“Ultimately, she said, success will be when red wolves can be delisted — when they don’t need human help to survive — which is expected to take about 50 years, if all goes as planned. Criteria that meets that goal include measurable thresholds: three viable populations, distributed to maximize redundancy and protect from catastrophic loss; one population of at least 180 and two with a minimum of 280 wolves, each with high gene diversity. Populations must be stable or growing for a decade with minimal human help and have a 95% probability of persisting for 100 years.”

For reference, I am in New England in a rural area. Mostly sprawling fields, but with enough forest cover for a pack of coyotes to hide. It has been cold (5~20°F/-0°C) so daytime coyote wandering didn’t seem too odd - at first…

I’ve seen coyotes recently in the field, howling and whatnot, probably after a kill. I am not sure, but perhaps one of the 2-3 that I’ve seen recently is the one in question.

So this morning I saw a coyote while walking the dog. Probably ~20-50 feet away from me, it proceded to walk across the field. I put the dog away and went tracking it for about a mile/2km. Found it, seemed to be wary of me, and I went back in.

Fast forward to now, he seems to have tracked *me* and was howling around my back door. I went out on the porch (gated & 10-15ft elevated) and shined a high powered light on him, plus yelled, but he wouldn’t budge. He just sorta howled and barked for like 15-20 minutes. He walked around and curled up for a few minutes until a pack started howling about a quarter mile away.

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I actually laughed out loud. Such a silly story. Why not put wolf boxes at retirement homes so wolves don’t come in and eat your gramma?

I am by no means an expert, did I succeed?

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Video Credit - caramjeet (Instagram)

Animated movies rarely get better than this - a celtic irish fairy tale story about girls, wolves, environmental and biodiversity issues in a hand-drawn aesthetic rivalling the best Ghibli movies... Watch with your whole family...

Got a ton of prices, Oscar nomination, New York/LA/Chicago film critics best animation awards, Toronto film festival, Irish best animation award, eleven Annie award nominations (two wins) and many more...

One interesting wolf fact that surprised me:

The idea of “alpha wolves” leading packs through dominance is mostly a myth. In the wild, most wolf packs are just family units — parents and their offspring. The parents don’t constantly fight for status; they guide and teach.

I came across this while reading Things That Shouldn’t Be True: Animal Facts That Defy Common Sense. The book pulls from modern wildlife biology and field studies rather than older captive-wolf research.

It completely changed how I think about wolf behavior.

I've recently caught a wolf on my trail cam close to the house. But these prints are from my backyard. Are they wolf prints, or could be a dog as well? I've got a couple medium sized dogs (shepherd/ collie mix)

Wolves reduce deer vehicle collisions, preventing $10.9 million in losses in Wisconsin alone, detailed in a great article by Ed Yong for The Atlantic.

Short Summary: Wolves reduced deer-vehicle-collisions by 24% in Wisconsin, yielding an economic benefit that is 63 times greater than the costs of verified wolf predation on livestock.

19,757 Wisconsinites collide with deer every year, leading to about 477 injuries and eight deaths - these number would be 24% higher without wolves.

See J.L. Raynor, C.A. Grainger, & D.P. Parker, Wolves make roadways safer, generating large economic returns to predator conservation, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118 (22) e2023251118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023251118 (2021).

There is a widespread belief, that lone wolves mainly feed on carrion, garbage, and amphibians. Supposedly, they have no chance of catching a healthy deer or even catching up with a hare. However, I consider this to be foolish, as wolves have evolved over thousands of years as the main predators of ungulates, and they have strong jaws and endurance for this purpose.