May 11, 2012
By JEFF BARNARD
The Associated Press

A young male wolf from Oregon that has won worldwide fame while trekking across mountains, deserts and highways looking for a mate has had what appears to be his first close encounter with people, and ended up getting his picture taken, to boot. A federal trapper, a state game warden and a state wildlife biologist were visiting ranchers in Northern California on Tuesday to notify them that GPS signals showed the gray wolf was in the area, when they stopped to look over a sagebrush hillside with binoculars, said Karen Kovacs, wildlife program manager for the California Department of Fish and Game in Redding, Calif.

“There, all of a sudden, out pops a head, and there he is,” she said. “He appeared very healthy.” The wolf, known at OR-7, was hanging out with three coyotes, and appeared curious about the people watching him. But he kept his distance, about 100 yards, Kovacs said. “He has managed to stay off the radar as far as people getting visuals of this critter,” she said. “His healthy distance has probably served him well up to this point.”

California wildlife biologist Richard Shinn snapped a photo, the first shot of the animal in color, and the department posted it on its website. The sighting happened on private land in Modoc County, the sparsely settled northeastern corner of California.

OR-7 left the Imnaha pack in northeastern Oregon in September, shortly before the state put a death warrant on his father and a sibling for killing cattle. That order has been suspended while a challenge by conservation groups is heard in court. OR-7 is a descendant of wolves introduced into the Northern Rockies in the 1990s, and represents the westernmost expansion of a regional population that now tops 1,650.

His travels took him down the Cascade Range and across the border into California in December, making him the first wolf in California in more than 80 years, according to the department. Along the way he was photographed in black and white by an automated trailside camera in Oregon. He has since gone back to Oregon and returned to California, making his first visit to Modoc County.

While his story has appeared in newspapers and websites around the world, OR-7 has yet to find a mate or even settle down since following his natural inclination to leave his home and head out on his own. “We joked that it only seems right that the world’s most famous wolf makes an appearance in California and the paparazzi come out,” said Rob Klavins of the conservation group Oregon Wild, which held a contest for children around the world to name the wolf and came up with Journey.

Klavins said he views wolf recovery as a “real-life story of redemption.” “This tells us how far we have come,” he said. “His brother’s story tells us how far we have to go. He was illegally shot in Idaho.” Kovacs said state biologists have been keeping close tabs on OR-7, with the help of his GPS collar, which is visible in one of the photos taken by Shinn.

Biologists have visited areas the wolf frequented after he left and found a track in the dirt in Northern California’s Shasta County. They know he has fed on the carcasses of deer, dug up the burrows of ground squirrels, and fed from livestock carcasses left out by a rancher. But as of yet, there are no reports he has killed any livestock.

The department also has been contacting ranchers to keep them up to date on the general whereabouts of the wolf, which is protected as a federally endangered species in Western Oregon and California. “Most people have been appreciative,” Kovacs said. “We want to make sure we are doing our part to protect this animal so that it isn’t mistaken for a coyote” and killed.

Online: California Department of Fish and Game, http:1.usa.gov/IWs2pL

July 6-9, 2012

This class will center on the practical, core skills needed to survive the first three days of a self-reliance situation. Often times, these are the only three days… after which you are either rescued, walk out, or are ready to stay in the wilderness indefinitely.

Skills will include:

 Shelter- principles, location and construction.

*Debris hut    *Tarp shelters

*Debris-pi      *Stacked debris walls

*Lean-to         *Insulation philosophy

Water- sources, filtration/purification and containers

*Bark containers and bottles           *primitive filters

*Rock boiling                                     *commercial filters/tablets

*Carrying & Storage

Fire- friction, sparks and sunlight

*Primitive bow drill              *Stone tools & percussion flaking

*Flint strikers                                    *Bark & rootlet cordage

*Charred cloth

Food- trees, plants and animals

*Wild edible plants               *Throwing stick

*Survival stew                       *Hunting and Trapping

*Slow-moving protein          * Hide-tanning

Various skills to include:

-Survival baskets

-Emergency tinder bundles

-Advanced traps and techniques

-Signaling, navigation and travel

-Advanced sign tracking

Who left this Track? Please post your replies here:

Celebrity wolf’s hanging out in the Greensprings

Wandering wolf OR-7 has been meandering in the Greensprings area this week, marking the farthest west he’s been since he left northeastern Oregon in September to seek a mate.

The famous wolf with the GPS collar was tracked Thursday morning in the mountains southwest of Hyatt Lake after he was tracked northeast of the lake Wednesday, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“This would be his westernmost travel to date,” said Michelle Dennehy, the ODFW’s wolf program spokeswoman. “He’s been in this area for about a week now.”

The nearly 3-year-old male wolf began his latest stint in Jackson County after spending more than two months wandering throughout Northern California in what biologists call classic “dispersal” activity as he seeks new territory and a mate.

He has traveled more than 2,000 miles under the glare of the media since he ventured away from the Imnaha Pack northeast of Enterprise.

When he first crossed the Cascades in November, he became Western Oregon’s first confirmed wolf in 65 years. When his GPS collar pinged in Siskiyou County on Dec. 28, he became the first known wolf in the Golden State since 1924.

Biologists have said there is no way to predict whether he will remain in any specific area he’s visited, but this is his second time spending his days primarily in Jackson County. Previously he spent about a month wandering from the west side of Mount McLoughlin to the headwaters of the Wood River in Klamath County before striking out toward California.

While in Western Oregon, the wolf is protected as an endangered species under state and federal versions of the Endangered Species Act.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or email at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.

We followed the tracks and found various spots where Bob snaked and or cleaned the hare. We found the entrails and various tufts of fur, I thought they looked like a baby alien at first. I was surprised not to see any real signs of dragging or dropping of the hair. Bob must have really had a good grip on what looked to be a fairly sizable hare.

Next time your out tracking or just hiking just remember that just as your ready to call it quits and head back to camp you may find yourself intruding on someones dinner plans.

Our program is different and is all about the core education. Our nominal charge of $50/month is to cover land use rental fees and nothing else. If you have the passion to learn and to ultimately teach these skills then this is a program for you to seriously consider.  I encourage you to read all about the program, in the present groups own words,  here within this site.

For questions please contact us:

Bobcats are making a comeback in Ohio, but no one expected one to come to the big city — or is even certain it did.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials are studying the remains of a bobcat found yesterday on the berm of Rt. 315 at Henderson Road on the Northwest Side.  The bobcat, a 15- to 20-pound female, apparently was struck and killed by a vehicle. A motorist brought the body to the Wildlife Division’s regional headquarters on Riverside Drive.

Bobcats are endangered and remain scarce in even remote areas of Ohio, so it is a potential stunner to find one in an urban area. Perhaps the animal trekked into town along the Olentangy River, which parallels Rt. 315.

But before anyone gets excited about the “extremely unusual” discovery, wildlife officials plan a necropsy of the deceased cat, said ODNR spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle. The cat’s stomach contents should show whether it was a wild animal — feasting on mice, rabbits and other small critters — or a once-captive animal that was fed and escaped from its owner, she said.
People have shown up before at the local ODNR office bearing the bodies of what they thought were bobcats, only to be told they were large domestic cats without much of a tail, McCorkle said. So, it was a big surprise to see the motorist, who thought he had the remains of a coyote, walk in with the body of a bobcat, she said. Wildlife officials couldn’t even venture a guess about when a wild bobcat was last confirmed in Franklin County, saying it was at least more than a decade. ODNR officials estimate there are 1,000 bobcats in Ohio, with most concentrated in Noble County, the Jackson-Vinton counties area and Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio.

rludlow@dispatch.com

Life on the mountain has been moving along at its usual pace, which is usually as fast as the mud will allow us to walk. The dining hall is now in need of a roof, all necessary bracing is done and the fun part is ready to start. Gee I wonder who they’ll get to put the roof on?

Winter has made its presence known with postcard quality vistas at every turn. Just as soon as winter shows its snowy personality spring finds the mountain again and reclaims the earth tones from the colorless white landscape. The changing temperatures have made tracking a very interesting endeavor. One day we will have the blessing of a snow covered ground and a bounty of tracks to play with, and the next will push our skills for all the snow will be gone and nothing but the leaves and usual ground cover is to be found.

Shelter 3 has finally arrived. I’ll tell ya, this one is something to see. With its weaved branch structure to form the debris walls to the cedar bark shingles, this shelter really looks the part. Oh and not to mention it’s cool on the inside as well. I don’t know how we would out do this one but we are certainly going to try.

Will be adding more and more photos so keep your eyes peeled but remember to get outside and enjoy the winter season or what ever mother nature decides to do for the day.

-Steve