BUTTE FALLS — The
killing of a cow calf last week at a Butte Falls-area ranch
has been blamed on the Rogue Pack, in part because of data
from a recently collared female member of wolf OR-7′s
family.
The
250-pound calf was found dead Thursday morning by rancher
Ted Birdseye on his 276-acre ranch near Medco Pond between
Butte Falls and Prospect.
Wolf
tracks in the chase area and the sizes of tooth scrapes and
bites on the carcass led to the case being labeled as a wolf
kill, according to a livestock investigation report by
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists.
Fresh
wolf tracks were observed around the carcass and throughout
the pasture, the report states.
Global-positioning system data from a collar worn by OR-54,
a young female in the Rogue Pack, showed it was less than a
mile away from the carcass earlier in the day the dead calf
was found, the report states.
OR-54,
who likely is a female from OR-7′s 2016 litter, was captured
and collared Oct. 3, in Klamath County’s Wood River Valley,
the eastern portion of the Rogue Pack’s home range,
according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It’s the
first GPS data collected on the Rogue Pack since OR-7′s GPS
collar failed two years ago.
GPS data
also show that OR-54 was within two miles of the carcass
throughout late Wednesday and early Thursday, the report
states.
Birdseye
said his wife heard what they thought was a livestock attack
Wednesday night, and he investigated but did not find any
evidence until the following morning. Birdseye said he also
heard wolf howls the previous evening and that wolves have
been a regular visitor to the area.
“They
howl off and on,” Birdseye said. “Three months ago I had two
right outside my back door, 30 yards away.”
The case
represents the first confirmed livestock kills by a wolf or
wolves since collared wolf OR-25 was fingered for the
killing of a young calf on private land in the Red Blanket
Creek area near Prospect in February 2017. Data from OR-25′s
GPS collar confirmed its presence at the kill site, ODFW
reports state.
The Rogue
Pack previously had been blamed for three livestock kills in
2016 in Klamath County. While GPS data was not available on
the Rogue Pack’s movements at that time, they were known to
frequent that area, ODFW reports state.
— Reach Mail Tribune
reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or mfreeman@mailtribune.com.
Follow him on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.
