It has been nearly two months since U.S. District Judge Donald Malloy heard arguments from wolf advocate groups, the federal government the states and sportsmen on whether to issue a temporary restraining order to stop wolf delisting.

The groups who filed the lawsuit seeking to reverse the March decision to remove wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains from the federal endangered species list thought that they would get an answer a lot sooner than this.

We can infer that because Molloy has not yet ruled he did not consider the current management an immediate threat. The higher than normal wolf mortalities this spring did not prompt Molloy to shut things down to allow people to catch their breath.

In that May hearing, Molloy demonstrated he didn’t like Wyoming’s two-tone management scheme, which includes a predatory zone where a wolf can be shot on sight any time by any one.

He asked attorneys what they though of him leaving delisting in place in some states and enjoining it in others. Earthjustice attorney Doug Honnold did not encourage him. But Montana clearly wanted to be taken out of the case, arguing that the issues raised in Wyoming and even Idaho weren’t issues there.

But if he really saw this predatory zone as an immediate threat it’s likely he would have ruled already since it has a potential of being a wolf black hole: wolves walk in but they don’t walk out.

So now the next major threat is hunting season. If Molloy is going to issue a restraining order he would likely do it before hunting season.

Wolf advocates don’t like the idea that Idaho could kill off half its wolves this year under its plan. But experts are doubtful hunters and ranchers will kill many wolves since the animals will disappear once the shooting starts. The other two states' hunting seasons are relatively conservative.

When many of the same groups asked Molloy to halt grizzly bear delisting in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem he refused. The issue is still in court but the states remain fully in charge of the grizzlies outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Each week Molloy goes without ruling, the more likely he will do the same in the wolf case as well.