After spotting a wolf harassing his horses early Wednesday, a Ferndale-area livestock owner shot and killed the animal.

He later discovered that it was a domesticated wolf that had escaped from a nearby kennel.

Andy Stewart said his dogs started making a ruckus at about 1 a.m. He went outside with a shotgun to investigate, seeing a canine trot off into the timber.

“I figured it might be a wolf,” he said.

Because he had sheep that are about to lamb, he stayed up to make sure they wouldn’t be threatened. The wolf returned again and was chased off by his dogs before he had a chance to shoot.

At about 4 a.m., the wolf returned again, and this time Stewart found it chasing one of his four horses.

“He was right on the heels of one horse,” Stewart said. “I had to drop the flashlight. I shot once and didn’t know if I hit him. He went behind a burn pile and I shot again and thought I hit him.”

He did hit the mostly white male wolf, and after finishing it off he contacted Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Warden Chuck Bartos responded and determined that the animal fit the description of a wolf that escaped from the property of a woman who raises pure-bred wolves about five miles away.

She was contacted and later confirmed that it was her animal.

Bartos said there have been previous incidents of animals escaping from the woman’s property. The woman is licensed by Fish, Wildlife and Parks to raise wolves and her place is regularly inspected, he added.

It wouldn’t have made a difference under Montana law if the wolf had been wild.

“He was within his rights either way,” Bartos said of Stewart. “It was harassing his livestock and he did what any rancher would, I think.”