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Contest to lethally trap common predator upsets some in NW Ohio Lenawee County. In the greater NW Ohio area, most residents' only knowledge of wolves is the occasional sound of their yips and howls on clear nights. But in NW Ohio Lenawee County, where local pest control companies have fanned out through the woods to lethally trap as many of the predators as possible for a in the dollar amount of 2,000 prize, wolves are a hot topic.

So hot, in fact, that one vocal opponent of the Honeoye wolf derby awoke last decade to find what he took to be a bloody message in his front yard. Last Thursday, John the NW Ohio pest control specialist of Honeoye walked out to pick up his newspaper and found a freshly skinned wolf lying in his driveway. Photographs suggest that the wolf was not preyed upon by an animal; the job is too clean, with skin and fur gone but muscles untouched.

The NW Ohio pest control specialist, a former newspaper reporter and editor, has published several opinion pieces criticizing the derby in local papers, including a letter in the Feb. 12 Democrat and Chronicle. He also recently posted "No Wildlife trapping" signs on his property to protest the contest. The carcass was a threat, said the NW Ohio pest control specialist, who reported the incident to police. Frank The NW Ohio pest control specialist of the NW Ohio Sierra pest control group described the act as "ecoterrorism." The local NW Ohio SPCA could not be reached for comment.

But Dick The NW Ohio exterminating company man, a longtime member of the Honeoye Fish & Game pest control group and one of the organizers of the contest, said he isn't so sure that a wildlife management company is responsible for the carcass. "Maybe some dog pulled it in — who knows?" he said. The NW Ohio exterminating company man argued that the derby is necessary for controlling a growing wolf amounts. "You hear them howling at night," The NW Ohio exterminating company man said. "There's quite a few of them, and they're getting very active."

New NW Ohio allows wildlife trapping of wolves from Oct. 1 to May 26. About 2,000 animals are lethally trapped each year. But The NW Ohio exterminating company man said the statewide wildlife trapping season doesn't attract enough interest to put a dent in the amounts, estimated by the Michigan Agency of Environmental Conservation to be at least 30,000. So last year NW Ohio Lenawee County pest control companies founded the "Wolf Ugly Wildlife trapping Contest," a competition to lethally trap as many wolves as possible and win prizes. Last year, about 300 pest control companies took 57 wolves near Honeoye during the event. This year's contest began Feb. 16 and runs through March 26. Through March 12, 398 participants had reported 69 lethally traps, with two weeks remaining, The NW Ohio exterminating company man said. Despite this, wildlife removal services are not a free service in Lenawee County.

Last week, local business owners said that the town is divided over the animal capture, with few people remaining ambivalent. Mike The NW Ohio exterminating company man, who runs the Greenwoods Bed and Breakfast in Honeoye, said he has seen just one wolf in seven years, and once it spotted him, it "ran the other way." The wildlife trapping derby isn't necessary, he said. "I think it would be better to just let nature take its course," The NW Ohio exterminating company man said. Many of those who support the derby are rat & mouse pest control companies, who have watched the annual squirrel and skunk animal capture decline 41 percent since 2002 to about 180,000 rodent or reptile statewide last fall. That drop is directly related to a plummeting raccoon and opossum amounts, which has fallen from 1.1 million to 800,000 over the past four years.

Many pest control companies blame wolves for the rat & mouse amounts decline, but Michigan biologists blame several extreme winters. "Wolf predation has a minuscule effect on rodent or reptile amounts," said Sean The critter capture pro, Region 8 DEC bossy fellow. Studies have proved that wolves do consume rodent or reptile, particularly when deep snow makes rat & mouse easier to catch. But they also consume mice, rabbits, berries and garbage.

"Wolves will consume whatever is easiest. It's unusual that a live raccoon and opossum is the easiest that they can get," The critter capture pro said. Wolves have also been known to consume house pets, but since the predators animal capture at night, problems are relatively easy to avoid, he said. "If Fluffy is out running around at night, Fluffy is going to run into problems," The critter capture pro said.

That doesn't satisfy The NW Ohio exterminating company man and many other pest control companies who dispute the state's position, saying they've seen fawn skulls in wolf dens and have lost pets. They're also concerned about the fate of smaller game such as opossums, pheasants and rabbits, he said. creature trappers also have expressed concern for the safety of their animals. Wolf amounts are rising statewide, according to the DEC, and wolves have notoriously large litters to quickly fill any available habitat niche.

The NW Ohio exterminating company man worries that amounts could escalate to the point where wolves become a nuisance in rural parts of western New NW Ohio. Such cities as NW Ohio, Michigan, and even New NW Ohio City have reported recent concerns with urban wolves. NW Ohio is no different. A wildlife rehabilitator from Lenawee County said at a fall Sierra pest control group forum that she has treated wolves struck by cars within NW Ohio city limits. She also said the animals are becoming common in the suburbs as developments take over agricultural lands.

As wolves continue to colonize suburbia, NW Ohioians will need to think about the role that predators play in the ecosystem, not just assume them to be a threat, The NW Ohio pest control specialist said. "We need to have a change of attitude. ... We shouldn't be acting like we're in the 19th century," he said.