From the Anchorage Daily News.
Romeo was a black wolf that lived near Juneau who loved to play with dogs. (I have written about him here.)
Well, he hasn’t been seen since September, and because he is estimated to be 7 0r 8 years old, he may have died of old age.
Or a neighboring wolf pack has killed him.
Or a bear.
Or maybe it was the former governor.
Or maybe he found a bitch wolf, and they were able to form a pack.
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Well, here’s some footage of Romeo from last winter. He’s hanging out with his Labrador friends.
***
How Romeo came to be so friendly with the local dogs is the subject of several stories. One of which goes that Romeo’s mate was killed by a cab, and Romeo was left on his own. Not seeing other wolves with which he could form a relationship, Romeo began to see out dogs for companionship.
BTW, it has been rumored that Romeo has killed small dogs, and this photo is often offered up as evidence. That’s a pug he’s carrying in his mouth. The truth is the pug was not injured at all. Romeo was just playing. Apparently, someone took their pugs out to the Romeo’s area in hopes of enticing him out for a photo session. Romeo grabbed one pug and ran off with it, but he ran off for only about ten feet before dropping the pug.
One must be careful with large dogs, too, introducing them to small dogs, as they will often kill them in excitement before they have a chance to recognize them as DOGS! I have to be especially careful with my current pack of huskies in this respect–they are so anxious to be the first to grab the fuzzy little thing there is no thought that this could be a member of their own species! So far, tragedy has been averted, but there have been some close calls!
I find that a lot of large dogs don’t recognize small dogs as the same species and vice versa. In some cases, they even have different body languages.
Before I reinforced the front fence small dogs ( a Min Schnauzer, a Dachshund-type mix, a likely Min Poodle and a few others) were able to gain entry on quite a few occasions. My two Huskies were always perfect hosts-even when the small dogs sometimes became aggressive. I’ve never seen any sign that they don’t recognize even the tiniest dog as a fellow dog.
And both my dogs have strong prey drives; they have killed birds, lizards and
bats. An invading cat in the walled-in back yard was once was on the receiving end of a prancing and howling threat display from my female until I gave it the opportunity to escape.
FWIW, my guess is that what you’re describing is a type of same-species aggression.
My golden recognizes small dogs as dogs, although she thinks of them as puppies.
But it may be that dogs that aren’t socialized to them might not understand what they are.
Wolves regularly kill foxes and coyotes, so why should they behave differently to small dogs?
This is from the web, written by ArcticLights2, January 24th, 2010:
“There are strong indications that Romeo was killed sometime between September 18 and September 19 of 2009… most likely in the vicinity of Montana Creek Road. Several illegal traps had been discovered in that same area earlier in the year. There were also signs that people had been discarding game remains in the same with the deliberate intention of drawing animals to that particular spot.
While trapping is legal in some areas of Montana Creek, at the time of Romeo’s disappearance… it would not of been. And, aside from trapping, it’s also possible that Romeo was casually shot by somebody’s whim.
The Romeo support group ‘Friend’s of Romeo” is offering a cash reward ($500 at this point) for any verifiable information concerning Romeo’s current status and probable demise. The person providing the information can remain anonymous, but must be willing to give a deposition if criminal proceedings are indicated, and they wish to claim the reward. Any and all rewards will be paid on a first-come-first-served basis. To restate… the information must be verifiable – not just rumor or speculation.
Any information concerning Romeo can be mailed to friends_of_romeo@live.com“
That’s very likely.
Now, if he were going to kill a dog, he would’ve killed that pug, but I’m sure a lot people assume that he was just like normal wolves– dogs are good to eat. I think that may have led to people wanting to trap him.
Here’s the other photo from that scene, where Romeo drops the pug: http://www.sfgate.com/n/pictures/2007/02/09/wolf12.jpg
This looks like a dog park: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ttmJ_nLqvnA/Rcp-_awGEZI/AAAAAAAAAEI/Wdatq7-LjpE/s400/pug1.jpg
Except that one dog is really big and has a really big head!
I still think that this is the coolest picture ever: http://xe6.xanga.com/c46d86e516d37116966818/z83891898.jpg
Yeah, Romeo steling a princess ;)
And it’s also a very good idea to give 500$ for the one who gives the best wink to resolve the Romeo’s missing.
Pugs are VERY social and playful, so that they can seem to act like “stupidos”. Plus, they cannot actually express aggression at all, not in the canis-way at least.
I red that one in the pic just ran after Romeo, saying: “Again, again!”
There have been some aggressive pugs over here, but that’s not their normal temperament.
That was an awesome video! I can’t believe that a wolf would want to hang out with domestic dogs! And I’m sorry, but when I saw the pic of Romeo with the pug in his mouth, it made me laugh. Although I’m sure that it’s owners didn’t find it too funny at the time!
Thanks for letting me know about this post, Retrieverman. What a beautiful animal Romeo was.