Elk NetworkFamily Copes with Wolves that Decimate Sheep Flock

General | July 30, 2019

Below is a portion of an Ag Daily article about a ranching family in Wisconsin dealing with wolf predation. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains that wolves should be delisted and managed by state agencies. 

On July 8, my father-in-law walked down to the sheep pasture to check on the flock, the same way he has for over 20 years. It was a beautiful summer morning, feeling much cooler after a spell of heat and humidity had just ended, but only one ewe greeted him. It was by the grace of God that she was there. 

As he began checking fence to see where the sheep might have gone, he saw a sight straight out of our worst nightmares. He started to find the massacred remains of our family’s sheep. This wasn’t my family’s first go around with a wolf kill on the farm, so my father in-law knew what to do. 

Less than two hours later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife adjuster was out and began his investigation and, after finding tracks, was able to confirm it was a wolf kill. 

Imagine waking up one morning and everything that you have worked towards for the last 30 years is gone. In a blink of an eye you have lost over 30 years of genetics, 30 years of blood, sweat, and tears. Just to be told that there is nothing you can really do about it except fill out some paperwork and wait for a small reimbursement that won’t equal the true value of the animals you lost. 

How do you move on? How do you recover?  

Go here to read more from the Calaway family. 

(Photo source: NPS)