Photo of Killer Dog Pack Member in Washington State Looks Like a Wolf
73Do I have a vision problem? With all that's been written about the killer dog pack ravaging the Washington State countryside, am I the only one that sees the critter in the photo as a wolf, not a dog?
Yeah, we have folks out there talking about Cujo, shades of Stephen King, all that. This pack moves only at night (normal behavior for hunting wolves, often wise enough to the ways of man and rifles to brush up by day). Writers have endlessly quoted officials who mention the killing of a 350 pound llama and a total of more than 100 animals in all...so far. They've also been clear that this pack seems to be well fed and is killing for sport.
Something, I might add, that environmentalists will swear wolves never do, but there are those of us--even in this day of wussified America--who know better. I once owned the Twenty Mile Ranch in Custer, South Dakota. Back in the day (long before my time), a renegade white wolf that had killed for sport for more than a decade was finally trapped and shot on that ranch, his hide tacked to an old building still standing (as of 1992, anyway).
True, trackers and trappers who'd studied this wolf for years were pretty sure he was entirely insane by the end of his killing career, but so what? Wolves can be nuts, too.
Plus, this wolf pack (I'll be damned if I'll call this beastie a dog--what an insult to the wolf!) is running in eastern Washington, outside of Spokane. Well, guess what? The WRTL (that would be the Wolfie Right To Lifers) have been forcing the reintroduction of wolves in Montana and Idaho mountains for decades now. It's not that far from Lookout Pass to the Palouse for animals capable of traveling long distances.
Duh.
Plus, as a friend pointed out, the animal in the one night photo so far available indicates a healthy, well fed beast. Again, duh! How tough is it going to be for a wolf pack to eat well in a land of virtual milk and honey, wolf style? Calves, lambs, goats, domestic pets, all those domesticated walking pantries...yum-m-m! Of course the pack is well fed! Sheesh!
I'm posting two photos: One of the "mystery dog" that is no dog, and one of a known wolf for comparison.
Though the known wolf in the photo is in winter fur, certain "markers" shared with the known llama killer are obvious. Please note on both animals:
1. Extremely long, slender legs.
2. Bushy tail brush.
3. Similiar size and shape of ears.
4. Notably long, narrow muzzle.
5. Fairly close-set eyes.
There's not much else to say, except perhaps to finish with this open comment to those hunting the killer dog pack in Washington State:
HEY, GUYS! CALL IN THE WOLF TRACKERS! YOU MIGHT HAVE MORE LUCK SOLVING THIS ONE IF YOU DO THAT!
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I've heard of "The Ghost and the Darkness" but was never really sure I wanted to watch it....
Anyway, yes, mental complexity of the mind--any mind--will always produce aberrations from time to time.
Thanks for commenting.
I noticed that also but thought it might be mixed with a domestic dog. It does have some similarities to a wolf, as you pointed out, but a mix could also and if the dog was the female, she would have taught it to kill for the "fun" of it.
That's a possibility. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out in the end.
I too thought it looked more like a wolf to me as well, though a friend once had a wolf hybred that looked more wolf than dog so could be either I suppose...
Doesn't really matter if it's a dog or a wolf if it's killing other animals. It needs to be eliminated.
Looks like a wolf to me, or possibly like Becky said, a domestic mix...either way, as drbj said, what's the difference if it's killing off other's pets and livelihood. They need to deal with it, I'd say.
DayLee, drbj, Mo: Whether the pack is composed of dogs, wolves, or hybrids matters in this sense: If the people in charge of finding and eliminating these predators are looking for "dogs that might be going home to their owners every morning", they could be looking in the wrong direction for a long, long, time. Back in the day, no, it might not have mattered so much. A trapper (who was usually also a skilled tracker), or even a settler (rancher or homesteader) would start putting out traps and/or poison bait, and most of the time, pretty soon you had a dead killer.
But politically correct 2011, that can't happen. Plus, there's a jurisdictional difference between wolf and dog. If they're dogs, pretty much anybody with a loaded rifle who gets a bead on them can eliminate the problem..AND if they're dogs, they're also one helluva lot more potentially dangerous to humans, especially children.
But if they're full blooded wolves, any civilian who gets caught dropping one of these critters has to consider the legal consquences. If he's an old school rancher in remote territory, he'll shoot, shovel, and shut up--and the problem will mysteriously go away. But if he's identified as a wolf killer who is not officially sanctioned by the state (Fish & Game guy, for example) he's got to sweat the greenies.
Plus, it matters in the sense that wolf pack behavior and dog pack behavior is not usually identical. It makes a difference to the trackers which critter they're following.
There was a time when an animal that killed just for the sake of killing, or even marauded livestock or humans was hunted down and destroyed, be it wolf, tiger, bear, bull or something else. It seems to me that was a good rule of thumb and should still be done today.
I wish I saw the logic in only dispatching a "professional" to deal with the wild animal, versus letting anyone deal with a domestic one? How insane is that? That seems to me almost like saying only a professional can kill a serial killer if threatened by them, but anyone can drop an average citizen if they were the threat. WHAT?!?!
Ms. Annette: Agreed. The Custer Wolf (to which I refer in the Hub) stayed on the run and killing cattle (etc.) for many years, but he was an extreme exception to the rule, traveling throughout several states and running alone, a true lobo. Most of the time, eliminating the problem didn't take nearly that long.
Mo: You called it. Or a bit like, as detailed in my Jose Guerena hub, our soldiers in Afghanistan having to be careful which terrorists they shoot, but a local Tucson S.W.A.T. team gunning down an ex-Marine in his own home is just fine.
Of course, the human killer is feared by all, including liberals, while the wolves are considered by the greenies to be such cute, lovely, precious little innocent beasties much nobler than man....
Ugh. That's all I have to say.
Fred - Looks like a wolf to me. Great write up as usual.
The Frog
I had a friend over in Mohave County that was one of the Federal trackers. He went out weekly to get animals that were killing. He would usually find that the ones that killed to kill were either domestic or had been mixed with domestic. True wild animals only kill for food and are usually ignored. The wild ones that kill livestock were usually old or injured, so they went for the easy to hunt.
Before I even saw the wolf photo and read that section, I knew the first photo was that of wolves They are definitely not dogs. They need to stop the dog hunting and start looking for wolves instead.
Mo: Ugh it is.
Frog: Thanks.
Becky: I understand what you're saying, but--opinions of Federal trackers or no opinions of Federal trackers--there are still exceptions.
And ONE of those exceptions could well be a possibility Pam mentioned just now: Wolves that had been raised around humans and then kicked loose. We know of at least two people in different states who were raising fullblooded wolves, no dog mixed in there...and who, we SUSPECT, decided it was not working out and simply kicked the pack loose in the wild.
At least, we could never get a straight answer out of either one of these guys when we asked,
"Hey, where did your wolves go?"
Fortunately, neither of these situations occurred anywhere near Washington State, so at least THIS pack is not their fault....
Cardisa: I'm with you!
I totally agree with you and Pam there. They would not have the fear factor that says "Stay away from humans". They would be prime candidates.
Yep, early exposure to humans can mess up--well, even humans!
Ghost,your comments are as good as your articles,up and funny.
Thanks, Elenin. Cool new avatar you got there!
Can't blame wolves! Wouldn't be PC!
Good point, Will. And all these reporters writing up "dog pack" stories DO work for the liberal-slanted media, don't they?
Should have thought of that:
It's maybe not stu-pid-i-tee
Just being sure to stay pee-cee!
When the leftist enviros started promoting reintroducing wolves, the leftist press claimed no wolf had ever attacked a human, because there were no recorded historical incidents. I quickly found a site that had hundreds of old newspapers stories about wolf attacks!
The left wants lots of wolves reintroduced (it's that guilt factor again!), so all such stories about new wolf attacks will be squelched.
We had an incident here in Arizona a few years ago. A camper's dog was attacked and killed by a reintroduced wolf, so the guy shot and killed the wolf. The leftist medai and the enviros raised holy hell, and the guy was threatened with prison. I don't know what became of it.
Yep. What I said.
They say the same thing about cougars, yet cougars have attacked and in some cases killed humans even in recent times. I can clearly recall cougar attack incidents reported in local press in both California and in Montana, but do we see those stories hit the national media?
Not so much!
Heck, Will, when Pam and I were living in Colorado in 2007-2009, there was even a case on the western slope of two COYOTES team-attacking a grown man. Not rabid, either, as far as anyone ever determined.
Predators is predators, libs is loons, and never the twain shall make policy sense.
Ghost, you know they are not full blooded dogs. Did you ever see a dog that has been missing for a while? It comes back skin and bone. These guys look very healthy.
Good write up on Wolves
Tina
Thanks, Tina. Yep, I surely DO know they're not full blooded dogs!
Looks like a wolf to me, or at least half wolf.
That was my thought. It's been a few months; I really should check to see if there's been any progress on catching these critters.
Daffy Duck Level 5 Commenter 11 months ago
Aparently people forget that animals have minds too. With every mind comes complexity that we simply can't understand. With that comes endless things that can go wrong that we cannot cure or stop.
It has been proven that there are some animals that will kill for sport. The movie "The Ghost and the Darkness" is a true story and a great example of that. 2 rogue lions killing for the fun of it.