I think it is a good idea to name the various wolf packs in the county so we can keep track of them individually. The problem is that sometimes the name does not fit the pack too well.

Take for instance the Imnaha pack. My spell-check keeps suggesting I replace Imnaha with Omaha. First of all Imnaha is hard to pronounce for people out of county, secondly, most people cant find it, thirdly, the misnamed Imnaha pack spends most of its time around Kinney lake, the east moraine and on Feb. 1 in my yard on Alder Slope. Kevin McCadden also had them in his yard the same night. He is about two miles from my place.

Members of this pack have also been spotted north of Enterprise. Since they have pretty much surrounded this valley and are over 30 miles from Imnaha, I think we should change the name of the pack to something that would more accurately describe the pack and their central location. After much consideration and a wonderful suggestion from a local rancher I would like to suggest that we rename the Imnaha pack to the Joseph Elementary School Playground pack. My reasoning is that this is a location more central to the current home range of the pack and is a location that is well known to all county residents. It is about two miles from their latest sheep kill on the east moraine, seven miles from Kinney Lake, eight miles from my place and five miles from McCaddens. It is 30-odd miles to Imnaha and I dont think they are located in that area very often.

I realize that Joseph Elementary School Playground is a somewhat long and cumbersome name but could be shortened to the acronym JESP.

While we are at it we should consider calling OR-4 Charlie or Manson. Charlie Manson and his pack were serial killers that ran up a pretty good score of kills in California several years ago. OR-4 and his pack have far surpassed Charles Mansons and Ted Bundys score combined.

Seriously though, when you discover big wolf tracks in your yard just 13 yards from your house it is worrisome. The tracks started about a quarter-mile down Lime Quarry Road at McEwans yard, came down my driveway about a quarter-mile and then explored around the yard. It then went across the pasture toward my neighbors new calves and my neighbor John Williams sheep. I think it was his second visit because two nights before the dogs that were locked in the shop went wild about something near 2 a.m. There was no fresh snow and I could find no tracks the next morning.

I am grateful to Marlyn Riggs for coming up and confirming that the tracks Feb. 1 were in fact wolves. He will be greatly missed. I called Todd Nash to let him know about the tracks and he asked ODFW to come up and confirm but as far as I know they passed on that idea.

Any time a top-end predator becomes confident enough to invade ranch yards and approach buildings as close as these tracks showed, it is time to modify the wolf plan to include something that will discourage this boldness.

As a precaution I now keep an eye on my wife when she takes out the garbage or feeds the horses.

I asked my wife which of the five senses go bad the soonest. She replied that in my case it was my sense of decency.

Open Range columnist Barrie Qualle is a working cowboy in Wallowa County.