We heard the call of the wild

Few if any animals arouse such passion as wolves. 

No one understands this better than wildlife biologist Diane Boyd, who came to Montana from Minnesota in 1979 and started with one collared wolf in the North Fork. After decades in the field and watching the gray wolf population rebound, she retired and wrote the memoir “A Woman Among Wolves.”

At her talk Jan. 18, which launched the 24th annual John White Series at the Northwest Montana History Museum, Boyd traced both the trajectory of her career and wolves’ history in North America. 

Hobbling in on crutches because of a fractured tibia plateau (from a collision with an Australian shepherd), Boyd settled in on a chair and started with some truths and falsehoods. 

“Wolves were not brought down here by humans; they were not reintroduced — I was there,” she said. “They walked down from Canada.” She mentioned one wolf that ranged more than 550 miles as evidence of the animals’ ability to travel. 

Observing that wolves enjoyed a lot of cover in the Flathead, and “old hippies” left them alone in the 1980s, she said, “Those early days were marvelous. We'd wade through icy streams and snow. We wanted to follow, not push, them.” 

The animals, once killed off in 98% of their range, now number about 3,000, a comeback that Boyd is quick to ascribe to wolves themselves, proof of their resilience and cleverness. Those shuddering about the fact that they’re here again in larger numbers can take heart in Boyd’s findings about predation. 

Wolves are not to blame generally for moose mortality; most moose die because of a tick or a carotid artery worm. As for elk, a Bitterroot study found that mountain lions caused most elk mortality. We have two to three times as many mountain lions as wolves. 

Then there’s livestock, the hot-button topic. Boyd said of the 2.16 million cattle and 185,000 sheep in Montana, 61 were lost to wolves in 2025, or .0026 percent. “It’s really small,” Boyd said, “but if it’s your livestock, it’s important.” The state's Livestock Loss Board reimburses for livestock killed by wolves. 

To those who wonder if wolves kill people, Boyd found that we are more likely to die from a vending machine falling on us. 

“We have the ability, the tools and the intellect to do better” with wolves, Boyd said. For instance, USDA researchers last year used drones and thermal cameras in Oregon and California to spot wolves among cattle. If a wolf was present, the drone’s loudspeakers played sounds, such as fireworks or AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” to scare it away.  

Wolves must be Oz-rock fans because of all the sounds played, it was the sound of a human voice yelling that worked best, in this case a clip of a couple arguing in the film “Marriage Story.” 

In the last dozen-plus years, attitudes toward wolves have softened in a West that used to see wolves solely as an enemy, according to a study released in December. The sellout crowd for Boyd’s talk showed Northwest Montanans’ curiosity. 

During the Q&A, an audience member asked Boyd, “Can you howl for us?”  

She put the mic down first. 

Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.