One really mangy wolf

[Steve Foss]

Normally I poke along when I'm driving through the woods, looking everywhere at everything so I don't miss anything.

This morning, however, I was in a hurry to get to a specific location when the light was right, and I was zipping along the newly paved portion of the Echo Trail with tunnel vision. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye while I was motoring at 50mph, saw it was a wolf and locked up the brakes. I was able to get this shot, which is fairly sharp, of a young wolf (I'd guess one of this year's pups), with a darn big case of mange.

You can even see open sores on its side and rear leg, and of course the tail is a poor excuse for a wolf's tail. Wonder if it'll even make it through the coming winter. It was moving pretty darn slow.

Reminds me of how our border collie looked when a fox came into the farmstead out in North Dakota and she chased it off, contracting a harsh case of mange in the process. Our border collie is alive and well 10 years later, though she was NOT happy when we doused her with the medication and it had to stay on her skin and burn for 24 hours.

I would grouse about finally getting a decent grab shot of a wild wolf only to find it diseased. I kept waiting for it to sit down and look back at me through the leaves, even whistled at it, no dice. But I think this one's issues are more important than mine.

[MN Shutterbug]

Poor little guy. I don't think he'll be able to find any medication in the wild. It doesn't appear like he'll make it thru the winter. It's surprising that he didn't flee as soon as you hit the brakes. His mental conditon probably isn't the best either.

[finnbay]

Ears back and tail down. Sure doesn't look like a happy camper.

[EatSleepFish]

sure its not a 'yote?

[picksbigwagon]

head is pretty small, ears are not that big, I would tend to think it is a coyote too. But the legs look pretty good sized for that size of a coyote as well. I would lean towards wolf that won't see february

[Steve Foss]

The older I get, the less sure I am of anything. I said it's a young of the year wolf because that's what I think it is. The way it moved, the way it looks in the other images I have make me fairly sure of that. Only one thing I'm REALLY sure of: It's not a fox.

[picksbigwagon]

nope that is a young wolf, MAAAAANNNGY but still a wolf

[The_Duckslayer]

That is a shame. It will probably not be a swift and painless death either. Mother nature can be down right cuel sometimes. Nice picture though Steve, thanks for sharing. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[Casaloma]

Seen a few wolves with the mange. That one is the worst, no wonder you saw it. Maybe the road is the kindest place for her.

I'll email you back later, STF. -CLoma

[Steve Foss]

No prob, Cas. You and the fam have a lot of images to sort through. There's no hurry from my end at all.

[polarsusd81]

Steve, glad to see you finally got an image of a wild wolf. I haven't seen a wolf in the wild. Maybe someday.

But on the flip-side, it is quite a sad sight to see knowing that wolf will probably not make it much longer.

[zamboni]

Really bad thing about mange is how contagious it is, the whole pack may end up with it. The mange has really knocked the fox population down here in southern MN, really sad.

[Steve Foss]

I'm rethinking the age of this wolf. I've gotten a couple reports that it's hanging around the vacinity, targeting garbage cans and a chicken coop, with no other wolves being reported.

Since in early fall the family elements of a pack stay together and some of the non family members go off on their own (early autumn is generally an easy time for wolves), I'm thinking this is a yearling, or could even be a full-grown adult that's been emaciated from its mange infestation. Take away the rich fur of a wolf and it looks a lot smaller then normal, and the head on this one seems bigger compared with the body than it should be, probably because of the lack of body and tail fur.