1-2-98
A wolf in the general vicinity of Salmon, Idaho has killed another cat-tracking hound. A wolf (possibly from the Jureano Pack) killed and may have been eaten "Snap," a 3-year old Plot hound owned by Randy Shuff.
Two of Shuff's hounds, Snap and Dee, were pursuing mountain lion on the Salmon River near the mouth of Pine Creek near the backcountry hamlet of Shoup. The two hounds apparently had a lion treed when Snap was killed. Dee ran.
From the tracks present, it appears that a lone wolf killed the hound, carrying it about 20 feet and then either dropped the dead hound and ate part of it , or simply left. Later the treed lion fed on the dog. This scenario is not certain due to the proliferation of the lion and wolf tracks.
The Jureano Pack has been closely monitored since it killed three tracking hounds about a month ago three miles from the town of Salmon. Pine Creek is not near the town of Salmon. Rather it is deep in the rugged Salmon River Mountains near the northwestern edge of the Jureano Pack's territory. The pack was not radio tracked in the area when the hound's death took place, so it may have been an uncollared pup from the pack or another lone wolf with a dead collar.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released an extra $100,000 for wolf tracking in Idaho after Idaho Governor Phil Batt requested closer tracking in the wake of the first incident.
Folks will find the news article on the incident by Candace Burns, a Post Register correspondent from Salmon, interesting. I was surprised that a boy's father, who was part of the chase, found the size of wolf tracks made him fearful for his 13-year old son's safety since it lions that are much more likely to attack humans than wolves.
This mountain lion hunting time in central Idaho. There are many lion in rugged central Idaho. Some folks with hounds tree the cat and take a photo; others shoot the cat.
I hope the response from the town of Salmon will be less hysterical after this incident. Hunting predators, whether for a kill or to photography is serious business.
I have no indication the that the houndsmen themselves in either of these incidents were responsible for or contributed to the local reaction.
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