I grew up in Menomonie, but never thought much of the wildlife around here. There didn’t seem to be much more than deer. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Last September my wife and I moved back to the Menomonie area with our 2-year-old son in tow. We rented a townhouse about five miles north of Menomonie, out in the Dunn County “Wilds.” The rental sat in a beautiful clear-cut field that felt like a natural tall grass prairie.

I was surprised by the amount of wildlife out there. Deer meandered through our yard and bald eagles took off from nearby pines on regular sorties. There were wild turkeys, raccoons, bluebirds, and hummingbirds, just to name a few. And then there were the wolves.

Late in March, I was standing outside in a light snow and heard something. Howling. My first thought was “wolves?” My wife confirmed the howl. Neither of us had ever heard a wolf call in the wild. It was kind of creepy.

The next night, Karen woke up from a deep sleep and heard a noise just outside our window. Something was rustling around in the grass and making a clanking noise. She got out of bed and peered out the window. There was a bright moon overhead, but a shadow from the building hid the noisy animal. Suddenly she gasped, “Wolf!”

I jumped out of bed and looked through the blinds. I thought the animal on the other side of the window was a deer it was so big. I looked closer. Sure enough, it was a wolf! My breath was literally taken away by the sight of this enormous predator in our back yard. Frightening though it was, the mighty timber wolf was happily licking a suet feeder.

Another smaller wolf joined the first at the feeder. Who would have guessed that feeding chickadees would attract a hundred-pound timber wolf? Out in the tree line we could see the flashing eyes of at least two or three smaller wolves.

    We watched the wolves for a good 20 minutes. When the wolf was done with the suet, the two walked into the moonlight and we were able to see just how big they actually were. True wild things.

I tried to take a picture, but the flash scared them and they ran off into the night.

Having a 2 year-old who plays outside, we were naturally curious about our new neighbors. Were they going to eat us, etc.? I called Adrian Wydevan, Mammalian Specialist and Head Wolf Guy at the Wisconsin DNR to get some info.

Mr. Wydevan verified that there is a small timber wolf pack in Dunn County and informed me that we should take down the suet (duh). Apparently the wolf pack followed Lamb’s Creek to hunt deer, but would also feed opportunistically. People who leave out dog food, put out suet, or especially feed the deer often get wolves instead.

Adrian told me that the wolves most likely migrated down from the Blue Hills near Rice Lake. They’ve been a minor nuisance in the area, killing small horses and cattle over the years. It’s hard to track them, as their range is over 200 square miles. While Mr. Wydevan warned me that domesticated pets (such as our cute little cat) might get eaten, no person that he knows of has ever been attacked in Wisconsin.

We lived out there for another five months and never saw or heard them again.

The gray wolf (timber wolf) is on the federally protected endangered species list. So if you see one, don’t shoot it. You’ll get in a lot of trouble. 

If you do see any wolves, call the USDA Wildlife Service at 1-800-228-1368 to report them. The Wisconsin DNR tracks the movement of the Wisconsin Timber Wolves primarily through first hand accounts. 

Oh yeah, and there are 80 to 90 wolves that roam the woodland areas of Eastern Eau Claire County, so keep your eyes peeled and you might see some of your own “Wild Things.”