Here is the latest Idaho wolf update from Timm Kaminski, Idaho Gray Wolf Project Leader, Nez Perce Tribal Wolf Recovery Team. I have distilled his report so that it fits into my earlier Idaho updates web pages. Please compare this to the updates of September 4, September 17, September 30 . . . Ralph Maughan.
Wolves B7M and B11F (a.k.a. the "Running Creek pair"), released north of US Highway 12, August 2, on the North Fork of the Clearwater River, clearly have stopped moving southeastward. So the good news continues. In fact on Oct. 4 they were located at bit north of their last location.They were southwest of Lolo Hot Springs. It appears that they are carving out a territory in the northeast corner of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.
The Selway Pack most recently moved back into Montana, but just barely. They were located in Blue Joint Creek just east of the Idaho line.
The Kelly Creek Pack now has a radio-collared pup. The wolf team trapped a female pup -- another well-fed Idaho pup who weighed in at 62 pounds. The pack consists of wolf B15F, a native male wolf, five pups, and a sub-adult wolf which may be a native or a disperser from a pack that stemmed from the reintroduction. During the trapping for the wolf pup, the team also trapped a male fisher Martes pennanti. It was thought to be a kit-of-the-year. The fisher is a rare species in the American northern Rockies, and some think it should be on the endangered species list. The pack has of late been moving back and forth between Kelly Creek and the upper reaches of Cayuse Creek. This is in Idaho. They haven't dropped into Montana for a while now.
The Chamberlain Pack including adult wolf B-16-F and wolf B-9-M, and 4 yearling wolves, and their 1997 pups were all located in the South Fork Chamberlain Creek drainage near the Big Creek divide. As usual this is deep in the Frank Church Wilderness.
The wolf team has still not determined if wolf B20F has a previously-overlooked litter of pups. She was last located near Chamberlain Mountain.
No name pack (a.k.a. the Bear Valley Pack), composed of wolves B-28-M, B-30-F and Wolf B-19-M was located in their usual range -- this time between Bruce Meadows and Wyoming Creek, a few miles south of Bear Valley Creek.
The Landmark Pack, which is usually located in one of the tributaries of Elk Creek has moved northeastward a bit. They were located in Lugar Creek, a tributary of Pistol Creek in the Frank Church Wilderness. As an aside, the Pistol Creek drainage is somewhat unique for its name. Most Idaho drainages have very uninspired names: Elk Creek, Bear Creek, Cow Creek, Deer Creek, Basin Creek, Squaw Creek, Eightmile Creek. Every tributary of Pistol Creek, however is named after a gun: .22 Creek, .25 Creek, .32 Creek, . 38 Creek, .44 Creek, .45 Creek, Automatic Creek, Popgun Creek, Browning Creek, Colt Creek, Trigger Creek, Savage Creek, Springfield, Creek, Winchester Creek, Remington Creek, and more. . . The whole drainage flows below a big mountain named Artillery Dome. Country (photo) where the Landmark and the Bear Valley Packs frequent (Ayers Meadow).
The Stanley Pack , B23F and B27M and their six pups, was again located and observed in Elk Meadow, a beautiful meadow on the north end of the Sawtooth Mountains.
The Jureano Mountain Pack, wolves B-25-F and B-32-M and their 6 pups was located were located in Coffee Gulch in the Napias Creek drainage. This is about ten miles west of Salmon, Idaho, and over many mountains from town.
The Moyer Creek Pack, wolves B-29-M and B-37-F and their five pups have not been located since they left Castle Creek several weeks. The alpha pair are radio collared as is one pup.
Pairs and single wolves-
Long time pair B-35-F and Wolf B-18-M were located at the head of the Yankee Fork (of the Salmon River) drainage.
Wolf B-36-F was not located.
Wolf B31-M was most recently located in the Secech River drainage near Burgdorf Hot Springs. This is on the Payette National Forest in western Idaho.
Wolf B-22-F and her associate were located in Johnson Creek drainage. This is a tributary of the South Fork of the Salmon River and is a few miles west of west boundary of the Frank Church Wilderness.
A wolf believed to be B2M, wearing a red and black collar, has consistently been seen near Elk River in northwest central Idaho. Reports during early August suggest wolves remain in the area. It is believed these additional wolves may be native dispersers from the Ninemile pack in NW Montana. A trapping effort is in progress.
Wolf B24M is believed to be in the main Salmon drainage near the hamlet of Carmen. Watch out, number 24!
There have been no additional livestock depredations this year. The only incident was the killing of some sheep by no. 31M last summer.
Thanks for this report and the work that went into gathering the data go to Timm Kaminski, Nez Perce Tribe field biologists Isaac Babcock, Jim Holyan, Kent Laudon, TC Peltier, Russ Richards, and intern Marci Steiger. University of Idaho Ph.D. candidate Rob Jensen provided field and flying assistance.
