Old Moon, January Moon, Wolf Moon … and wolves in Michigan

January full moon, photo by KatheD

Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.
~Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Speaking of wolves and January, last month the US Fish & Wildlife Service removed wolves in the western Great Lakes region from the federal endangered species list. Wolves are now managed by states in the region and the ruling takes effect on Friday, January, 2012. A release from the Michigan DNR about wolf de-listing says:

Returning wolves to state management will allow the DNR to more effectively manage the species under Michigan’s highly regarded Wolf Management Plan, which was created through a roundtable process involving interested parties representing viewpoints from all sides of the wolf issue.

“This is great news for the state’s wolf population and for Michigan citizens who have been affected by this issue,” said DNR Director Rodney Stokes. “Treating wolves as an endangered species, when the population has exceeded federal recovery goals in Michigan for more than a decade, has negatively impacted public opinion in areas of Michigan where wolves are established on the landscape. I firmly believe that the more flexible management options allowed under the state’s Wolf Management Plan will help increase social acceptance of the species while maintaining a healthy, sustainable wolf population.”

…After the wolf is taken off the federal endangered species list, the animal will remain a protected species in Michigan. There is no public hunting or trapping of wolves allowed in Michigan. The DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will investigate and continue vigorous prosecution of any wolf poaching cases..

You can find a lot more from the Western Great Lakes Wolf page, and the Michigan DNR’s Wolves in Michigan section has the Wolf Management Plan and a lot of information about the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus). Also see The Timber Wolf (canis lupus) in Michigan on Michigan in Pictures.

Check this out on black and this and another view in her winter slideshow.