With a large and likely undercounted number of wolves roaming the Upper Peninsula, people need to be on alert for lone wolves and wolf packs that appear to be inquisitive about humans or have no qualms of coming into people’s yards where children can and do play unattended.

   While “experts” claim there’s little danger of wolf/human attacks, none have interviewed alpha male pack leaders to get their take about what wolves have on their mind at any given time.  Therefore, as reported in “The Hunting Report” newsletter, when encountering any wolf, get away quickly while preparing to defend yourself, but remember that running may invite an attack. 

   It would also be advisable for Yoopers to keep a close eye on children when outdoors in wolf territory, which could actually be anywhere except maybe downtown areas in major Upper Peninsula towns.

   In light of a lack of aggressive wolf management by the Michigan Department of United Nations Natural Resources (MI-DUNNR) during the last several years, wolves don’t understand that, until they were allowed to immigrate and set up housekeeping in Yooperland and elsewhere, wolves were expected to play second fiddle in the food chain, not replace humans who are accustomed to playing first chair in Nature’s Orchestra.

   Wolf loving eco-environmentalists can no longer claim there have been no wolf/human attacks in North American since Kenton Carnegie was attacked and killed while walking near a remote mining exploration camp in Saskatchewan on November 8, 2005.  This time the victim didn’t become a rabies statistic; it was “healthy” wolves that killed him, not rabies from a wolf bite, though death at the jaws of any wolf, sick or healthy, would be most unpleasant, for sure.

   Wolf aficionados blame wolf/human attacks on all sorts of foolish mistakes by ignorant humans, but then humans aren’t accustomed to wolves running rampant in rural areas, which includes the many small towns that are the norm, not the exception, in the wilderness of the U.P. 

   While it’s not a good idea to leave smelly garbage or foodstuff outdoors, since it draws skunks and rats, it could also draw hungry wolves and condition them to come lazily into people’s yards to look for an easy meal.  And, although family pets doing their “outside business” don’t resemble garbage, wolves apparently can’t tell the difference between fur and plastic bags or overflowing garbage cans.

   Regardless, there have been many wolf/pet attacks

in several UP areas, as well as wolf/livestock attacks that have been pooh-poohed because property owners are too busy grubbing out a living to have time to stand a 24-7-365 watch with a video camera over their four legged possessions that have every right to be outdoors.

   One wolf pack caused several Elo area private property owners to suffer through several years of having wolves kill or maim their livestock or family pets.  Much to his credit, one young DNR officer, who seems not to have signed on with the UN’s re-wilders, took matters into his own hands and became a local hero by removing a few of that wolf pack’s members, permanently.  He, too, was apparently fed up with the attacks and repeatedly “translocating” pack members, only to have them return to the area a few days later.

   While one Elo area farmer lost several cattle to wolves, he was successful in proving only one was a wolf kill.  Why?  Because proving wolf kills to the