Story followup: Fishtrap wolf pack safe for now but will be watched

The Fishtrap Pack is safe for now after killing a cow at McGinnis Meadows last week, but that could change if the wolves make a habit out of dining on livestock, according to Kent Laudon, wolf management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“If they came back next week, that would indicate there’s a pattern starting and we would intervene,” Laudon said.

The Fishtrap Pack, made up of at least seven wolves, is one of the most established packs in northwest Montana. They dwell on 250 square miles roughly bordered by Silver Butte and Thompson River, Highway 2 and Fishtrap River.

They are attributed to four confirmed livestock kills since 2005 – a cow and sheep in 2005, a calf in 2008 and Jean and Jan Bourdeau’s cow last week. Laudon recalls that the pack also injured someone’s animal in 2006 or 2007.

“During their tenure, this pack kills or injures livestock at the rate of one animal about every one-to-three years,” Laudon said. “Depredation levels are pretty low, (considering) this pack is in and around livestock all the time.”

The information doesn’t comfort Jan Bourdeau, who argues that the kills should be lower because the area doesn’t have that much livestock.

Laudon said that he sympathizes with the Bourdeaus, as he has pets of his own, but that he has to look at the bigger picture. He explains that killing part or all of the pack will not necessarily reduce livestock loss in the area because a new pack would eventually move in that could be more hostile toward livestock.

“Wolves are good at inserting themselves into that void,” Laudon said.

Laudon said Tuesday that he planned to discuss with the Bourdeaus different options to deter wolves – such as a device that blares gunshot sounds and activates strobe lights when a wolf’s radio collar is detected.

Jan Bourdeau is not convinced that it would be a viable long-term solution.

“The federal guys (USDA Wildlife Services) say sometimes it works a week, sometimes it works for two weeks, sometimes a month and sometimes it doesn’t work at all,” Bourdeau said. “What am I supposed to do when spring comes? How am I supposed to turn them (cattle) loose out to pasture?”

Laudon said he will keep watch on the Fishtrap Pack as its relatively responsible behavior could change since the pack’s structure has changed. The older male wolf left the pack and the breeding female died last year.

Instances of the pack’s predation on livestock could also potentially increase because the deer population is down in northwest Montana.

“When the native ungulate population is down, wolves could potentially turn more toward livestock,” Laudon said. “That would be a risk factor.”