A red fox stands in a wooded area with dry grass and leaves on the ground, surrounded by bare trees indicating late autumn or winter; an adult male wears a light gray hoodie with red lettering and blue jeans. 1:45
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How a plywood board set a timber wolf free

John Owens set a trap for coyotes. What he found in it that morning was a big timber wolf, alert and watching every move. more

The wolf lies in the dry grass with his tongue out. "That's a beautiful animal," John says. Then he lays out the whole plan in one line. He's going to get the wolf out of the trap and get him on his way.

A wolf lies on dry grass with his tongue out, looking toward the camera with alert eyes. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
John finds a timber wolf, not a coyote, waiting in his trap that morning.

That's easier said than done. A wolf is much bigger and stronger than a house dog, so the men come ready. One of them fetches a plywood board with a small hole cut in it for the paw, while another tells John it is just a big coyote, nothing to worry about. It's not.

With the board between the men and the wolf, John gets to work on the trap. The board is clumsy to hold. "This is why I should have handles on here," he says. The first try doesn't work, so they go again.

The wolf hardly fights it. He just watches. "He's watching me," John says. "He's totally watching me." A friend stands by in case things go wrong, and John keeps talking to the wolf. "You're all right. Okay, here we go."

The trap opens, and the wolf doesn't wait around. He's up and away the second he is loose, running off into the woods. One joker wrote him up like a pet ad: full-grown husky, not yet house-broken, has a wild side.

A red fox stands in a wooded area with dry grass and leaves on the ground, surrounded by bare trees indicating late autumn or winter; an adult male wears a light gray hoodie with red lettering and blue jeans. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
John Owens set a trap for coyotes.

The board wins its own fans. One viewer figured it worked ten times faster than the catch poles some rescuers use. Another had a single note for next time. Add the handles.

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