Last Saturday I headed up to Sun Valley, Idaho for a wolf tracking trip with Sun Valley Trekking, a local backcountry guide. We had a full house, with participants coming from as far as Malibu, California. Defenders sponsored this trip with the Western Wolf Coalition, to get people outside and interested in the native wildlife. After leaving the coffee shop at dawn we headed over to Greenhorn Valley, where we set up scopes and watched about 100 elk graze on the hillside. All of a sudden, one of the group spotted a dog-like animal on the side of the hill, not 50 yards from the elk. A quick glance by Jon Rachael, Big Game manager for Idaho Fish and Game confirmed that this was indeed a wolf.

For those who are lucky enough to go to Yellowstone to see wolves know the thrill of seeing them in their natural environment. This beautiful gray wolf slowly walked up the slope, occasionally stopping and looking back at us. The elk did not seem to mind him much, but they kept an eye on him and every now and again decided it was time to move a little bit further up the slope. We were also lucky enough to find an elk carcass that had been eaten by a couple of wolves. There was not much left except a couple rids and some hide.

After watching the wolf for abut 45 minutes, we strapped on our snowshoes and headed up into the Sawtooth foothills to get to our yurt for lunch. Over lunch, Francie St. Onge of Sun Valley Trekking gave us a great presentation on the biology and ecology of wolves. We also had Jon from the Idaho Fish and Game to answer any questions about the local wolves. A great day out was had by all, especially as we got to see wolves, plenty of elk, and all in our own backyard!

This weekend I went up to central Idaho to go wolf-tracking with Boise’s Timberline High School. This high school is unique in the fact that they have a wolf pack named after them, the Timberline Pack. This pack spends much of its time up near the town of Lowman in the Boise National Forest, not far from where the original 15 wolves were reintroduced back into Idaho in 1995. We were not sure whether there were other packs in the area, or if the Timberline Pack had gone further up north to find elk, but we were sure going to try and find them. On the Friday evening we drove up to Lowman from Boise, and saw elk all over the mountain sides, and even in people’s front yards. When we arrived in Lowman, we sat down with Carter Niemeyer,  the  former Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and now summer

The next morning we got a hearty breakfast at the local dinner, and the owner gave a talk on what it is like living in the wilds of Idaho, where wolf packs are abundant and healthy. We set off down the road with our telemetry equipment hanging out the window, trying to pick up signals from the local wolf packs. After a while we decided to stop driving and hike up to a ridge to get a better vantage point. No sooner had we started walking up the snow-covered forest trail, than expert biologist Carter spotted a set of Mountain Lion tracks.  Snow had fallen that night so the tracks must have been only be a few hours old. Carter explained the difference between these lion tracks and wolf tracks, these included the lack of nails on lion prints, and their asymmetrical toes. We had not walked another hundred feet when one of the students yelled out that he had found another set of tracks. These tracks were smaller than before, and went in an almost straight line. “Bobcat,” Carter said. They were too small for a lion, and as there were no nails showing, it was not a fox or coyote. Although we did also see fox tracks earlier that day, as well as a coyote playing by the road on the drive up.

We finally reached the top of the ridge and scanned the horizon with our binoculars looking for the local wolf packs. No wolves, but the students caught sight of three immature bald eagles riding the thermals above the mountain, and we also saw a herd of mule deer in the distance. We were still not having much luck with our wolf watch, and so we decided to try and howl at them to get a response. Carter led the group with a long, deep howl that seemed to go on forever. The students quickly followed with their more soprano howls. Soon we had over twenty howling ‘wolves’ in our pack, and if the wolves did hear us I do not know if they would have been intrigued, or scared off!

As we hiked back down the steep trail, we talked about how exciting it was to be in a place that had such a diversity of carnivores, birds and ungulates. Although we did not see any wolves that day, we did see an abundance of sign showing that there were many animals in these mountains. The trip back to town included a stop off at one of Idaho’s famous hot springs to sooth our sore feet.

If you are interested in going on a wolf watching trip in central Idaho this spring, click here for more details.

 
Hi Erin,
I want to issue a challenge to Defenders and all wolf friends around the US to follow my lead and take the initiative in organizing their own pro wolf rallies in front of their nearby Cabela's. I organized the rally myself, at the Cabela's in Scarborough, Maine, with only 3 days notice to the pro-wildlife organizations and community here in Maine. You do not need weeks to plan such a rally, but can build on the first one and then make it bigger each time.
 
It did help that I had handed out home-made fliers in front of the Cabela's entrance the Saturday before by myself. The wildlife and wolf lovers in Maine who I called and emailed within a couple of days to share what I had done were impressed with my intiative and wanted to join me, though I did not know even most of them. They wanted to take action after hearing what I had done and the enthusiasm that so many Cabela's shoppers expressed for the wolves safety and protection.
 
With only 3 days notice, I still managed to get 17 great wolf friends to show up with signs and fliers. For three hours, we expressed our love and respect for wolves for all to see. Both the NBC-TV affiliate here in Maine and Maine's National Public Radio covered the event and our message was heard far and wide. And it is only the first of many rallies we will hold for the wolves and against Cabela's and their awful wolf killing derby. The next one will be on Saturday, March 6 from 11AM to 2PM.
 
The sense of achievement, gratitude and empowerment that I felt in doing my solo protest and then organizing the pro wolf rally the next weekend, was such a wonderful antidote to the helplessness and sadness I have felt while reading about the killing of wolves out West this past year. As I told one of the Cabela's store managers who came out to see what I was up to when during my solo protest, I have had enough of feeling heartsick as the wolves of my country are killed once again and will not stand for it any longer.
 
Fellow Defenders and wolf friends are welcome to contact me if they are able to attend our next rally in Maine or for some tips on how to create a rally of their own, nearby to where they live.
 
If Defenders and wolf friends around the US do what I did and organize pro wolf rallies at every Cabela's in the country, we will shut down these wolf killing derbies and send a loud and clear message that Americans everywhere will no longer tolerate ever again the demonization and killing of the beautiful, intelligent and magnificent wolves who have returned to our country, this time to stay.
 
Bob G.
South Portland, Maine

Unfortunately, we've encountered some obstacles while trying get the attention of Cabela's in order to show them that the sponsorship of predator derbies (the proceeds of which went directly to support anti-wolf litigation) is irresponsible and wrong.

After the Sidney Sun-Telegraph (the local newspaper where Cabela’s headquarters is located) refused to run our ad, many of you suggested we take out an ad in Nebraska’s biggest paper, the Omaha World Herald (good idea, guys) – but they refused it, too.

And just minutes ago, the Kearney Hub (where one of Cabela’s biggest stores is located) told us that “after looking over the content of your ad, we will not be running this in our newspaper.”

We won’t stand for censorship when it comes to protecting wolves from slaughter. And we hope you’ll stand with us.

Many of you have taken matters into your own hands. - from phone calls, to emails , to returning merchandise to holding a rally. In fact, one of our supporters named Bob G. from Maine read about the derbies on the Defenders of Wildlife website is holding a rally outside of the Portland Cabela's store tomorrow at 11am.

Thanks to your support, we’re still intending to run our hard-hitting ad in the Kearney in the Lincoln Journal-Star on Wednesday, February 24th.

I discuss these recent threats to wolf recovery and attempt to dispel some of the more rampant myths in a High Country News blog "It's Time to Put Aside the Fairytales."

We need to tackle the Little Red Riding Hood mentality that frequently (and unfortunately) is part of any dialogue regarding wolves, with the facts.

** Be sure to join the more than 80,000 people who have signed this petition to urge Cabela's to end its unsportsmanlike sponsorship of predator derbies.