Where wolf? There wolf!
Courtesy photo A North American Gray Wolf
Several wolf sightings inside the Kellogg city limits have been reported over the past few days and residents have taken to social media to warn each other about the sightings, but according to representatives with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, there is no need to panic.
“I find it unlikely that wolves would even venture into town, let alone keep coming back,” said Phil Cooper with IDFG. “Residential areas are not places they would want to stay because they don’t like people.”
Cooper did speak to the fact that the heavy winter may have forced animals like wolves and coyotes to move from the high mountain areas into some of the low-lying hillsides due to other animals moving down as the snow piled up.
“It’s definitely not a case of them scavenging for food,” Cooper said. “This is a time of plenty for the wolves. The snow makes it harder for the deer and elk to get around and makes them easy prey for the wolves.”
Cooper did not completely rule out the scenario of them coming down into parts of town that are right up against the hillside, but not for any other reason than they are simply moving
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from one territory to another or to find the other members of their pack.
“A common wolfpack is 5-7 wolves,” Cooper said. “And there is a misconception that these wolves travel exclusively in this pack. This is not the case as usually the pack will split up and spread out throughout a territory and explore and hunt in smaller groups. This is why you hear the howling, they are communicating with one another. There is a possibility that a few may have come off the hillside and ran through a part of town so that they could get to another part of the surrounding mountains”
However for those who are concerned that the wolves reported presence Cooper advises that residents keep their pets inside kennels and always have an eye on them when they are outside.
For more information or to report a confirmed wolf sighting, call the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at (208) 769-1414.