most hated and most loved
of wild animals.
>> Now we're into the phase
of how many can we have
on the landscape
and where should we have them?
>> They are elusive,
controversial, and compelling.
And they became the heart of a
quest four years in the making.
For four years, Wisconsin Public
Television chronicled the story
of wolves in our state, thorough
a series of reports sparked by
the successful return of this
once endangered animal.
We followed Wisconsin
bear hunters, who've
lost hunting dogs to wolves.
We looked into concerns over
wolf-dog hybrids;
profiled the problems of farmers
who've lost livestock
to wolf strikes.
>> It's a bad situation when
you've got wolf problems.
(dog barks)
>> And looked at the solution
that one farmer found in this
special breed of guard dog.
>> They almost have the pack
mentality themselves,
like wolves do.
>> These are some of the stories
you'll see in this hour-long
special, "Wolves In Wisconsin."
>> They're very tall animals.
At the shoulders,
they're usually 30 to 32 inches,
which is just a little shorter
than a whitetail deer.
Adult males weigh on the average
about 70 to 80 pounds.
They travel mostly at night.
They're such shy,
secretive animals.
They're a big large, wild dog.
>> The dog in question
is Canis lupus, the gray wolf,
sometimes called the timberwolf.
>> It looks like it crossed the
road right in front of us, here.
>> Adrian Wydeven has been
tracking Wisconsin's wolves
for more than 18 years.
>> Being a hunter, I guess that
part of them intrigues me.
I love to hunt, and so it's just
kind of is interesting studying
and following this animal
that's also a hunter.
>> Wydeven is a wolf specialist
for Wisconsin's Department
of Natural Resources.
>> We have to know how many
there are, where they're living.
The more precise that
information is, the better job
we can do managing the
population.
>> That population has had a
remarkable history in our state.
Wolves have long been part
of Wisconsin's landscape.
The first settlers, the Native
Americans, often revered them.
In some tribes they're still
called "Brother Wolf."
>> With the movement of European
Americans into Wisconsin in the
early 1800s, they were bringing
along with them livestock,
cattle and sheep.
And to them, this large predator
was kind of a stealing to them.
And for poor pioneer farmers,
the loss of one or two cows
could make a big difference as
to their food supply and being
able to make it through the
winter.
>> Those pioneer winters
could be brutal.
And wolves were seen
as competition.
>> We had bounties developed
in the 1830s and 1840s,
and those lasted
almost continuously till 1957.
There was no limitation on when
or where you could shoot a wolf.
Any time you were in the woods,
if you had a gun and saw a wolf,
you could shoot it and make $20
on your luck of finding a wolf
in the woods.
There was a lot of incentive to
go out and kill wolves.
There were people who earned
college degrees by bountying
wolves.
It was a way to make money
for people in rural areas.
>> The bounties put such a
pressure on the wolf population,
that they were driven from the
state.
The bounty system was revoked
by the legislature in 1957.
But still, by the 1960s,
Wisconsin's wolf population
was estimated at zero.
For the next 20 years or so,
this song was gone.
(man imitating wolf howl)
Wolves were never reintroduced
in Wisconsin.
They came back in the most
natural way.
They walked in
from populations in Minnesota.
Many people see this return
of the wolf as a conservation
success story.
People like Ron Vanderveld
of Florence County.
>> Obviously, we're dealing with
a very large massive print,
generally, about
4 by about 3-1/2 inches.
>> Vanderveld, a retired high
school teacher, is one of over
100 volunteers that fan out
over the north every winter,
in designated blocks,
to track wolves.
It's very rare that these
trackers actually see a wolf.
They're out in the wilds to
read the clues that the wolves
leave behind, in tracks,
and even in their scat.
>> For instance, if the scat is
black, go back.
In other words, this animal has
got a large amount of iron that
it has consumed, and blood, so
you backtrack the tracks where
it came from, and you probably
will find the kill site of the
animal that it had killed and
had fed upon.
>> Volunteers on the ground are
only one way that the DNR tracks
wolves.
They also track them by air.
>> That's fantastic.
>> Through radio collars
beaming out a signal.
Every year, the DNR collars
a certain number of wolves.
>> Usually, about a third or
half of the packs are collared.
>> They're hard to miss, leaving
tracks everywhere they go.
>> The airplanes are one of the
ways we follow radio collared
packs.
>> There they are.
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight.
Wow, eight of them.
>> When a radio signal on a
collared wolf changes.
(electronic beeping)
>> That's a mortality signal
going real quick like that.
>> It indicates a downed wolf,
a dead wolf.
And DNR crews must go in
to find it.
Once there, they try to
determine why the wolf died.
Disease?
Illegally shot?
They look for clues,
then carry the animal out.
Downed wolves are then
transported to the National
Wildlife Health Center
in Madison.
There, a necropsy is performed.
We want to warn you that some
viewers may find the video
you're about to see disturbing.
>> A necropsy is just an animal
version of an autopsy.
I'm looking for any evidence
of tears or ruptures, tumors,
lumps, infection that could
explain all of this fluid.
>> It gives us information about
the overall health of the
population, what are the things
wolves are dying from.
>> At this point, the cause of
death was internal bleeding.
She was found next to a road.
It's quite possible that
she was struck by a vehicle.
>> All of these people were part
of the recovery effort, and most
will be necessary to monitor
Wisconsin's wolves in the
future.
>> Our population goal was
a population of 350 wolves
outside of Indian reservations.
>> Done.
They've met that goal.
And the numbers continue to
increase.
As of the last count, early in
2010, Wisconsin now has more
than 700 wolves.
The state has 181 wolf packs
across the north, and as far
south as the Necedah National
Wildlife Refuge.
But the success of that effort
has been met with mixed
reaction.
Some believe Wisconsin
has too many wolves.
There's been a slew of suits and
counter suits to get the wolf
de-listed.
It was first dropped from the
Federal Endangered Species list
in 2007.
And in 2008, another battle
began, initiated by this man,
Dennis Chitko
of Florence County.
Chitko is a hunter
and a logging contractor.
His friend Dave Myeske is also
a hunter and a retired forester.
Chitko was the sportsman who
pushed to have the issue of a
wolf harvest put before the
Wisconsin Conservation Congress.
As a hunter, he was appalled
by what he saw as a growing
phenomenon he noted in fellow
hunters in wolf territory.
>> Get talking about deer, and
all of a sudden, they'll start
talking about timberwolves
or the gray wolf.
And they'll come back and say
if you see a wolf in the woods,
shoot it in the guts and let it
die on someone else's property.
That's just not right.
It's cruel.
It's very unethical.
And I just think it gives the
sportsperson a very bad image
and name.
>> Chitko feels that hunters
will have a higher regard for
wolves if their state status
changes from protected
wild animal to game animal.
Game animals can be harvested,
trapped or hunted.
His fellow hunter, Dave Myeske,
explains.
>> Any animal that people hunt,
like a whitetail deer, people
have high regards for that
animal, because it's out there,
and they have to work at it
to try and harvest one of those.
People just have a different
attitude when it's considered
a game animal.
>> In addition,
there's another concern.
Some hunters, like Chitko,
contend that wolves
are decimating the deer herd.
>> You just don't see the fawns,
like you do in the spring
of the year.
We feel like the predators are
having an impact on the deer.
>> That may be true in certain
parts of the state.
But with an overall population
of nearly a million deer,
Wydeven contends that wolves
serve a function, a natural
function, that affects both the
deer and our forests.
>> They're sort of shepherds
of the deer herd.
By spreading deer
browsing/grazing pressure
more evenly on the landscape,
they reduce levels
of over-browsing and
over-grazing on the landscapes.
>> Once gone,
now wolves have returned.
And here's the question
that we face now.
How many wolves
can Wisconsin support?
There are two different numbers,
biological and social,
and they're not the same.
>> The biological carrying
capacity is the amount of
habitat that can support
a certain wildlife species.
And the social carrying capacity
is just human tolerance for
a certain wildlife species.
We are hearing more from people
who don't like wolves, and are
very upset with the growth of
the wolf population, and have
stated publicly they would kill
any wolf they would see.
>> The sportsmen are getting
fed up and want something done.
>> There's something about this
animal that triggers passionate
feelings, both against
and in support of wolves.
Volunteer wolf tracker,
Ron Vanderveld.
>> Back in the '60s, there were
no wolves in Wisconsin.
Now, my grandchildren
have wolves on the landscape.
What a success story.
>> A wildlife success story
that has generated cheers
and controversy.
(cows mooing)
>> Come on!
Come on!
>> Judy Anchek and her son Steve
raise beef cattle on a farm
near Rice Lake.
The farm has been in the family
for years.
But in the last several years,
Anchek and her son have had to
contend with a new problem.
>> That dead pine tree
out there, the big one?
Right underneath there is where
I found the calf, dead, just
freshly killed.
Already the wolves had eaten
everything but the head and
legs.
My farm is what they call a
chronic farm, because I've had
so many depredations.
>> We've lost at least two or
three every year.
>> Wolves are back in Wisconsin.
They were trapped out of the
state and their return from
endangered status to a healthy
population is a success story
celebrated by many.
But that return has brought
problems for others,
like Anchek.
When a farm suffers depredation,
or predatory attack by a wolf,
farmers are compensated
for their lost livestock.
But the onus is on the farmer
to document those losses.
For Anchek, that takes time
and effort.
>> I spent so many hours last
year, just looking for calves
from depredations, that I didn't
have any summer at all, hardly,
except I was in the woods.
I would go at least twice a day.
If there's a calf missing in the
morning, you stay out in the
woods and you look until you
can't go anymore.
Steve will come and he'll take
over for me.
It's a bad situation
when you've got wolf problems.
>> Anchek has one of the worst
problems of wolf depredation
in the state.
It's a combination of factors.
Her cattle aren't sheltered
like dairy cows.
>> Beef cattle don't do well
in a barn.
They need the open spaces.
We feed them
the big round bales,
and you have to do that outside.
You can't confine them
in a barn.
When they have their babies
in the spring
is when the wolves hit.
They can smell for a long ways
away, and they smell when a cow
is having a calf.
>> The cattle are in the open
and vulnerable.
And Anchek's farm has woods with
a creek running through it,
which is very attractive to the
cattle and a great hiding place
for wolves.
>> We fenced this all, so that
we could keep the cattle in the
open.
We put them out here so that the
wolves wouldn't get the calves.
Otherwise, they went
back in the woods.
That's where the creek is.
They've got the water
back there.
I know it's working, but it
costs me a lot of money.
Nobody's going to pay me
for that.
>> We had to build this
corral and this pump house.
>> It's going to be over $15,000
for that.
Yeah.
And then, I'm not counting any
labor, because Steve and I do
it.
>> This is our livelihood.
This is how we make our living.
We've had nothing but problems
with the wolves.
>> Anchek's problems
have been severe.
Still, it's important to note
that the number of farms
suffering from wolf depredation
in Wisconsin is small.
In 2010, 42 farm animals
were lost to wolves,
out of approximately 7,000 farms
in wolf territory.
But the depredation numbers
are increasing every year.
And any loss of farm animals
to wolves is a cause for concern
for Wisconsin's Department
of Natural Resources.
Adrian Wydeven.
>> When they start to encounter
livestock on a regular basis,
some wolves are going to learn
to hunt livestock.
And those animals need to be
removed from the landscape,
because it creates animosity
toward the whole wolf
population.
>> In 2007, 38 wolves were
trapped and euthanized
on Wisconsin farms.
But by 2010, the wolf
was re-listed on the Federal
Endangered Species list.
And when that happens,
the state's authority to remove
problem wolves is taken away.
>> I think those of us who have
dealt with wolf management and
wolf recovery right from the
beginning, realize that one of
the things that eventually
we have to be able to do
is kill wolves.
It's one of the ironies of
liking wolves and wanting to
have wolves on our landscape.
You also have to have the
recognition that at some time
you need to kill wolves,
as well.
>> The DNR has explored other
options to assist farmers, such
as tracking collars on calves.
But they feel they must always
have the option of killing those
wolves that cause problems.
>> People don't want animals
that are going to be competing
with them for their livelihood,
living right on their farm
or right in their area.
That's part of our dilemma,
part of our charge as an agency,
to manage the population,
to reduce those kinds of
conflicts, yet at the same time
maintain healthy,
sustainable populations.
>> I've had people at these
meetings that I went to, the
people that like the wolves and
want them to stay and
everything, you know, they come
up to me and they said, well, if
you're having a problem with the
wolves, why don't you go and do
something else?
Well, this is a family farm.
It's been here forever.
And I've been here for 44 years.
And I don't want to leave
until I have to.
This is my home.
This is my livelihood.
This is what I love to do.
This is home.
I don't want
to have to give it up.
>> Just off County A,
in Bayfield County,
in the heart of the far north,
is the Morning View Farm,
owned by Larry Fickbohm and
Gail Gonzior and their family.
It's 300 acres.
The family has horses,
peacocks, chickens and sheep,
lots of sheep.
>> We have approximately
250 ewes.
Right now, we're looking at
around 400 lambs.
And we raise some cattle
with them.
>> And amid all those sheep
is another animal
that looks like a sheep.
>> Kind of blends right in,
doesn't it?
Yeah.
>> This sheep-like dog
is called a Maremma.
They stand about 2-1/2 feet
tall, and weigh-in at 70
to 100 pounds.
There are three of them,
Jose, Moses and Lola.
And they play an important role
on this farm.
They're not pets.
They're protection
for the sheep flock.
>> We're in the heart of
predator territory.
It's probably the most predators
in the state right here.
The other day, I saw a bear
right up to the road.
I saw a coyote when
I was cutting hay yesterday.
And I often hear wolves.
>> The heart of predator
territory.
>> We saw where a fawn had been
killed by a wolf, and that's
only a half mile away from here.
And you can tell, because
a coyote will eat around the
bones.
And a wolf will eat right
through the bones.
I mean, the bones of the
backbone were cut right in half.
>> Sheep like these
are easy prey.
Three years ago, the family had
firsthand experience with what
predators can do to a flock.
>> We went out one morning,
and I think we found about
15 lambs that were chewed up.
Dead.
Killed.
>> Eventually, one year,
there were 28 carcasses
that were found.
>> This is not a hobby farm.
Fickbohm makes his living as a
farmer, and losses like those
were unacceptable.
>> It's not a very pretty thing
to see.
It was very distressing,
you know.
We think, what could we have
done differently.
We felt somewhat to blame that
we didn't protect them better.
>> At the time of the wolf
strike, they had only two
Maremmas, Jose and Moses.
For years, two dogs had been
enough for predator control.
But Wisconsin's wolf population
has multiplied in recent years.
So, after the wolf strike,
three years ago, they added
a third dog, Lola.
The math is now three Maremmas
for up to 650 sheep,
patrolling a 300-acre farm.
Despite the increase in wolves,
three Maremmas has been enough
to keep wolves and other
predators away.
>> So far, it's been successful.
It's been three years since
we've had a wolf strike.
And as I said, they're all over
the place.
I hear them all the time.
>> Maremmas are described
as livestock protection dogs,
or flock guarding dogs.
Their origin is Italy, where
they've been guarding sheep
for 2,000 years.
Different breeds of
flock-guarding dogs have been
used by shepherds around the
world.
But it wasn't until the 1970s
that Maremmas were brought to
the U.S. to work on sheep farms
like these.
It's common to see
a border collie herding sheep.
>> Come on, bring them up.
Bring them up.
Up, up, up, up, up!
>> But you'll never see
a Maremma herding sheep.
Maremmas have no herding
instinct.
Instead, you'll see Maremmas
within a herd, patrolling,
protecting, or sometimes even
leading the herd.
>> Actually, I've seen one dog
hold the sheep at the gate
while the other dog goes around
the boundaries and then he comes
back, okay, let them in.
>> They check out the territory,
make sure it's safe.
>> They're bred to protect,
to protect the animals
that they're with.
>> And they're with this flock
24/7, winter and summer,
on their own, patrolling,
protecting.
>> They mark a lot of their
territory by urinating and
defecating.
We've gone out in the
wintertime, and seen packed snow
where the trail just keeps going
around and around.
They kind of have a perimeter
that they keep checking
over and over again.
It can be 3/4 of a mile around.
>> So how do you get this
dedication?
How do you train a Maremma
to do this?
Answer: You don't.
>> We don't train the Maremmas.
>> You let the instincts work
and you let the instinct work by
not training these dogs.
They know no commands
whatsoever.
They don't know their name.
Everything is instinct.
That's the goal, is not to
socialize these dogs.
If you socialize them,
they'll be in the driveway.
That's not what they're here
for.
They're here to protect the
animals.
>> The bonding is best begun
when the dogs are puppies.
>> They were born in November.
It was cold.
I had some wool around from the
last time we sheared.
I took a fleece and put it right
in their nest with them.
And then I made a pen right in
the middle of the sheep pasture.
They were engulfed by the sheep.
That's the type of thing we have
to do when they're a pup,
to get them to bond.
>> Come here, Moses.
He'll come as far as where I can
almost touch his chin.
How you doing?
That's about all he's going to
let me do.
To give them a shot or take care
of him, we kind of have to trick
him and tackle him.
It's really hard.
>> Maremmas know their humans,
but they're not bonded to them.
This is their pack.
And this passive-looking dog
can be very aggressive
in protecting it.
>> I came around the corner with
the border collie, and we chased
up a coyote that was really
close to the sheep.
He went around the corner and
ran smack dab into where one of
the guard dogs was.
It was an awesome sight.
It was an ugly sight.
The coyote was like a dish rag.
It lasted a matter of seconds.
>> He went after it.
>> He went from one extreme,
this mild-mannered dog,
to a vicious fighter,
in a matter of seconds.
I've seen them chase bear
right out of the pasture also,
right on the bear's tail.
>> Wolves, the Maremma's
traditional foe,
require a bit more.
>> A dog is not going to be able
to fight with a wolf
and come out alive.
No matter what kind of a dog you
have, it's not going to happen.
>> But a pack of dogs,
big imposing dogs, like these
Maremma, deter the wolves
by barking and charging,
holding their ground.
>> Before we got the guard dogs,
I used to hear the sheep all the
time, and I'd wake up in the
middle of the night, and geez,
what's going on out there.
Now I sleep through the night,
because I know I got protection
out there.
>> The protection team.
>> They have a communication
system.
They work as a team.
>> We saw some of that teamwork
in action.
The Maremmas were friendly
enough toward us while we were
filming and the family was
around.
Jose settled down for a nap.
Moses hopped the fence to go off
and patrol the farm.
But when Jose woke up and found
us in the field with the sheep
and without the family,
he sounded the alarm.
(Jose barking)
And Moses came running.
They joined forces, formed a
barrier between us and the
sheep, and kept watch
till we left the field.
>> They almost have the pack
mentality themselves,
like wolves do.
They have a wolf pack thing
where they work together.
Wolves are extremely social.
And they work within that pack
for everything, raising their
young, and kills, and everything
else.
I think these dogs do some of
that same thing, their
communication, their wandering,
trading back and forth, the
type of guarding that they do.
>> Maremmas can cost
around $500.
At a time when the pressures
between people and predators,
particularly wolves, are growing
ever stronger, these dogs offer
a relatively low cost, no-kill
solution for co-existence.
Gonzior and Fickbohm feel very
strongly that the wildlife,
particularly wolves,
is an essential part
of the north woods.
Wildlife is part of the reason
why they live there.
>> I firmly believe that this is
wolf territory; this is coyote
territory; this is bear
territory, that we've come into
and chosen to be in.
We need to learn to live within
that system as best we can.
And the dogs help us do that and
still farm without negatively
impacting our business.
>> I honestly don't think that
we could be in business here
without these guard dogs.
>> This is all that most of us
will ever see of Wisconsin's
wolves, just tracks or other
traces of their passing.
>> It's another RLU--
a raised leg urination.
They're marking their territory.
>> The man doing the tracking
here is Adrian Wydeven.
>> They're marking their
territory.
To other wolves,
that's a no trespassing sign.
>> Usually wolves stay away.
They're extremely shy, which is
why this scene in March of 2006,
on the farm of Lavern Davis
of Columbia County
was so remarkable.
>> The neighbors called me up
and said your dogs are over
here, and there's a wolf running
with them.
And I said yeah, sure.
I went over there with a
four wheeler and there's a wolf.
>> It looked like a wolf.
>> It's the size, his head,
his eyes are slanted.
It has these straight
front legs.
And the experts that have seen
the pictures say it definitely
looks like a wolf.
>> But it definitely didn't act
like a wolf.
>> Very, very friendly.
Just like another dog, almost.
If you're on a four wheeler, you
can get five to ten feet of him.
>> The animal stayed around the
farm for nearly a month.
>> Sometimes, he might be gone
for two, three days.
And then sometimes, he might be
here morning and night.
I'm guessing he goes away and
feeds somewhere and comes back.
>> So, what gives with this
un-wolf-like wolf?
So clearly relaxed
and at ease near humans.
First off, could an individual
wolf travel this far south
in the state?
Well, maybe.
Adrian Wydeven.
>> Individual wolves probably
can go anywhere almost
in the state.
>> So, it could be a lone wolf.
Or could this unusually
dog-friendly animal be
a wolf-dog, what's also called
a wolf-dog hybrid.
>> People raise these animals,
where dogs are bred to wolves.
And they're raised mostly in
captivity.
Occasionally, these animals
do get out in the wild.
Just about every year, we have
problems of some that got loose.
Or, we get reports of wolves
being bold and lacking fear of
people.
>> Even when I walk out there,
he doesn't run away.
>> Are those really wolves,
or is it a wolf-dog hybrid
that escaped on the landscape?
>> Wolves and dogs share much of
the same DNA, but when it comes
to behavior, they are two
different kinds of canine.
>> The dog is an animal
that's been raised by people
for 10,000 years.
And we've selected them to be
animals that are compatible with
humans, that are submissive to
humans.
And when you breed them to
wolves, you get this mixture of
animal that you really don't
know what to expect of them.
>> Wydeven sees plenty of
problems when wolf-dogs
mix with wild wolves.
>> Wolf-dog hybrids are
generally raised in captivity.
They're raised around people.
They may be shy, but they're not
fearful of people.
And they perceive people as
places where they can find food.
They're more likely
to become a nuisance animal.
>> The worry is that wolf-dog
hybrids will influence a wolf
pack, and engender depredations
or attacks on livestock.
>> We had a pack that was
causing depredations on a farm
west of Phillips, in the summer
of 2005.
And ten animals were removed
from that pack.
We had them genetically tested.
And out of that group of ten,
three tested out
as wolf-dog hybrids.
>> It may take a DNA test to
determine whether the animal
in question is a wolf
or a wolf-dog hybrid.
And even then, in some rare
cases, the results aren't
absolutely conclusive.
>> Many times, I'll go the
entire day and never find a
track.
>> Ron Vanderveld, the volunteer
wolf tracker for the DNR.
>> We have seen where hybrids
in Wisconsin have caused some
problems.
But, what makes the headlines
is "wolf."
Only weeks later,
is it determined a hybrid.
Well, the damage is done
by then.
The word "wolf" has been planted
in the average citizen reading
the newspaper, and as a result,
it perpetuates the stereotype.
>> A wolf-dog in a wolf pack
could encourage depredation.
It could also endanger the wolf
pack itself.
>> When you have these wolf-dog
hybrids, they potentially have
diseases that our local wolves
may not be as resistant to, and
potentially could spread disease
into the population as well.
>> And they take up time.
>> The time people have to spend
on these, trying to capture it
and remove it from the wild.
And all of that is taking time
that could be devoted to just
spending more time
on conservation of wild wolves.
>> Back on the Davis farm,
it was peaceful for a time.
But only weeks after we
interviewed Lavern Davis,
there were livestock
depredations on his farm.
>> I believe he had a calf
that was injured or killed.
>> So was this animal a wolf
or wolf-dog hybrid?
Well, that mystery remains
unsolved.
>> People with Wildlife Services
were unsuccessful and unable to
trap that wolf.
During that same time period,
a wolf was killed on I-90
south of Portage.
And we thought maybe that was
the animal.
>> There's no way of knowing for
sure if the wolf killed was this
animal that haunted the Davis
farm.
In fact, in the weeks that
followed, there were more
reports of depredations
and then nothing.
No trace.
Was this animal shot?
Did it die?
>> After a while, it just sort
of disappeared.
>> It will never be known if the
animal on the Davis farm was a
wolf or a wolf-dog hybrid.
Unlike other states, for many
years, Wisconsin had no
restrictions on the owning or
breeding of wolf-dog hybrids.
>> There are no real
restrictions on owning wolf-dog
hybrids.
The only restrictions are that
you're not allowed to release
them into the wild.
>> That changed in July, 2010.
Now, those who want to own
a wolf-dog hybrid must have
a Captive Wild Animal Farm
license.
And owners are required to spay
or neuter their animals.
No breeding of wolf-dogs.
>> We want to eliminate the
market for those, and eliminate
those animals escaping
into the wild.
>> Thousands of years after dogs
were bred from wolves,
and created man's best friend,
we've come full circle.
Now that a healthy wolf
population has returned to
Wisconsin, the press is on to
keep these two canids separate.
(dogs barking)
>> Yeah, that's fresh...
>> This is a hunt.
>> Yeah, let him go.
He can smell more than we can
see.
>> For one of Wisconsin's
largest predators.
The black bear.
And one of the methods of
hunting bear revolves around the
use of this animal.
Canis familiaris,
the domestic dog.
>> Get him!
Where's he at?
>> Hunters find tracks of
the bear at a baiting station,
or in the area, like nearby
cornfields.
The best dog is let loose first,
and sent in to trail the bear,
and tree-it for the hunters.
(dogs howling)
But Wisconsin's woods can be
dangerous for bear-hunting dogs,
especially the lead dog.
They can be taken down by
another predator, another member
of the dog family, Canis lupus,
commonly called the gray wolf
or timberwolf.
Jim Trawiki is a bear hunter
who's lost a dog.
>> I had gone in there
and I was sitting by a gate.
I could hear the dogs barking.
And it JUST kind of faded out.
>> They're about out of our
hearing now.
>> Then I could hear dogs
fighting.
It just, it sounded like, you
know, it was just terrible,
as if all these dogs started
fighting with one another.
And I called my friend Bernie,
I says, get in there,
them are wolves.
Well then, they started checking
for all the other dogs, and
tracking them, and they said
my dog was in the area there.
They just dispersed around
there, and they found him
in the hardwoods.
He was still breathing, but
he was just laying out flat.
>> His dog died of its wounds
on the way out of the woods.
>> In fact, I was bawling
on the road.
When my friends were coming out,
I told them, I said I'm going to
drive away here for a while.
>> Wolves protect their
territory.
And the results can be deadly
when a domestic dog, or a
coyote, or even another wolf,
storms into a wolf's territory
at a particular time of year.
Adrian Wydeven.
>> I'm a dog owner.
And I guess I'd hate for some
predator to kill my dog as well.
It's an unfortunate situation.
It probably happens during the
training season, during the
hunting season in July, August,
and September, when wolves
are at their summer rendezvous
sites, where they keep their
pups.
We suspect what happens is that
the dogs happen to run into
a rendezvous site.
The adults get defensive
and kill dogs in an effort
to protect their pups.
>> These little guys,
they'll be going out
probably at the end of winter.
You raise it up from a pup.
It becomes personal.
I mean, and the dog hunts for
you.
When you turn him loose, he does
what you're asking of him,
and he enjoys doing it.
And you enjoy being there
hunting.
So you work together with the
dog.
I don't think that a lot of
people realize how close
a hunter is to his hound.
He's about 11 years old
and is going deaf.
He doesn't hear very good
anymore.
You spend a lot of time
with these dogs.
I mean, you put your heart into
them.
>> And a lot of money and time.
Bear hunting hounds can cost
thousands of dollars and take
many hours of time to train.
At present, the DNR offers
compensation to bear hunters,
in fact, to anyone in Wisconsin,
who loses a dog to wolves on
either private or public lands.
They pay compensation
up to $2,500.
Many bear hunters, including
Trawiki, contend it's not
enough.
>> Actually, I asked for $20,000
for the dog.
I think that's fair.
>> But others, such as Ron
Vanderveld, who in addition to
being a wolf tracker for the
DNR, is also a hunter,
bristle at offering compensation
for dogs lost to wolves
on public lands.
>> If they run their dogs within
a pack territory, well of course
the pack is going to defend its
children.
They are going to defend their
space.
And any canid that shows up
there, they're going to take
out.
>> The license gave me the
permission to hunt in the state
of Wisconsin.
I should be able to hunt without
worrying about something
happening to one of my dogs.
>> The problem I have, is public
lands, they go on those lands
with their dogs.
And their dogs get hammered by
wolves, that's a risk they take.
But yet, they are demanding
that they be compensated
for the loss of their dog.
I've lost three backpacks now
to grizzly bear and black bear,
in my backpacking experience.
Well, am I going to go
to the U.S. Forest Service,
or am I going to go to the DNR,
and say you owe me a backpack,
I want to be compensated
because the bear did this?
Of course not.
Those are risks we're taking.
>> To lessen those risks, the
DNR warns hunters by posting
caution maps on their website,
lists of places where wolves
have killed or injured hunting
hounds.
They also offer email
notification of known wolf
rendezvous sites on public
lands, so hunters can avoid
those areas.
Still, the number of hunting
hounds killed by wolves has
stayed fairly constant, 20-30
a year, each year, through 2009.
The goal, of course, is zero
attacks.
For Jim Trawiki,
the goal is also zero.
Zero wolves.
>> I believe in zero wolves.
And no tolerance.
>> He's having trouble
breathing.
>> He punctured a lung.
>> Yeah, a big hole right here.
>> On this day, two of the dogs
were wounded during the hunt,
but not by wolves.
They were mauled by the bear.
It's not uncommon for dogs to be
killed or injured by the bear.
>> Right over his spine...
>> I lost dogs in August, 2004.
>> Rob Stafsholt,
of New Richmond, has also
lost dogs to wolves.
>> I saw the bear cross the
road.
It was a long straight-away, so
it was probably a half-mile.
Then I saw my two dogs cross.
I drove up there and didn't hear
any barking, which is not
normal.
I walked in thinking I was going
to find them struggling to find
a bear track along the swamp.
And about 200 yards
off the road, I found them dead.
It was probably a 75-pound hound
ten minutes before that, and the
only thing left is 10 pounds
worth of legs and spines.
>> Three Midwest states have
wolves, Minnesota, Wisconsin and
Michigan.
Bear hunting with hounds is
legal in Wisconsin and Michigan,
illegal in Minnesota.
>> It sounds to me like they got
it.
>> Stafsholt often hunts with
friend Amy Visger, of Minot.
>> We have a bear track here.
It's a good-size track.
It's about a three-inch pad.
>> Hound hunting is a family
tradition for Stafsholt.
His dad put on demonstration
hunts when the DNR was first
considering bear hunting
with dogs, back in the 1960s.
But back in the 1960s, there
were no wolves in these woods.
>> There's times when we've ran
dogs, and they've crossed the
road, and wolves start howling,
and we have to run over there
and get our dogs.
I mean, they're like our kids to
us.
We really don't want anything to
happen to them.
>> The dogs and the bear have
gone northeast into this next
section, which is also five or
six miles wide, and three or
four miles tall.
That's also a pretty good size
section.
>> These dogs are alone
in big tracts of land.
It's the nature
of hound hunting.
>> You're not right with that
dog.
Here, boys!
People that grouse hunt or
pheasant hunt with a dog,
they're generally always within
contact or eyesight of that dog.
And running hounds is different.
(hounds barking)
>> By law, bear hunters can have
up to six dogs out at one time.
>> Where are you?
>> I'm right by the Iron River
bridge.
>> You want to do me a favor?
When you get to where the dogs
crossed the road here,
can you stop?
>> Keeping track of those dogs,
in these deep woods,
can be a tangle.
They use radio telemetry.
(electronic beeping)
>> They listen for barking.
(dogs barking in distance)
>> I can hear them pretty good.
They're not far off the road.
>> Okay.
Let me know if you think they're
moving or not.
>> They call.
>> Come on!
(whistles)
>> You're always worried about
your dogs.
>> Here comes a couple of our
last dogs.
I think the bear officially
just won this race.
>> While they're in the woods,
really the only deterrent
from wolves is this $2 bell.
(jingles bell)
>> It's a non-natural sound.
It's a man-made sound
that they're not used to hearing
in nature.
And they perceive this dog
as just another canine.
And no other canines
have a metal--
When they run,
it makes quite a bit of noise.
Probably the first few times
they come across with a dog with
a bell on it, it probably works.
Eventually, that'll wear off.
>> And these dogs are often out
for a very long time.
>> He was out and moving and
chasing the bear for probably
over five hours today.
>> For years, hound hunters
had these woods to themselves.
But wolves are increasing in
number, from zero to well past
the target population of 350.
Wisconsin now has
more than 700 wolves.
Is bear hunting with hounds
on a collision course
with this increase in wolves?
>> This is a timberwolf track,
right here in the bait.
You can see he's going this way.
This is his pad on this side
here.
It's kind of a triangular pad.
There's two front toes,
side toes.
>> The north woods are different
now for hound hunters.
There are wolves on these public
lands where they run their dogs.
There are risks that weren't
there before.
>> I think there's two kinds of
risk.
If I come out here and put a dog
out and try to chase a bear, and
if the bear mauls that dog,
that's kind of an acceptable
risk.
But if I'm out here in pursuit
of bear, and six timberwolves
chase my dog down and kill it,
that's kind of outside the scope
of what I was doing.
>> At present, in Wisconsin,
it's illegal to kill wolves.
They are a protected wild
animal.
But if the state changes their
status to that of game animal,
some hunters might be more
accepting.
>> We find wolves that are shot
illegally all the time.
I think among some bear hunters,
what they would like to see
is a public hunt.
If there was a public hunting
season, there might be greater
acceptance.
It becomes a fur-bearing
trophy animal.
>> Stafsholt says that if wolves
are listed as a game animal, his
tolerance for losing dogs, risk,
changes.
>> If there's a wolf hunting
season, where you can use hounds
to hunt wolves, then obviously
not.
I mean, that goes back to me
putting a dog out after the
bear, and if the bear bites it,
it's an acceptable risk.
>> What's acceptable in bringing
back an endangered species?
What numbers are necessary
for the animal?
What numbers will the public
tolerate?
Canine lupus has returned
to our state.
The species that some 15,000
years ago, gave rise to canine
familiaris, in all its many
permutations.
>> Come on, bring them up.
Bring them up.
Bring them up!
>> It was the wolf that was
domesticated.
>> That is the future bear
hunter, right there.
>> And bred,
for the different traits
that we desired in a dog.
Now, some even breed dogs
to be more wolf-like.
Some scientists believe that
the domestication of wolves
and human settlement
occurred at the same time.
Our history is tied together.
What will be our future
with wolves?
>> Every documentary
has a hidden story,
the quest behind the scenes.
Our four-year quest
actually began with this,
a rather large hole.
Molly Nell of the Necedah
National Wildlife Refuge
explained what we were looking
at.
>> We're looking at a wolf den
that's a couple of years old.
It wasn't used this past year,
but it was in previous years.
It probably had been a badger
hole, or some such thing before,
and the wolves came in
and enlarged it.
>> The wolves.
Wow, a wolf den.
Okay, a former den.
But still, cool.
Hey, we thought, let's do
a story on wolves in Wisconsin.
(howling in distance)
And so began a great adventure.
A quest, four years in duration
by our videographer, Frank Boll,
to capture footage
of Wisconsin's wolves.
Necedah became a second home.
He spent days of his off-time
in this blind or up a tree.
>> I'm going to try to mount the
camera on here again, to see if
it will now clear the trees,
so I can pan it back and forth.
>> This is a wildlife sanctuary.
This is where most photographers
get their footage of wolves.
Boll didn't want that.
>> It sure would be picturesque
if a wolf came out of there.
>> Boll wanted to capture the
wolves in their natural habitat,
which required tree time.
A lot of tree time.
>> Every time I come up here,
I would guess I'm spending at
least eight to ten hours a day
doing this.
This is the sensor.
It's the heart of the system.
It's basically a little computer
that sits on the tree, and it
shoots out an infrared beam.
>> He had to rig up this complex
system of remote camera, light,
and infrared sensing apparatus
that discerns an animal's
presence by motion and
temperature.
>> It records it as an event.
And then there are two outputs
to the sensor.
One goes to the light, this cord
right here turns the light on.
The other cord goes to the
camera and turns the camera on
at the same time.
>> Just lights, camera,
throw in a dead deer,
cue the wolves
and action.
Well, not exactly.
Just so you understand, Boll is
no novice to nature photography.
He's been looking through a lens
at animals for decades,
from moose in Alaska,
to lions in Africa.
He's followed crane hunters in
Pakistan, and shimmied into a
rain forest canopy to capture an
avian wonderland in Costa Rica.
But nothing, not bull snakes,
not bears, not bats,
nothing has been
as hard to capture
as wolves.
Adrian Wydeven.
>> They're such shy, secretive
animals.
They travel mostly at night.
Your chance of seeing them
is remote.
>> This is the understatement
of the century.
The project began with much
promise, with Boll testing
his camera equipment
in his backyard.
>> You have to do a lot of
tests.
I've got two outside cats.
They live in that log shed.
So, I set it up at their
entrance.
I'd would watch what they were
doing, and see what the camera
was doing at different
temperatures.
>> First kitty cats, then wild
critters.
Easy, right?
Uh, no.
>> It was all eagles
when we first started.
Eagles came in during the day
and used up all the tape.
>> Time for Plan B.
>> That's when we changed to
night only.
The eagles aren't active, and
the wolves are mostly nocturnal.
>> Ah, the night life.
And so began an accumulation
of animal footage from this wolf
project that we came to call
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"
Lots of animals, but no wolves.
Boll would eventually employ a
total of three of his own remote
cameras around the state.
Day and night, and baited,
checked and monitored by three
incredible animal fans.
Ron Perisian, a wildlife
technician for the Great Lakes
Indian Fish and Wildlife
Commission.
Richard King, wildlife biologist
at the Necedah National Wildlife
Refuge.
And Ron Schultz, who works as a
wildlife technician for the DNR.
This combo of cameras captured
just a few wonderful,
but short wolf moments.
And some amazing shots of other
animals.
Here is a black bear family.
Two turkey vultures strut,
wings outstretched.
Three turkeys, all toms,
saunter.
Here's a bobcat
burying some food morsels.
This is a gray fox, completely
nocturnal, seldom seen.
It looks more feline
than canine.
This canine, a coyote,
had a tough time of it.
Boll and others tried a variety
of ways to entice in wolves,
from dead deer, scented lures, a
rotting beaver, and in this case
a buried turkey carcass.
Buried, and to the coyote's
dismay, chained down.
But the animals
gave as good as they got.
This is what a black bear,
weighing in at around 200
pounds, can do to a camera.
It's not pretty.
And it wasn't just the big guys.
This flying squirrel, weighing
in between 4 to 7 ounces
developed an interest in plastic
cords.
And with one bite,
shut down production.
Boll used his remote camera
system very successfully on
other stories that evolved
out of his wolf quest, like this
report we produced
on the pine marten.
But though he tried the remote
cameras on different sites,
in a blind, on the ground,
in the air,
the wolves seldom showed
and never stayed for long.
Their senses were too sharp.
This one hears the camera, even
though it's muffled by casing.
This one looks up and sees not
the infrared light, that's
invisible, but the slight glow
of the light fixture itself.
And he's gone.
Till one snowy Saturday,
after four years of effort,
a visitor.
For four minutes, the wolf
trotted across a frozen lake
and then away from the camera.
Amazingly, this visual
cornucopia continued the next
day.
>> I was sitting in the blind
looking out that north window.
I looked back to the west over
here, and I see two wolves
coming across the frozen lake.
They actually started to come
towards me.
They came within 200 yards,
I would suspect.
And the lead wolf stopped
and looked at the blind.
All of a sudden, he took off
running straight to the north.
And he looked over his shoulder
as he's running.
That's always a giveaway that
they've seen you, and they're
not going to get closer.
>> Once again, the wolves'
keen senses prevailed,
and their intelligence.
>> Sometimes, I think they even
notice that the blind is there,
because I'm sitting on top of a
hill, not a lot of cover around.
I think they know the country
so well, their territory, that I
believe they know when there's
something different there.
It would be sort of akin to
coming home and finding another
sofa in your living room.
>> Four years, and finally,
a total of more than 14 minutes
of footage.
The wolves turn tail.
And the wolf quest
came to a close.
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