By Ali Longwell | Post Independent
For wolves, the beginning of May signals the end of denning season.
While Colorado Parks and Wildlife is tracking up to four pairs of wolves that could be denning, none have been confirmed, according to Eric Odell, the agency’s wolf conservation program manager.
“We are monitoring one to three to four pairs of animals that could be denning,” Odell said at the May 7 meeting for the agency’s commission.
The agency is “sussing out” these potential dens using data from the GPS collars that the majority of Colorado’s wolves are wearing.
“When we have followed a couple of animals that are paired, male-female pairs, and we lose contact with the female, potentially that means (she’s) underground, or she’s spent some time digging a den or something like that,” he said. “We’re relying on some of that behavior through our GPS collars to identify where we might have some dens, but again, we have not confirmed any of these.”
Any pups will likely remain underground for up to another month, he added.
Once they emerge, Odell warned it will be unlikely the agency will know exactly how many pups there are.
“Whether we are able to get reliable ground counts just depends on a variety of different things: access, if they’re in deep timber, or just the physical locations of where dens are,” he said.
Brian Dreher, the assistant director of Parks and Wildlife’s terrestrial wildlife branch, confirmed the agency will be deploying some of its recently-hired range riders to these suspected denning areas later this week. Range riders are people who roam given areas, typically on horseback, in an effort to monitor wolves and protect livestock.
Dreher said that riders sent to these potential dens will “be deployed in a defensive manner and will work mostly nights to prevent highly localized wolves from coming in contact with nearby livestock.”
The state agency, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, hired 11 range riders earlier this year as part of a new state program to minimize conflict between wolves and livestock.
In April, four range riders were sent out to Eagle, Routt and Rio Blanco counties, “to assist with conflict,” Dreher said. These riders were deployed at the request of producers following wolf activity in these areas, he said.
So far this year, Parks and Wildlife has confirmed four livestock deaths related to wolves — two in Jackson County, one in Pitkin County and one in Eagle County.
Remaining range riders not deployed near potential dens or in these areas will be “making landowner connections and riding in areas where wolves have been historically or have the potential to be in the near future,” Dreher said.
“They are doing this, so they can develop an understanding of the livestock, the landscape, the natural prey, and the producers themselves so they can be better prepared when wolves arrive,” he added.