• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

A growing wolf pack spreads throughout the state

Photo at left: The Heart Prairie Lutheran Church from the scenic outlook along the Ice Age Trail near Whitewater. Click for more photos from the Ice Age Trail.

Emily and Larry Scheunemann have been tracking wolf packs in central Wisconsin for several years and recently presented a lecture to increase the public's knowledge of wolves.

Wolves are vital to a healthy balance of nature in wilderness areas, and their population has been increasing at an exponential rate in Wisconsin.

The population now is at about the peak of a sustainable population that can coexist safely with humans in the north and central areas of the state.

But wolves currently are on the endangered species list, so their population cannot be controlled as it should.

Many wolves are shot illegally by hunters, including those with expensive tracking collars. Those that may become too accustomed to humans when moving into non-wilderness areas, and thus dangerous, cannot be legally euthanized as long as they remain listed as endangered.

There have been sightings of individual wolves in Walworth County. They tend to be young animals that have left their family pack and often travel hundreds of miles from their home before being hit by a car or meeting some other demise while in search of a mate.

For one of this week's walks, one group traveled to Price Park, while the other carpooled to the parking lot at Rice Lake to hike five miles of Ice Age Trail back to our meeting place.

Meg McCormick reported that the group at Price Park walked between two and three miles of beautiful trail that included some steep hills so that they got a good workout. Mariette Nowak identified birds along the trail while McCormick and Ellen Davis led the way with snowshoes sometimes breaking new trail.

The others all had Yak Trax or other gripping treads attached to their shoes which helped on the steep parts of the paths the hiked on.

On the other walk, we found many tracks along the trail dominated this day by fox or coyote along with their characteristic pungent scent and a bit of blood at places along their tracks which are characteristic during their mating season.

We stopped at the Scenic View on the trail near the Whitewater Lake Campgrounds where we could see the Heart Prairie Lutheran Church on the far shore of Whitewater lake.

Happy trekking, Russ

Activities

Saturday, Feb. 27, 10 a.m., Hike/Snowshoe at Bigfoot Beach State Park. Park at Badger High School, 220 E. South St., Lake Geneva. Contact Peter Packer (262) 215-8277.

Weekly Walks

We meet at 4 p.m. Tuesdays and 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Highway 12 Ice Age National Scenic Trail crossing located about four miles east of Whitewater.

We include two or more walks of different distances on Wednesdays, and also do this on Tuesdays when desired.

All ages are welcome.

Note that a state park pass is required to park a car at the Highway 12 meeting place.

A daily or yearly pass may be purchased at the meeting place provided correct change is available.