Snares, traps set after wolves kill colt

A colt killed by wolves Monday is further evidence of a problem with the predators along the Mayo Road, says farmer Jim Dillabaugh.

A colt killed by wolves Monday is further evidence of a problem with the predators along the Mayo Road, says farmer Jim Dillabaugh.

Dillabaugh said Monday afternoon another of his colts had a chunk taken out of one of its hind quarters about three weeks ago.

Wolves have been and continue to be a threat to his livestock, he said, recalling the loss of several animals in the last few years.

“They killed the colt this morning, I figure about 7:00,“ he said.

“I went down about 11 a.m. and they were in the field beside the rodeo grounds and there was still blood in the rib cage that was still liquid. We figure there was about four wolves in the pack here.“

Dillabaugh said on top of the four, there have also been sightings of two other lone wolves, a large one and a smaller one, and a pair, making for up to eight wolves in the area by his count.

“We are hoping to get somebody trapping out here.“

Dillabaugh said a couple of local trappers have indicated interest, though nobody has shown up yet.

Conservation officer Larry Bill of the Department of Environment, he pointed out, was out there Monday afternoon setting snares and traps to assist with the problem.

The farmer estimates Bill has trapped six or seven wolves in the area over the last four years.

So brazen have the predators become that he’s seen their tracks within 10 metres of his home.

Dillabaugh said that while walking through a field in the summer of 2007 with a goat and a pet dog, the dog stopped and looked back, which prompted him to look back, only to see a wolf trailing about 15 metres away.

“I have seen wolves here sometimes right in the middle of the day chasing animals.“

Last June, he lost a goat, and three days later, three piglets, said Dillabaugh, adding he lost another colt last August and a calf went missing earlier this year.

He’s also heard recent reports of dogs in the area going missing.

Dillabaugh maintains a stock of 17 horses, 22 cattle, 10 pigs, four goats and number of chickens, ducks and geese.

It’s easy to suggest one could provide a better enclosure or some sort of wolf-resistant fence around the entire 160 acres, though it’s not realistic, given the cost, he pointed out.

He insists that he and other farmers do take good care of their animals.

Tony Grabowski, manager of enforcement and compliance for the conservation officers, said this morning the traps were set by Bill as a result of the complaint.

Under the department’s human and wildlife conflict policy, officers are directed to assist when they receive a complaint.

“We only try and remove the wolves that have done the killing,“ Grabowski said. “Once they learn domestic stock and pets are fair game, it becomes habit-forming.

“So we try to remove the wolves that have done the killing.“

Grabowski said from what he understands of the evidence from the sign of tracks at the scene of the dead colt, four wolves were at the scene.

It may be that Dillabaugh’s problems with wolves are related to his location, in that he might be situated on a travel corridor for the wolves, he said.

Grabowski pointed out, however, the department has complaint records of conflict between wildlife and domestic stock from Dillabaugh and others
along the Mayo Road that go back 30 years.

Dillabaugh said this morning he went back to the site of the colt’s carcass this morning. The wolves had obviously returned last night, as they’d cleaned up most of everything that had been left.