In fact it drives him so nuts that he can't seem to keep from breaking that sacred rule of not lifeguarding at another agency's swimming pool. At this point it's easy to imagine that Fish and Wildlife might be at least tempted to drag their feet over this issue simply because of what they see as Phillips' growing heavy-handedness. Maybe some of it has to do with the fact that Mike is the new kid on the block. And in a field where the territory of biologists tends to be every bit as guarded as that of the wolves they study, there are times when nothing is less welcome than another charismatic alpha male. Despite bad feelings the players in both agencies are well aware that the clock is ticking, that the debate needs to be resolved because there's a fine line they'll soon cross when it'll be more and more difficult to round up pups.
Young wolves get smart awfully fast.
There's no getting around the fact that the bigger these pups get, the harder they'll be to catch. Canadian wolf in transport crate, bound for Yellowstone in January, 1995. A couple of those people I talk to, though, seem to be wrestling with a disturbing, even haunting question. Clearly there are those among the recovery team, including Mike Phillips, who think these two would have probably denned on Mount Maurice anyway, a notion based on the fact that signals from both wolves were heard there during earlier flyovers. Yet returning to Yellowstone, even very late in the game, wouldn't have been out of the question.