of its back. The bear immediately turned and swiped at the wolf, who managed to dodge the blow, and again tried to retreat while the wolf stayed right on him, continually circling the bear or in pursuit from behind.

This back and forth between the two animals continued for several minutes, during which time we were also able to observe two pups, one black and one grey, leave the den site and run into a stand of trees to the east.

After about 15 minutes of the wolf very aggressively pursuing and harassing the bear (including two additional bites), the grizzly disappeared into cover and never returned into sight.

The level of aggression on the part of this wolf was incredible! I have been false charged by brown bears in Alaska on two occasions, and I could not imagine attacking one. The female wolf returned to the den site and the pups reappeared to join her.

All three wolves then quickly headed south toward the slopes of Mt. Washburn and our visual contact with them was lost when they entered the trees at the far side of the meadow.

Since this time we haven't been able to return to the area, spending our past days off in the Hayden Valley observing the Hayden pack instead and taking advantage of their recent tendency to take down elk right next to the road.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has observed these Agate pack wolves in the area since, or if this site has been abandoned. Any information you could provide would be appreciated. [I can't answer this question .... Ralph Maughan]