Saturday, February 27, 2021

Wolves have moved from Oregon into eastern California

 A gray wolf (canis lupus) has been observed in counties of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, with the animal returning to territory from which it’s been absent from for nearly a century. The GPS-tracked wolf, designated OR-93, has traveled south from Oregon, passing through Modoc County and Alpine County. Most recently, the wolf entered Mono County.

Mono County is on the east side of the Sierra, south of Tahoe.  How he travelled through the more thickly populated Tahoe/Reno area would be interesting to know.

The journey of the young male wolf represents new territorial range from the species. Biologists believe it’s possible the wolf’s presence could result in the formation of new wolf packs in the Sierra Nevada region, should the animal prove successful in returning to the area with a mate. The wolf broke off from Oregon’s White River Pack southeast of Mt. Hood sometime within the past few months. Previously, wolves that ventured into California from Oregon didn’t travel south of Lake Tahoe, the single largest alpine lake in North America, that straddles the California-Nevada border.

Wolves can get to be surprisingly big when living in a deer rich environment.



12 comments:

  1. That is one big a$$ wuff !! It is larger than most of our local whitetail deer herd, herein the lower south Texas locale.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wolves have decimated the Northern Rockies moose population.
    Gut shoot them whenever you can.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a big wolf. Is it possible the wolf pictured has some large dog DNA? Looking at the colors in it's coat it looks more brown and mottled than a wild animal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. S S S. Some here will know what it means.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SSS - appropriate treatment for than one variety of predator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is the size of Grey Wolves. Much larger than the wolves that were native to the lower 48.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Getting around Tahoe is no problem whatsoever. There's miles and miles of high desert and scrub brush to the east and forest to the west.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, WC. All he'd have to do is parallel the Pacific Crest Trail and he could travel 400 miles and never be seen.
      The author of that article got a lot wrong. Not to mention he doesn't seem to consider wolves themselves to be a "destructive animal".

      I wonder if that's a depredation tag on that wolf's front leg.

      Delete
  8. Got a pack of coyotes that hunt the ranch across the road, a couple times a week. The alphas are about that size. Really bizarre looking. The size of very large German Shepards with the color and tail of a coyote, on the edge of Silicon Valley. At least 4 of them in the pack. Not something you want to run into at O'dark 30.

    ReplyDelete