This calving season was the worst many ranchers had ever experienced, with blizzard conditions in the open landscape of Lake County, Ore.

Then the wolf arrived.

Tom Flynn of T7 Cattle saw the wolf’s tracks the morning of Jan. 30 as he drove a tractor to a feed ground on his family’s 5,000 acres.

“I found him on a fresh kill,” he said.

Flynn parked the tractor and feed trailer near the dead calf but the commotion never spooked the wolf away and it stayed within 50 yards, watching and waiting.

“That was the big concern — he just had no fear,” Flynn said.

Killing spree

Within three weeks, the radio-collared gray wolf known as OR 158 killed five calves in Lake County and another in neighboring Klamath County.

OR 158 also was the prime suspect in three additional calf deaths during that span in Lake County, according to an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman.

(Since June in Oregon, OR 158 was responsible for six calf deaths, two injured calves and is the suspected cause of four more livestock depredations.)

Ranchers expect to find more carcasses once the snow melts from the brush and sand dunes.

OR 158 was killed by authorities Feb. 26 because it posed a threat to human safety, according to ODFW.

Locals said the apex predator prowled close to houses with children and an elementary school bus stop.

“We went through three weeks of hell with him here,” Flynn said.

Frustrations mount

Frustrated ranchers said the animal’s endangered species designation in western Oregon led authorities to extensively prioritize non-lethal deterrents.

That resulted in increased costs to ag operations, the death of more calves and stress to families, ranchers said.

“I’m not saying there needs to be a hunting season on wolves, but when you have a habitual offender, there needs to be tools in the toolbox besides less than lethal because that’s less than effective,” said Justin Ferrell, who owns T Bar Livestock.

Two of his calves were killed by OR 158 and three more were probably killed by the wolf, he said.

Wolves are protected as a special status game mammal statewide, but west of highways 395/78/95, they are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, not ODFW, regulates any lethal taking of wolves in Western Oregon.

Ranchers said they could have defended their livestock with lethal force in Eastern Oregon.

They added OR 158 was a problem wolf that brazenly showed itself at least four times in daylight and would have been an easy shot for most country residents — if that was allowed.

Emergency declared

Ferrell and Flynn said they applied for permits to kill the wolf under the ESA. They believe by the time their paperwork was received, authorities had already killed the wolf.

On Feb. 18, the Lake County Board of Commissioners declared a public safety and livestock emergency, and asked for Gov. Tina Kotek to intervene in removing OR 158 from the area.

Non-lethal efforts

Ferrell said USDA Wildlife Services workers had a heavy presence, patrolling herds at night or trying to find the wolf to haze it with a drone.

Ranchers also hired extra staff to work 24 hours a day and purchased new equipment, including night vision goggles, to keep the wolf away.

The extra cost from non-lethal deterrents was around $20,000 for each ag operation, ranchers said. That doesn’t include the loss of livestock and stress to animals.

Flynn said his wife also shuttered her veterinary clinic on their property due to safety concerns and to deal with the wolf.

Ferrell and Flynn said this was their first experience with wolves, which have gradually dispersed into western Oregon.

“We never wanted the wolves, but we’re going to be the ones living with them,” Flynn said.