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Wolfdog, direwolf or dogman? Mysterious wolf-like creature shot in Montana

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« on: May 25, 2018, 01:07:22 pm »


Wolfdog, direwolf or dogman? Mysterious wolf-like creature shot in Montana



USA Today NetworkDavid Murray, Great Falls (Mont.) TribunePublished 5:59 p.m. ET May 24, 2018 | Updated 10:35 a.m. ET May 25, 2018


https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/24/mysterious-wolf-creature-shot-montana/642775002/











Days after a wolf-like creature was fatally shot on a ranch in Denton, Montana, officials are still unable to determine what type of animal it is. Buzz60





Wolf-like creature in Montana

(Photo: KXLO Radio, Lewistown, Montana)




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Was it a wolf, some type of hybrid, or a creature that hasn't been seen in Montana since the Ice Age?

On May 16 a lone wolf-like animal was shot and killed on a ranch outside Denton, Mont. With long grayish fur, a large head and an extended snout, the animal shared many of the same characteristics as a wolf; but its ears were too large, it's legs and body too short, its fur uncharacteristic of that common to a wolf.

So what was it? At this point, no one is 100 percent sure.


Elijia Velez, 14, pets a wolfdog during the Children's
Elijia Velez, 14, pets a wolfdog during the Children's Network of Southwest Florida's guided visit at the Shy Wolf Sanctuary in Naples, Florida on August 27, 2016. In addition to meeting the animals, the kids also completed two painted murals during their visit that will hang on the animal cages. (Photo: Nicole Raucheisen/Naples Daily News)


"We have no idea what this was until we get a DNA report back," said Bruce Auchly, information manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "It was near a rancher's place, it was shot, and our game wardens went to investigate. The whole animal was sent to our lab in Bozeman. That's the last I ever heard of it."

Social media from around the Lewistown, Mont. area was buzzing last week; with many people chiming in on what they believed the creature to be.

"That's a grizzly cub," one commentator wrote. "Under a year and starving from the look."

"Maybe a dire wolf," wrote another, "because I don't believe they are all gone."





Speculation roamed as far as identifying that animal as a crypto-canid species said to roam the forests of North America.

"That could very well be what’s being called Dogman,"  one poster suggested. "They’re spotted each day and the government quells any and all reports. Several people report being strong armed into keeping quiet about their reports by men wearing black suits. These are just facts. Look into if if you don’t believe it."

Auchly doesn't.

"First off (dire wolf) was a song by the Grateful Dead from 1971," he said of the prehistoric species speculation. "I know; I listened to it many times. Number two, it's a prehistoric animal, like mastodons and saber toothed tigers; so it doesn't exist."

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As for the Dogman theory; there's a regular Friday night YouTube broadcast called "Dogman Encounters" for those who wish to follow up on that line of thought. It comes on right after "Bigfoot Eyewitness" radio.


Nonetheless, there remains an element of uncertainty about the creature, even among wildlife biologists.

"Several things grabbed my attention when I saw the pictures," said Ty Smucker, wolf management specialist for Montana FWP. "The ears are too big. The legs look a little short. The feet look a little small, and the coat looks weird. There's just something off about it."

Smucker's own speculation runs toward some type of wolf/dog hybrid. He noted several occasions within the last few years in which canid predators, neither all wolf nor all dog were causing problems with ranchers east of the Continental Divide.

"We've had a few instances of wolf/dog hybrids out there," Smucker said. "One was out somewhere in eastern central Montana killing sheep like crazy. Finally, we caught it and it turned out to be a hybrid."

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Wolves and dogs are unique in the animal world, in that they can interbreed and produce offspring that can, in turn, produce their own litters. This is unlike the pairing of a horse and a donkey, which will produce a mule; but mules are always infertile and incapable of producing offspring on their own.

Wolfdog ownership and interbreeding by private citizens remains controversial.

According to the International Wolf Center, nearly all wolfdogs are bred in captivity. Wolves and dogs can breed in the wild, but this occurrence is very rare; largely because wolves are very territorial and more likely to kill an unfamiliar dog that enters their home range rather than accept it into a pack. 

The behavioral tendencies of wolfdogs are unpredictable, ranging from bold, aggressive and territorial; to placid, submissive and friendly - even among pups within a single litter. For that reason, the breeding of wolfdogs in captivity is highly regulated.

"If you have a wolfdog hybrid it's supposed to have a tattoo on a lip, and it's supposed to be registered with the state," Smucker said. "A lot of those people don't bother following regulations."

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Full Moon Farm President Nancy Brown talks to Cyrus,
Full Moon Farm President Nancy Brown talks to Cyrus, 13, who looks out onto visitors on Monday, September 28, 2015. Full Moon Farm is a sanctuary for abused and rescued wolfdogs.  (Photo: Abigail Margulis/amargulis@ashev)


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The unfortunate consequence is that some wolfdog owners discover they are either incapable or unwilling to care for their animals, and end up releasing them into the wild.

"Every year, thousands of pet wolves or hybrids are abandoned, rescued or euthanized because people purchase an animal they were not prepared to care for," the International Wolf Center states. "A few facilities exist around the country that take in unwanted canines, but their resources are usually very limited."

It is not clear whether the animal shot in Denton, Mont. falls into this category, but the problem of irresponsible wolfdog owners is well known by FWP officials.

"Over the years we've had incidences of hybrids where someone has a wolfdog - and I don't know if it gets too big or if it just wants to be free and wanders off,"

The animal shot near Denton, Mont. was not directly implicated in any livestock predation, but as FWP warden Zach Norris noted, the ranching family who shot it were well within their legal right to do so.

"It was real close to the cattle and residences," Norris noted. "There were domestic dogs in the area and then there were children. It was legitimate for the wolf-like animal to be shot based upon Senate Bill 200. Everything was okay with it."

Passed by the Montana legislature in 2013, SB 200 both established a wolf hunting season and made it legal for a landowner to kill a wolf at any time when the wolf is on the landowner's private property and poses "a potential threat to human safety, livestock or dogs."

Under SB 200, property owners who do kill a wolf are obligated to contact local authorities and allow them the chance to inspect the animal.

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"It had already been loaded up and taken to the residence of the landowner," Norris said of the Denton animal. "Typically if that kind of thing happens, we want the animal to lay where it died so we can investigate from the start."

Smucker was eager to clear up another misconception sometimes thrown at FWP officials; that the agency is in the habit of relocating problem wolves into areas where they don't belong.

"People think that we're out there dropping wolves off everywhere," Smucker said. "Fish, Wildlife and Parks has been managing wolves in Montana since 2003 or 2004, and we not ever trans-located a problem wolf. The Fish and Wildlife Service tried to do that for awhile, but we just don't do that."

According to the department's official Grey Wolf Conservation and Management Report, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks works collaboratively with the federal Wildlife Services to eliminate (kill) Montana wolves with a documented history of livestock depredations.

"I heard a guy talking about, 'Oh, I saw a Fish, Wildlife and Parks trailer out in eastern Montana at the gas station. I looked in the back and there's like a dozen wolves in there," Smucker recalled. "I was like, yeah - maybe there was a sled dog team in there? I don't know."

Conspiracies, government cover-ups, oddball alien sightings aside, aggressive wolf-like carnivores shot in cattle country Montana are a legitimate concern.

The body of the animal shot outside Denton, Mont. has now been transported, examined and frozen. Results from its DNA testing will likely take weeks to process.

Smucker notes that the whole debate over positively identifying the animal is something of a side issue. Yes it's interesting and fun to speculate about, but if a property owner can claim a legitimate threat to the well-being of their family or livestock from any animal; be it a wolf, dog, wolf/dog, dogman or some other mysterious creature, they have the legal right to defend those assets, up to and including using lethal force if necessary.

"If you're letting your dog run wild and it's chasing livestock, the property owner has the right to shoot it," Smucker said. "Whether it's a wolf or a dog chasing cows, or a dog that looks like a wolf; in Montana on private land, property owners and livestock producers have every right to shoot a wolf."

"Tell us about it and we'll come and get it," he added. "That's about it."

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Follow David Murray on Twitter @GFTrib_DMurray
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« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2018, 01:07:55 pm »


Strange wolf-like animal killed in Montana puzzles wildlife officials


 By  Robert Gearty   | Fox News       

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/05/25/wolf-like-animal-killed-in-montana-puzzles-wildlife-officials.html

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  A rancher in Montana reported shooting a wild animal that has wildlife officials wondering what it was . 


A rancher in Montana reported shooting a wild animal that has wildlife officials wondering what it was .  (KXLO-Radio)

A large wolf-like animal shot and killed in Montana has wildlife officials and social media wondering what it was.





A rancher shot the gray-haired beast on May 16 when it ventured too close to his livestock in Denton. The rancher reported that he killed a wolf but wolf specialists looked at photos of the animal and doubted it was a purebred wolf, ABCFoxMontana reported.


wolf2

"We have no idea what it was," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Bruce Auchly said.  (Montana FWP)

“The canine teeth were too shot, the front paws too small and claws on the front paw were too long,” Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Bruce Auchly said in a news release Thursday.




“Nevertheless, social media was quick to pronounce the animal as everything from a wolf to a wolf hybrid to something mythical," he said.


wolf3

This animal was killed May 16 when it came within several hundred yards of a rancher’s livestock.  (Montana FWP)

The Great Falls Tribune also reported that the animal shared many characteristics of a wolf but that its large ears, short legs and body and its fur stood it apart.

“We have no idea what this was until we get a DNA report back,” Auchly told the paper. “It was near a rancher's place, it was shot, and our game wardens went to investigate. The whole animal was sent to our lab in Bozeman. That's the last I ever heard of it.”


wolf4

Montana wildlife officials said the front paws of the animal were too small to be a pure-bred wolf  (Montana FWP)
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« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2018, 01:08:26 pm »

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« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2018, 01:08:48 pm »

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« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2018, 08:59:01 pm »

'Wolf-like' creature shot near Montana ranch puzzles experts

    25 May 2018

Image copyright Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

US wildlife experts are baffled by a "wolf-like" animal that was killed by a Montana farmer.

The rancher near the town of Denton shot the creature last week when it came within several hundred metres of his livestock, said officials.

State wildlife experts said they have been unable to pinpoint its species.

After inspecting the creature, they said they doubt it's a wolf as its teeth were too short, front paws abnormally small and claws too large.

Bizarre theories have circulated online that it could be a werewolf, a young grizzly bear or a relative of Bigfoot.
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In a news release, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) said it was a "young, non-lactating female and a canid, a member of the dog family that includes dogs, foxes, coyotes and wolves".

"We have no idea what this was until we get a DNA report back," a spokesman for the agency, Bruce Auchly, told the Great Falls Tribune.

He added that it may be up to a week before results come in, which should help identify the cryptid.

"Several things grabbed my attention when I saw the pictures," Ty Smucker, wolf management specialist for Montana FWP, told the newspaper.

"The ears are too big. The legs look a little short. The feet look a little small, and the coat looks weird.

"There's just something off about it."

The agency noted the "mythical" theories swirling online, including that it could be a direwolf.

"First off [dire wolf] was a song by the Grateful Dead from 1971," Mr Auchly joked.

"I know, I listened to it many times.

"Number two, it's a prehistoric animal, like mastodons and saber toothed tigers; so it doesn't exist."

It's too far north to be the legendary Chupacabra, some say, with others wondering if it may be a "Dogman".

But others think it is a coywolf (a coyote wolf hybrid), or perhaps a wolfdog bred in captivity and later released into the wild.

Wolf hunting is permitted in the state and residents are allowed to kill wolves that threaten their property, the wildlife agency noted in their news release.

Last week, Montana state wolf researchers estimated there to be around 900 wolves across the state.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44243644
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