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Do wolves run, spook that is, like coyotes?

courierguy

MEMBER
Inkom, Idaho
Yesterday, I was along about 100' up and at 60 MPH, coming back down a high canyon I had turned into from the valley, at about 6500'. A slight down grade so only turning 1500 at the prop, so super quiet (Rotax powered, but I did the math) and noted 2 critters on a hillside, and figured them for cattle. As I motored on by them, maybe 200' just for a second, they didn't move, and didn't even look at me, At the same time I was thinking how the last of the cattle seen were about 10 minutes earlier, when I was flying up canyon, these were odd balls I guess. Than I noticed they were not cattle, but coyotes. Than, as I was now past them, it occurred to me they were much too big, and darker in color, but mostly too darn big. And they didn't spook like every coyote I've snuck up on, that's when I figured they were wolves. NOT saying they were as big as cattle, but big enough to think that for a second, from a distance. This area is only about 40 miles from a cafe in Mackay where locals have posted pictures, one being a wolf so big I thought it was photoshopped at first, so no real surprise.

But back to my question: that "just standing there" part, that's what really stuck in my mind. Maybe I have flown over 'yotes that didn't spook so I didn't see them, but these two sure seemed to act different, and sure were big.
 
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Typical wolf behavior. I've collared a few and they show very little, if ANY fear. Usually we had to "shoo" them away, and even then, they'd back away, then just a trot off. Behavior is nothing like a coyote.
John
 
Actually it depends whether they’ve been “trained” yet. If they’ve been gunned, or their pack mates have, they learn fast. If not, no reason to fear…..just another bird.

I followed several packs a couple winters with radios. There’d been some aerial hunting in prior years. The pups would stand on a hill and watch me. Adults were just shadows hauling ass through the woods.

Coyotes know…wolves not till they’ve been shot at.

MTV
 
They can stand off or pass beyond learned shooting distance and are quite aware of us. If not previously disturbed they will stand near and observe...hot sauce ready. I unintentionally trapped a female one winter in a fox snare. The paired male was upset as expected and followed me at every chance often urinating near or on my other sets including my aircraft tie down ropes. He finally spent a couple of days at a distance on the lake away from my camp (I saw but left him alone) then left for good I assume. We are sometimes unwelcome guests in their home.

Gary
 
...... so only turning 1500 at the prop, so super quiet (Rotax powered, but I did the math)
Thanks for the morning laugh. I have never heard a quiet Rotax whether it be in flight or on the ground. They all seem to make an annoying whiney sound, even when at idle. :-)
 
We have a lot of yotes around here, sing most evenings. The ones I've bumped into while walking cower and tuck tail and sneak away. Couple years ago while driving to work a really big one crossed the road in front of me about 100yrds from my house. Big statue and different color then most I'd seen. It didn't run, it stood on a bank after crossing the road and looked back at me like it was annoyed with me. I stopped to look at it and it stood it's ground. Looked like a Wolf to me but NYS DEC said there were no wolf's in NYS. ( Now they admit they have been here) I talked to a buddy of mine that had hunted wolfs and asked what he thought it was. He asked me if it had " swagger". That was the perfect word because that's exactly what it had. Not threatening but looked at me saying " you got a problem dude"

Glenn
 
It all happened so fast, it wasn't until I was 1/4 mile away that it sunk in, and I briefly considered whipping around to go back and get a real close look, actually I could have easily landed where they were standing. But for the first time that day, during 6 hrs. of flying high mountain canyons, flying right on the deck over the flats, and over high desert lava rock, I thought, "what happens if my engine quits?" Not a joke, I really did think that and just moved on, and that's pretty funny.

Skywagon: You have not heard mine, with the 78" Prince P tip prop, I have lost track of how many times I have been told "that's the quietest airplane I've ever heard." I do agree though on the legacy engine sound I really liked the tone of my A-65 in my T-Craft, and the 0-320 in another exp. I built for guy and flew the 40 hrs off, but the geared Rotax/Prince combo pulls like the 0-320 and sips fuel like the A-65, and weighs a lot less. How you fly makes a difference too, many Rotax pilots still think you MUST keep them wrapped up, due to some long ago issues with crank case fretting on early models. I don't, I "lug" it or so I'm told, sub 2000 prop RPM much of the time. After making the 2000 hr TBO with no issues, none/zip/nada, I don't much worry about that I'd be perfectly happy flying with a slow turning legacy engine sound, that had Rotax fuel burn and weight. A short clip of a fly by of a neighbors place showing my typical noise signature: https://youtu.be/mfOJi-TU-og
 
I've seen pretty bold coyotes at my airport.
Of course, generally no ones shooting at them there.
Out in the sticks where my house is, they're a lot more slinkier.
 
From the surface most wolves want nothing to do with humans. It's unusual to see them from boats, wheelers, and the like. More common when walking quietly in the woods, especially single animals, or if in packs, I've rarely seen more than one. What'll really get your attention is looking eye to eye with a big wolf that isn't skittish and doesn't run. It makes you wish for eyes in the back of your head.
 
A short clip of a fly by of a neighbors place showing my typical noise signature: https://youtu.be/mfOJi-TU-og
It's hard to tell with a video. It sounded more like a small radial engine when flying by.

Looked like a Wolf to me but NYS DEC said there were no wolf's in NYS. ( Now they admit they have been here) I talked to a buddy of mine that had hunted wolfs and asked what he thought it was. He asked me if it had " swagger". That was the perfect word because that's exactly what it had. Not threatening but looked at me saying " you got a problem dude"

Glenn
I saw a big one which could have been a wolf, standing at the edge of a field in Sedgewick Maine about 15 years ago. It resembled a Shepard with a bushy tail. It was too big for what I think a Coyote should be.
 
A few years ago I had a pack of about a dozen wolves come around my cabin early one summer morning. A couple of the bigger ones approached me quite closely (200-feet) while I was standing on the picnic table taking photos. The rest, including some pups, hung back in the brush. The two that came close were not at all aggressive. I'm sure they were just curious about the weird two-legged creature that had moved into their neighborhood. I howled at them and they all howled back at me. I will not soon forget that experience!

I've flown over wolves several times and, generally speaking, they have stood their ground. They (at least the ones around here) don't seem to be afraid of airplanes. Snowmobiles, on the other hand, they have come to know and fear.
 
Among other traits coyotes have more pointed-taller ears and generally a narrower pointed jaw profile. Here's a couple of screen grabs. Wolf left Coyote right.

If interested in wolf - moose ecology start with L. David Mech's The Wolves of Isle Royale and end with another recent assessment. They are isolated on an island in Lake Superior unless the lake freezes between the island and shore...which is infrequent.

Gary
 

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It's hard to tell with a video. It sounded more like a small radial engine when flying by.


I saw a big one which could have been a wolf, standing at the edge of a field in Sedgewick Maine about 15 years ago. It resembled a Shepard with a bushy tail. It was too big for what I think a Coyote should be.

I was almost going to say the same, like a radial, after others have told me that but didn't want to get laughed at! Worse thing I've heard recently had been a exp with a Yamaha 4 stroke engine out of a snowmobile. Heard him for several minutes before I saw him, same as he left.
 
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