Wisconsin wolf hunters plan to run dogs on wolves during mating season. January and February are prime breeding times for wolves. Wolves are very protective of their families at this time of the year.
In 2006 while tracking wolves I found signs of the alpha pair’s mating ritual. On a snowy north wood road I found alpha pair scent markings about every 10th of a mile. The whole family was in on this mating ritual, from subordinate individuals to the alpha pair. Subordinate individuals make squat urination signs, and the alpha pair make raised leg urination. Typically only the alpha male and female make the raised led urination scent markings.
These markings were made at the edge of their range. As I stated earlier, wolves are very territorial at this time of the year. At a mile down the road, I found a small, about a foot tall, snow covered pine tree with rusty-red colored urine on it. The rusty-red colored (blood in it) urine meant the alpha female was in estrus. I felt honored to have found these signs of wolf-love in the woods.
Can you imagine the carnage that will happen if wolf hunters run dogs on wolves during prime breeding times? There are no regulations in place for running dogs on wolves, yet they plan to hunt wolves using dogs. Wisconsin is the only state that uses this barbaric method of hunting, known as wolf hounding. Wisconsin quite literally throws dogs to wolves.
Wolves were hunted into near extinction, then thanks to the Endangered Species Act have started to recover over the last forty years. Wild wolves are a part of Wisconsin’s wild legacy. Wolf recovery began in the late 1970s. It’s wrong to hunt an imperiled species just off the endangered species list. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. There are currently two bills in congress that call for delisting wolves in Wisconsin and three other states.
Please take action to stop the War on Wolves Act call your members of congress
