Animal Damage Control and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are still trying to capture lone female no. R27, who denned in April on the national forest but close to ranchland near Nye, Montana. This is on the Beartooth Front, well north of Yellowstone Park.Unfortunately, she has been killing sheep (at least six so far) on the ranch of Vernon Keller near Fishtail, Montana. Fishtail is a bit east of Nye.
In closely related news, it also turns out that despite fears that all, or most of her pups were dead, ALL FIVE of her five pups are still alive; but one of the pups was caught in a leghold trap set out for no. 27. The pup's leg had to be amputated, and the pup is now in a facility in Minnesota.
No. 27 and her 4 pups continue to elude capture as she has for months. The fact that her pups seem to be accompanying her indicates to me that they may learn that domestic sheep are food.
Rancher Keller was recently reported in the "Jackson Hole Guide" newspaper making what I'd call "inflammatory" statements. I will not repeat them, but hopefully the compensation for his losses and any future losses by Defenders of Wildlife will mollify him.
In Gary Ferguson's new book about the first year of the Yellowstone wolves, he reported that the alphas in the Nez Perce Creek enclosure, nos. 27F and 28M, lost most of their lower canines in repeated aggres- sive attempts to escape from the enclosure. I have to speculate that her sheep-killing behavior may be related to a lack of teeth. Nevertheless, a resident of Nye, Montana, saw her kill a deer by herself 100 yards from his house the other day.
© 1996 Ralph Maughan
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