"Bob Weinberger" wrote in message
news:qIkvj.32392$s33.18961@trndny06...

"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I see wolves are to be removed from the endangered species list

http://tinyurl.com/28cwx5


Which brings up a questions I've had a few times when nobody was near to
ask. Why haven't I ever seen any of the typical warnings in park
handouts and trailhead signs that are commmon for bears, bison, even elk
.... for wolves?
snip
Because bears (Griz if suddenly encroached upon and Blacks and Griz that
have come to associate humans with food) will and have hurt/killed people
on more than a few occaisions, the same goes for Bison and elk especially
during the rut and when dumbasses think it would be cute to get a picture
of hubby or little Johnny next to or even on the animal.

The same cannot be said for wolves. Of the few documented cases in North
America where wolves have killed (2 that I am aware of) or hurt human
beings, I believe all but one involved captive wolves rather than those in
the wild. The one involved a pack of wolves that had become dependant on
the dump of remote Artic (mining? drilling?) operation, for their winter
food. The crew members even occaisionally threw food to the wolves. The
man killed and partially eaten was drunk and out alone at night near the
dump. There are a few anecdotal unducumented reports of other wolf
"incidents" but even those are few and far between.

Even with the protections that wolves have in the lower 48, a few are
killed on purpose by man every year (both legally and illegally), and
wolves being the smart and social critters that they are have learned to
keep their distance from humans here.

Not always quite so distant as was once the case and I had supposed still
was. Less than two weeks ago Becky and I were chatting with a couple of
staff members at the Schlitz Audubon Center along the Lake Michigan shore a
few miles north of the city of Milwaukee and well within the urban
metroplex. We had encountered a couple of coyotes (common enough these days
even within the city proper) and were lucky enough to get some decent good
photos even in the fading twilight. While showing off the photos to the
staff, we were told that there had been quite a few recent sightings of
wolves, or at least a wolf, within a couple of miles of the center. Could'a
knocked me over with a fender! Wolves? In Milwaukee? No doubt about
it......some of the sightings were reported by very reliable witnesses. A
year and a half ago, a black bear managed to wander into Wauwatosa, no more
than a mile from where I now sit. Ordinarily, bears do not come within a
hundred miles of year, and only very few are even that close. This one
probably came down largely through green belt along the Milwaukee River, at
least for the last fifty miles or so. No telling where it started out. I
don't know where it ended up either, after it was darted in a tree.

It seems a lot of historically shy animals are becoming increasingly
habituated to human presence.....almost certainly a result of shrinking
habitat away from human encroachment. Deer are plentiful in Milwaukee
county, virtually all of which is highly developed.....some time this week,
I believe, sharpshooters are scheduled to thin the heard in the Havenswood
State Forest (the only urban state forest in all of Wisconsin, if I recall
correctly). Wild turkeys can frequently be seen in some of the outlying
parks and along the parkways that border the various streams flowing into
the city. There are beavers less three blocks from the house Becky and I
recently shared a house, within the city limits. Her dog got bitten by a
coyote less than a mile from there, also within the city. Peregrine falcons
nest on a bank building, the tallest building in the city.....or did
recently, I haven't heard much about them in the past couple of years. They
most certainly nest in boxes at several power plants in the area. Pictures
of nest boxes can be seen he

http://www.we-energies.com/environme...t_wildlife.htm

Note that the next box at the Oak Creek power plant (on the lake shore just
south of the city) is currently occupied by great horned owls.

Other raptors are seen so frequently, especially along the freeways where
virtually no one ever approaches near to them on foot, that they arouse
little notice among the general population. Cooper's hawks, rough legged
hawks, red tailed, red shouldered, sharp shines, kestrels and broad wings
(in season) are everywhere. Owls, though seldom seen by most, are also
abundant.....great horned, barred, eastern screech, saw whet, etc. With the
harsh winter we've been having (not really all that harsh by historical
standards, but a damned sight worse than anything we've had in the past 14
years) there are fairly frequent sightings of snowy owls and even northern
shrikes, which the field guides list as scarce, are popping up all over the
place.

Wolves in southeastern Wisconsin seemed like a highly improbable scenario
just a few years ago. Now.......?

Wolfgang