Anglo-Saxon wolf-hunt from Thomas Miller’s 1859 novel The British Wolf-Hunters. Submitted

This edition features an article found on page 7 of the March 26, 1896, RANGELEY LAKES newspaper. It shares an anecdote on the status of the panther and the wolf in New England at the time. Wolves were despised and feared by New England’s early settlers. They were hunted and poisoned at every opportunity well into the late 19th century. Among the earliest laws enacted by the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, was to provide for a bounty on wolves. The Pilgrims from ‘Ye Olde England’ carried with them a deep pre-existing loathing for wolves which resulted in killing every last one in the British Isles (see image). The new world’s mountain lions were demonized as well.

Please note the reference to the bounty on a wolf paid in Maine in 1895. This far surpasses Massachusetts’ last known wolf bounty in 1840. Maine IF&W still gets a few reports of encounters every year, all discounted, however. Who knows… some say that both species may already be here, but until solid evidence is discovered, the official word is, that despite Maine being part of their original range, they are extirpated.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Snap Shots in Time.

(Contemporary commentary found in italics).

Wolves in the Eastern States

[Reprinted in the RANGELEY LAKES from ‘Shooting and Fishing’]

From time to time, with considerable frequency, reports of the presence of wolves in some of the eastern states appear in newspapers, and one might believe that there are many of these animals still in existence within the territory named. Unreliable guides and woodsmen are mainly responsible for the reports, according to our observations, and the incautious news gatherer speedily disseminates these reports. There seems to be an idea existing in the minds of some guides that if they report the noting of wolf tracks, or perhaps tell of seeing a band of wolves, they will secure a great reputation as a keen and mighty woodsman. The habitat of our big game greatly interests us, and for many years we have sought to gather such information as we could on this subject. Many times, we have endeavored to verify statements as to the presence of wolves in the eastern states, but with disappointing results. We find far more reliable data by referring to the office of the State Treasurer, from whence the bounties for the killing of such animals are usually paid. The report of the State Treasurer of Maine for 1895 shows that there was one wolf killed in the State during that year, for which a bounty was paid. This single specimen was killed at Andover and is said to be the only wolf killed in Maine for many years. Possibly there may be a straggling specimen killed some time in the future, but from the trustworthy sources from which we have gathered information on this subject, we are led to believe that the wolf is practically extinct in the New England states. The New York Herald, in a long article dealing with the game of Maine, maintains that the old-time enemies of the deer, wolves and panthers, are again working into the State, and that they may again become a source of much danger to antlered game. We do not believe that there is much basis for the anxiety expressed by the Herald in this matter. The State is more thoroughly hunted now than it ever was before and if there were wolves and panthers in numbers sufficient to cause much damage among the large game, the hunters would know something about it. As it is, it is very seldom that any hunter reports seeing a wolf, much less a panther, and as for the killing of one of these animals the occurrence is rare indeed. — Waterville Mail.

Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife used to have the Wolf and Mountain Lion pictured on their “Mammals of Maine” poster, with both having the term “extirpated’ in parenthesis under the image. But no more. The new full color poster, which is beautiful, no longer features either. Have a great week and feel safe from wolves and catamounts as you venture outside to create your own Rangeley history!