Verifying “One Heck Of A Wolf Story”
July 18, 2006
On July 8, 2006, I brought you a story called, “One Heck Of A Wolf Story“. It was sent to me via email from a friend of mine in West Virginia, Rod Davis. We all have received emails with stories and photos attached and most of them make for good entertainment. It is safe to say too that the majority of us assume that what we are reading is true and accurate, for the most part.
It is my policy not to publish any stories that I cannot verify as being true. In my brief attempt to authenticate the story, I was unsuccessful but decided that as long as I explained to readers it may be a ficticious story, it was still good reading material.
If you followed the story, you would have seen a few comments that followed the posting. One comment claimed to be able to verify the story while another said the photos that accompanied the story where created with Photo Shop software.
Then I received a comment from the author of the story, Scott Richards, saying the story was true and I could contact him for more details. So I did.
According to Richards, he has no personal agenda for or against wolves. He told me that he doesn’t want to eradicate the state of Idaho from wolves but feels strongly, even before this incident, that wolf management needs stricter controls. He says the wolf needs to be removed from the endangered list and numbers reduced.
I asked Scott what he had to say about those who say his photos of what’s left of one of his dogs, were created with photo software. He told me that he has sent so many pictures to many different media groups etc. that he didn’t know exactly which photos I was refering to. The photos that I posted at the previous post showed the remains of one of his dogs after wolves had eaten most everything except the backbone and the head.
All he could tell me was that the photos were taken by federal wildlife warden Justin Mann and he gave me a phone number to reach him for verification. I have not been able to do that.
I also asked Scott why he wasn’t carrying a weapon while he was in the woods. He explained to me that he has been training his dogs for 34 years and he seldom carries a gun, only a camera. It is legal in Idaho to carry a weapon while training dogs but Richards claims that at the time his dogs were attacked by wolves, he didn’t know that. He claims that once while on a training mission 12 years ago, he was stopped by an Idaho Fish and Game officer named Mel Hedberg. The officer told him it was illegal to carry while training and that if he was found carrying again he would be charged.
The grey wolf is a protected species by federal law. This poses many problems in dealing with human/wolf and other animal/wolf encounters. I inquired of Richards if he would have been in trouble with the law if he had been carrying and used his gun to defend himself and his dogs. The law states that a person has the right to defend themselves and their property, in this case his dogs. He was very emphatic in stating that should you choose to use deadly force with wolves to defend yourself, you better have absolute proof that you needed it.
Richards went on to explain some of the difficulties residents and in particular ranchers, have had in receiving compensation for loss of livestock etc. from wolf attacks. He claims that one problem is the length of time it takes for federal agents to get to an attack scene. Often there is little or no evidence left to examine.
If federal inspectors cannot prove beyond a doubt that a wolf attack occured, there is no compensation but also the attack is not listed as a wolf attack. Richards claims that a very small percentage of claims are actually recorded as wolf attacks and compensation made. This would explain better the reason pro-wolf groups state that very few wolf attacks actually do happen.
Richards will not receive any compensation for the loss of his dogs. Even though officials believe wolves were what killed them, the laws governing federally protected species does not recognize hunting dogs or pets as personal property the same as they do livestock.
What concerns him the most is that people are being told false information about wolves. Justin Mann, the officer who investigated Richards’ claim, said he had never seen wolves eat a dog they had attacked. It is not unusual for wolves to attack dogs. Wildlife biologists state that wolves consider a domestic animal like a dog as a threat, particularly if that animal enters an area where the wolves are rearing their young. According to Mann, the usual part of this incident is that after the kill, the wolves returned and ate the dog – as the photos show. He said the dogs must be very hungry.
If the wolf population is growing at a rate that exceeds what the habitat will bear, starvation is one natural way of reducing the numbers in a real but extremely cruel way. Richards claims the wolf population is 800% above management goals set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Richards also wanted pointed out the fact that places like schools, church camps, summer camps, etc. have had to hire armed guards to watch over kids while outside playing because of the increase in wolf attacks and sightings.
Today, July 18, 2006, Scott Richards is assisting CBS News in a documentary that is being done about his story and the grey wolf in general. Richards says the story will be showing the side of the wolf that pro-wolf and animal rights groups don’t want us to hear. The show will not be ready for airing for quite some time. If I can get a date, I will certainly let all readers know.
Tom Remington
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[...] Scott Richards, who has been sending me information about his hunting dogs he lost in a wolf attack in Idaho, also has sent me a story with pictures of family friends who lost one of their pet “wiener” dogs, as Scott refers to Duke as. May 21, 2006 Amber was watching her 2 sons and niece play in the pasture below their house. The children had been running back and forth from the house to the pasture passing a small stand of trees each time to get water and toys. [...]
your mest up mother fucker it was just a fucking dog
I’m Pro-Wolf all the way! Wolves wouldn’t attack humans if they didn’t live so darn close to their territory & us destroying their forests. If we take away their home, they get closer to us & the attacks start. If people were more caring, they would understand that need the wolves & respect their space. We invade, we get hurt. Wolves invade, they die. This is wrong, we MUST respect them like how the Native Americans did! Why is this so friggen hard to understand? Humans have no right to decide if the wolf population is too high, it is the population of humans that is too high. WE are the problem, not the wolves. We must recongnize this fact & solve the problem peacefully without bloodshed so that both species- human & wolf, may live in harmony. If Native Americans did it, why can’t we?
Because, SB, we don’t all live in your little Disney dream world! Why don’t you give your home and country back to the “indians”, oh, pardon me, “Native Americans”…Maybe we ought to give the whole country back to the wolves, right? And feed ‘em humans, because we have too many! And if WE are the problem, please don’t include me in your “WE”…Grow up, kid!
i hate you man what did that animal ever do to you ideot.maybe you need to get a heart.or mybe get a diffrent life.MORON.
WOW MAN, got the life here Dude,
Sequoia National Forest has seen a major increase in marijuana plantations run by Mexican traffickers. As a result of the investigation efforts involving the Kern and Tulare County Sheriff’s Departments and the U.S. Forest Service, a total of 22 people, including suspected mid- to upper-level Cartel members
there were 153,889 plants removed from public land, making the Sequoia National Forest No. 1 in the nation for marijuana cultivation. The Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, which usually leads the nation, reported the removal of just over 136,000 plants.
Scott Richards, of Grangeville, Idaho was recently sentenced and fined for poacing elk and deer.
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/releases/view.cfm?NewsID=4672
The poaching took place in GMU 13 located between the Salmon and Snake rivers.
I eye witnessed a forest ranger poach a doe in hunt unit 35, so did my father, do you think we could get him busted, hell no, IFG wouldn’t touch it, But I accomplished one thing out of it, he is under strict court orders to stay off my land and stop accessing a parcel of national Forest behind that land, guess what, it got a lot tougher for the government poacher to poach. Next time I catch him doing it, AND I INTEND TO, I will photo him, and probably hog tie him to his kill, and then call the IFG and lets see them get out of prosecuting him then. government goons are not credible either Lee.
A guy with a real conscience, huh?
I had a friend that was with IDFG. A bunch of us were hunting in the Bovill ID area. Cold, raw, November day. While warming up with coffee mid morning over a campfire, some Washington hunters appoached and after asking how the hunt was going and other small talk, announced that they had a small deer that they really didn’t want to tag since they wanted to continue hunting and hopefully get something larger. Did we want it? My friends ears perked up and he allowed as he was interested – take me to the deer. They did and he nabbed them. It eventually went to court and they were at least fined and perhaps more.
Question. Why did the wolves leave a lot of the neck and head meat attached? Fake.
Frank, I think you have a good point there. The head doesn’t look like that of an anmial that was in mortal combat.
While remodeling a house in Maine, the north wall of the kitchen was removed. I had gone somewhere for the day and upon returning found my doberman, Mister, had a very swollen heat and lots of tooth marks. The bedroom was a mess with saliva, blood, and fur all around. Turned out our neighbor’s 25 pound dog had paid a visit. He backed under the bedroom dresser to get away from Mister. I don’t know what stopped the fight but the smaller dog got the worst of it. He did survive. The heads of both dogs had lots of injuries.
Wolves kill for a living, not stand at a bowl looking at you with childlike expectation, waiting for you to feed them. Their mind is set up much different than domestic dogs, and you can’t forget that. Wolves kill small animals like coyotes, rabbits, cats, raccoons, squirrels, etc. They also kill large ungulates like moose, deer, carabou, elk, mountain goats, wolves and wild sheep. Despite the erroneous infromation we are given by the mainstream media, wolves are the most efficient and destructive killers in the ecosystem. That is why you don’t see tears and scratches on the dogs face. A 35 pound hound versus a 120 pound efficient killer is no contest and I can bet there wasn’t much of a struggle. Greg you live here in Idaho, so I know you understand what wolves are capable of.
Yes, and understanding their pecking order and dominance they display also, I have seen several wolf wounds on domestic dogs and the face is not always cut up and torn, the domestic dog will run away from the wolves, (I know, I watched my Lab come running into my camp and hunker down next to me when the wolves came in to my camp in August 08). How do I know ??? I spend time in a VET CLINIC and see first hand evidence of this from the wife who is a DVM for 17 years now. Dogs do not always tear up their face in fights, only head on fights of to aggressive dogs causes this, a domestic dog running away could be killed very efficiantly by wolves from behind.
I raised a Canadian Timber wolf, he lived to be 14 years old. He would display submission in my presence, he respected me as his Alpha. I named him wolf. We did a lot of cool things together. I also watched him dominate every domestic dog he came into contact with…and most of those dogs submitted to him by laying down, once in a while one would be stupid and try to dominate him, this would last about 3 seconds, and then wolf would put them upside down on their back and have them by the throat so fast, it was encredible, and then they submitted right now, and he never hurt them any further than that…
Wolf was 141 pounds in his prime. He was well trained, never bit any one, never killed another dog. He would pin strangers up against the house and keep them stationary by growling until one of his humans arrived on the scene to approve further movement to the front door or the road, All I had to say was ok wolf, and the tail wags and it was cool. No one woulda layed a hand on us with him around.
I support wolves, BUT, I do not support government lies and misinformation concerning the wolves nor do I support the over protection of the wolves by those lies, and the fools pushing all the junk studies and science being used to justify the over-protection of wolves. Unfortunately the elk will collapse entirely before some people get a clue of what is really happening out in Idaho.
The decimation of elk and ruination of hunts for hunters is unjust. And is criminal in my opinion. Obviously this Scott Richards is not credible, Wolves could have done this to the dog, and so could something else, like Scott and a bear perhaps. This is one isolated case among hundreds of cases which are credible. http://www.wolfcrossing.org proves it. http://www.saveourelk.com proves it. Will Graves “Wolves in Russia” proves it.
Wolves are at least ten times more athletic than domestic dogs. Wolves are very powerful, and a domestic dog cannot compare to them, at all. It would be like comparing a race horse to a donkey.
This is from the 2006 wolf report. Whitebird Creek is a few miles south of Grangeville near the road on which Scott Richard says he was driving.
“White Bird Creek Pack
Alpha female B284 and adult male B285 were captured and radiocollared following an incident between this pack and hunting dogs. Three wolves killed 2 hounds and injured a third when the wolves encountered the dogs in late May 2006. A program biologist subsequently located the pack’s rendezvous site, leading to the successful trapping effort. A minimum of 2 pups and 3
adults was detected at that time, based upon howling. The newly documented White Bird Creek pack was a breeding pair for 2006.”
I forgot this.
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/annualrpt06/Idaho_2006_annual_report.pdf
Greg,
I thought the “canadian wolf ” was much larger than the “native Idaho wolf
“. But you had your native wolf in the in the ’70s and stated that “Wolf was 141 pounds in his prime.” That is a whale of a lot bigger than those “Canadian “wolves introduced into Idaho that had an average weight of 101 pounds. Please explain!
I stated my wolf was a canadian wolf, he was a canadian wolf, and he was a big boy. He cost $600.00 back then. Read the second paragraph of my comment above again please. I also had two German Shepards in my life and both were 130+ pounds. I did not weigh the wolf killed by the trapper, he told myself an two others the wolf was 165 pounds, it looked it to me. I have had wolves in the Frank Church within twenty yards of me, and twice there was a wolf much larger than any dog I have ever seen, except perhaps a Mastiff I saw once. I also thought i was looking at deer one day, and once glassing the animals they were wolves. I can not believe the size of the heads on some of them. Thats why I suspect there are hybrids involved…ALL, I can say is I’ve seen some encredibly big wolves occasionally…But most often, I see what I should see, and is as you describe, 100-120 pound wolves. A hybrid was killed here recently, in fact two were killed. It is in the MTExpress archives, I was looking up B2 a couple days ago, because I thought they claimed in that article he was 155 pounds, I was mistaken, I read that some place once and I am trying to find it. Until I do, you can just call me RICHARDS, I will not lose any sleep over that.
I should add that the Native wolves we used to see went about 100 pounds, looked 100 pounds. Why is it so difficult for you Lee, I mean other animals can very in stature and weight in their species, for example a large mule deer buck would go about 220 pounds, somtimes 270 pounds, Well I shot a six by six 37″ mule deer buck and he went 336 pounds, and we had a 230 pound buck that was with him, you woulda swore that was a cow elk hanging next to a buck deer. I shot a 4×5 30″ buck and he weighed 274 pounds. I shot a 6×7 33″ buck and he weighed 236 pounds. Why can’t wolves very in weight like this two…? Hell ,maybe idaho life agrees with some of those wolves better than others, or their freaks….THEY EXIST.
I could shoot one and then you will get it. Will you send me a cake and file to my cell.?
“According to Richards, he has no personal agenda for or against wolves. He told me that he doesn’t want to eradicate the state of Idaho from wolves but feels strongly, even before this incident, that wolf management needs stricter controls. He says the wolf needs to be removed from the endangered list and numbers reduced.”
I spoke with one of Mr. Richard’s friends the other day – someone he hunts with. He made it quite clear that both he and Mr. Richards hate wolves and think that all of the wolves in the U.S. should be destroyed. The statement above is completely false – Mr. Richards does, in fact, have a personal agenda regarding wolves and it leans waaaay over into the “they should be taken off of the protected list so that me and my buddies can kill us some.” It is sad that this compensation for a lack of brain and manhood affects quite a bit of the male population these days.
BTW – check the internet and you will find that Mr. Richard’s photos have been looked over carefully by professionals who are familiar with predation. They think it is BS.
Forgot to add – Mr. Richard’s hunting buddy told me that on the day his dogs got attacked he was in the woods with the intention of getting a bear.