Wolf kills 7 sheep on Wisconsin Rapids farm

WISCONSIN RAPIDS Wis. (WSAW) -- A wolf caught in the act leaves a Wisconsin Rapids family seven sheep short.

By Rebecca Cardenas | 

Posted: Tue 1Jul 12, 2016

It's the first time Bryan Jones has encountered a wolf on his farm, but he doesn't think it will be the last. "I do think that it will become a problem."
Even after putting up a $20,000 fence around his property, the predator found its way in, killing seven of his sheep.
"I think the only frustrating part for me is that there's really not a lot we can do," Jones said. "It's hard to deter a wolf from coming in."
In June, the Wisconsin Department of natural resources reported a record number of wolves in the state.
"Seven of them are dead so that's just gone," Jones said. "We just wanted to make sure the live ones out of their misery because they weren't doing very good."
"Distraught," Jones' neighbor Brook Burling described. "You know you don't wanna see animals get hurt,"
If it weren't for Burling, Jones is sure they would have lost more sheep. She and her husband were taking a drive at dusk, when she spotted the predator through her camera lens.

"We stopped, turned off the truck and started looking at it and saw a wolf circling this herd of sheep," she explained.
The scene sticks with her. "I have nothing really against the wolf," she said, "it's a great animal, but there are too many of them and it just sucks."
"I just makes me sad," Jones said. "We raise all these animals from lambs on up..."
According to a USDA representative, since the gray wolf is considered an endangered species, there is no plan in place to manage that population within the state. The family will, however, be reimbursed for the sheep they lost.

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