Peppered with Pumas: Experts say recent lion sightings no cause for alarm

Camera file photo A mountain lion moves through the snow in the mountains in central Idaho in January 2000. By Zak Brown Boulder Daily Camera The sight of a mountain lion can inspire excitement, awe and, if only for a moment, fear. The rarity of mountain lion attacks on humans is well-documented, although that doesn’t mean there isn’t any reason to fear such a powerful animal. And even if there is little chance a lion will attack a human, pets and livestock are at a real danger. So it’s news when a mountain lion makes a cameo appearance in or near civilization. This winter, the news in Boulder County has been peppered with pumas. There have been multiple sightings in Louisville and Boulder this winter, the most recent a backyard appearance in west Boulder on March 20. That high number of sightings may seem like a pattern, but local wildlife experts tend to regard them as people simply seeing what is already there. Mountain lions are our local ecosystem’s version of the reclusive celebrity. “My feeling is that I’d bet that these things happen more than you’d believe,” says Marc Bekoff, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado. “I’m on the bike path a lot and I feel like animals are seeing me when I’m not seeing them.” Sightings are fairly common in Boulder. Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield says he gets reports of sightings about once a month. Moisture, or the lack of it, has a major influence on ecosystems in the West. Drought conditions can force wildlife out of habitual environments and into contact with civilization in order to find food or water. That was likely not the case this winter and likely won’t be the case this summer, based on projected water levels. The mountain lions’ main food source is mule deer, which means the lions typically go where deer go. VIDEO • Watch video footage of a mountain lion spotted in Boulder last week. That includes the water sources for the deer or any other small prey. That’s likely the reason the lions ended up in Louisville, miles from the mountains yet close to water. “That can happen if there’s a riparian area, or there can be a ditch that they can follow,” says Wendy Keefover-Ring, director of the carnivore protection program at Sinapu, a Boulder-based nonprofit dedicated to the restoration and protection of native carnivores and their habitat in the southern Rocky Mountain region. “They certainly don’t like to be exposed and in the open. They are an ambush predator and they want to be right where they can hide themselves in tall grass. They don’t want to walk across the prairie.” In January, a lion was reported near Keith Helart Park in Louisville, and a pair was seen near Annette Brand Park. The public’s fear of mountain lions heightens when the animals are seen close to civilization. There have only been 17 fatalities from mountain lion confrontations since 1890, according to Sinapu. The biggest threat is to small animals and sometimes children. When there are sightings and the presence of lions is confirmed, outside pets should be put in kennels. Small children should play in fenced areas under supervision. The March 20 sighting in Boulder, when a large cat was seen in the backyard of a home near the intersection of 13th Street and Cascade Avenue, was highly publicized. The animal was caught on camera walking through the snow and testing the lid of a garbage can to use as a springboard out of the yard (not to feed; unlike bears, lions don’t scavenge refuse, according to Keefover-Ring). The relatively lengthy footage of the animal slowly trolling through the snow provided an impromptu home version of “Nature” or “Wild Kingdom.” For Bekoff, watching the video for the first time was a special treat. He was out of town when the video was publicized, but watched it while being interviewed for this story. “The animal was displaced on the way somewhere. Frankly, that would be my guess. That’s the only other thing I could think of because it is walking so casually,” he says. “I don’t know if it’s weather-related. It could be just that a cat would be going somewhere else. I would have to say it was a lucky glimpse.” Other recent sightings, Bekoff says, are likely just lions crossing paths with humans. There are several other times when humans are in close contact with lions but never see them. As ambush predators, lions require cover and have no interest in dealing with larger animals such as humans. For instance, Bekoff cites a photo of two hikers talking, with the face of an unseen lion in the grass a few feet from a hiker’s ankle. “If you see a lion, enjoy the moment, because you’re probably not going to have that opportunity again,” Keefover-Ring says. “They are naturally fearful of humans. If they weren’t, we would have far more attacks.” Common sense should prevail. But even with the recent sightings, the chance of being attacked is statistically so small as to be insignificant. “We have a really rich deer population, so we have a higher density of mountain lions in Boulder. And they’re not hunted here,” Keefover-Ring says. “The great thing is the risk of an attack is extremely rare.” Zak Brown can be reached at brownz@dailycamera.com. Copyright 2006, DailyCamera. All Rights Reserved.

A mixed dog in wolf's clothing

Breeders take a walk on the wild side to create a bloodline that’s both cuddly and dangerous

By Joe Garner, Rocky Mountain News

The eyes track you.

Wary, primitive eyes.

Luminescent golden eyes.

The eyes of a wolf in the guise of a dog. The animal’s bloodline seems to flow simultaneously cuddly and fierce.

How do you react to this exotic animal nuzzling you?

Is it a dog or a wolf, and how can you know?

“Your beagle at home is essentially a wolf, genetically,” said Ed Bangs, the Montana-based wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“All dogs came from wolves.”

Wolves were reintroduced at Yellowstone National Park in 1995.

Almost a decade later, in 2004, a wolf wearing a radio collar identifying it as a member of that pack was found dead on Interstate 70 near Idaho Springs.

Last month, another animal identified as a migrating wolf was videotaped in northern Colorado, almost 500 miles from the park.

Such sightings inflame passions about the animals across the West.

Stockmen and woolgrowers oppose the return of wolves to the mountains where they were nearly exterminated after the first settlers arrived in the 19th century.

But, some admirers of the animals, who want their own badge of the outdoors, trade in wolves and wolf-dog mixes, serving the market for pups advertised to grow up on the wild side.

“There’s the macho man who thinks he’s hot stuff driving to town in his Hummer with a wolf dog on the front seat,” Frank Wendland said.

He and his wife, Pat Wendland, operate a Larimer County sanctuary for wolves and wolf-dogs that is called WOLF, an acronym for Wolves Offered Life and Friendship.

And, Pat Wendland said, “It’s not just macho males. It’s macha females who want to be seen with these animals.”

The Wendlands, and others who work with wolves, estimate that there are about 30,000 wolf-dogs in Colorado – perhaps 10 percent of maybe 300,000 captive wolves and wolf-dogs in private hands nationwide.

The trade in such animals is legal in Colorado, although some counties and cities prohibit ownership of wolves or crossbreeds, the Wendlands said.

In the wild, interbreeding is unlikely.

“A domesticated dog is more likely to be lunch for a wolf than a mating partner,” said Joe Lewandowski, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

“In captivity, they can be bred, but in the wild, we never have had a wild wolf breed with a domesticated dog.”

Mixed-breed pups born in captivity, usually in a litter as small as two or as large as seven, are priced from $500 to $2,500, the Wendlands said.

Typically, the more wolf in the pup, the higher the price, they said. However, in the alternative, if the seller sizes up the buyer as someone who wants a more-domesticated pet, the less wolf in the pup, the higher the price, they said.

“What most people are looking for is a dog in wolf’s clothing,” Pat Wendland said. “They want an animal that looks like a wolf but acts like a dog.”

In addition to the macho male and macha female who draw attention when they parade a wolf or a crossbreed in public, Frank Wendland said, the animals also appeal “to tree-huggers who want to bring a little bit of nature into their high-rise apartments.”

“We, as human beings, whether we like it or not, still have wild parts in our psyche that we have become disconnected from,” he said. “We’re looking to reconnect with that wild side of ourselves.”

The link between humans and wolves is primordial. In Roman mythology, Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, left to die in the Tiber River, were suckled by a she-wolf.

In fairy tales, the better to scare and instruct children, wolves star in the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood.

“Today, in urban society, people still want a direct connection to the wild,” said Rob Edward of Sinapu, a Boulder-based advocacy group for wolves and other carnivores. “Wolves are beautiful. They are cool. They are good providers for their families,” Edward said.

“They can teach human beings a lot.”

The Wendlands share their mountain home with a pack of four wolf-dog mixes, a fifth animal thought to be pure wolf and sixth animal thought to be pure dog.

“They don’t live with us,” Frank Wendland said.

“We live with them. We live within their guidelines. We live in their society versus their being pets.”

The house rule is: Show affection to the animals and pet them, but do not play with the animals because play quickly can turn to competition in which nature rules.

“Domesticated dogs have been bred to be perpetually puppies,” Pat Wendland said. “They never reach the final stages of maturity.”

Even the cutest wolf-dog pies can grow into snarling adults, with bad dispositions, as they reach sexual maturity after two years of age – especially if the animals have been suburbanized so they cannot range up to 40 miles a day, as wolves do in nature.Left home alone, the puppies cannot follow their instinct to travel with a pack so they vent their frustrations on a sofa.

“People try to get rid of wolf-dog hybrids because they make bad pets,” Bangs said.

But, he said, “To release these animals into the wild is the cruelest thing you could do” because they have not grown to maturity learning to fend for themselves.

Among wolf advocates, the solution is simply not to put your hand in the murky genetic pool of interbred animals: If you want a dog, get a dog.

“We hope to see the day when having a captive wolf or wolf-hybrid is as socially unacceptable as smoking,” Edward said.

The Case for Coyotes

The most widely distributed, studied and persecuted species in the world, the coyote is the most successful medium-sized predator on Earth. An average coyote weighs about 35 pounds.

Like wolves, coyotes occupy den sites and have a complex family structure based around an alpha male and female, although they can also live alone, in pairs, or in a pack. They fiercely defend territories against other coyotes.

Coyotes can change their breeding and dietary habits, even alter their social dynamics, to survive. These clever animals exploit whatever is available, which allows them to subsist in a wide variety of habitats. Still, they prefer the more solitary places.

Coyotes are among the fastest of mammals, able to reach speeds of up to 40 miles an hour. Their speed and keen sense of hearing help them catch their prey, which includes mice, voles, prairie dogs and rabbits. Unlike wolves, which are strictly carnivorous, coyotes can eat some plant material, although 90% of their diet comes from meat.

Alongside ravens, foxes, wolverines, and other carnivores, coyotes scavenge the carcasses of animals killed by bears, wolves, and other predators, dispersing nutrients and seeds in their scat wherever they roam. Their influence reaches even further into the ecosystem; by limiting the populations of smaller predators such as raccoons, feral cats, and skunks, coyotes help maintain a dynamic balance between species, thus increasing the diversity of species in the ecosystem.
Stop the War!

Coyote carcasses displayed on a wagon wheel.Recent scientific evidence shows that human efforts to contain coyote populations may actually increase their numbers—indeed, their range has expanded three-fold since humans began extensively shooting, trapping and poisoning them 150 years ago.

Coyotes’ complex social dynamics, including breeding behavior, are controlled by the alpha pair in the pack. Should one or both alpha coyotes be killed, younger coyotes in the pack are “released” to breed. Thus, instead of only the alpha pair breeding, several pairs within the pack may breed, increasing overall population size.