California only Gray Wolf adapting to Plumas county wildfires

San Francisco Chronicle/Peter Fimrite, 8/25/12. "Lone California wolf fascination with wildfire."  

"The famous lone wolf of California has been roaming curiously close to a large wildfire in Plumas County this week in what experts think might be a fiendishly clever ploy to pick off prey fleeing the flames.

Plumas County wildfires

The first wolf to enter the state in almost 90 years was tracked using his GPS collar to within a mile of the 63,160-acre Chips Fire, which was still burning out of control near Lake Almanor on Friday.

"Over the last week he was pretty darn close to the perimeter of this fire, strangely so," said Karen Kovacs, the wildlife program manager for the California Department of Fish and Game. "There was speculation that he might be going after animals that are moving away from the fire.

 Fire no problem for OR7, easy dinner

Nobody really knows for sure what the wolf, known as OR7, is up to, she said, but there aren't many other reasons the canine predator would be lurking so close to towering flames. The fire has blackened some 98 square miles around the Plumas National Forest, threatening 900 homes and forcing evacuations in Canyon Dam, Big Meadows and, earlier, Seneca. Evacuation advisories were issued in Rush Creek and Prattville." Read Article.

Related - Plumas County fire.  The Willits News,8/24/12, "Plumas County: Containment number on Chip Fire is 55 percent, but winds are picking up."  Monterey Herald. 8/22/12,  Governor declares emergency in north counties hit by wildfires". California Emergency Management Agency, Fire Wildfire Map, 8/25/12.

Related - Lone Gray Wolf.  Discovery News/Tim Wall, 2/29/12, "California Gray Wolf First Since 1924. The picture is from this article.  includes picture.  Fix Pacifica archives, Tracking the gray wolf into California.

Posted by Kathy Meeh