Experiments in Coexistence Juliet Grable
December 22, 2020
It’s after midnight, and Alyssa Mahaney is standing at the edge of a pasture, howling.
If a wolf responds in kind, she’ll know better where to focus her nightly patrol. Perhaps she’ll set up a “scare box,” which blasts music unpredictably, or shoot off a few blanks from her pistol to scare it away. The Rogue Pack is responsible for more livestock kills than any other in Oregon. Its founder was OR-7 (pictured), arguably the most celebrated wolf in the West. Photo by USFWS.
Mahaney is a conflict prevention specialist for USDA Wildlife Services; she works with livestock producers in southwest Oregon who hope to avoid losing cows to an infamous group of wolves known as the Rogue Pack.