Wolves in Colorado

NASA

NASA

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Wolves continue moving into Colorado from the north and the south and the Colorado Division of Wildlife has taken steps to protect them.

Wolves found north of I-70 are listed as “Threatened”. Wolves found south of I-70 are listed as “Endangered” and have the complete, more restrictive protection of the ESA.

This weekend, that protection didn’t help much. A gray wolf that was born in Yellowstone Park in 2002 was hit by a car near Idaho Springs. The female wolf had managed to travel 490 miles from its birthplace. The collared wolf was spotted a few weeks earlier near Yampa and reported to DOW, but was not located until found as roadkill. Now it hasn't been determined if this is to be reported as an endangered species roadkill or a threatened species roadkill. The dead wolf was found in the center divider of the I-70.
 
NASA,

Do you have any idea how long wolves have been in the area south of I-70. To be specific, west of Colorado Springs to Park County.

Thanks,
MaBell
 
Well, without doing some research, I'd have to say about 2001. Probably a few years earlier, but 2001 was when CO realized they had gray wolves in the Rockies again and began monitoring them. The wolves in the southern part of the Rockies are most likely transients from 1998 release programs in AZ and NM.

The CO-DOW set up research stations, public awareness programs, sighting report forms, etc. The bunny-huggers like Wolf Recovery Foundation, CO Defenders of Wildlife, and the Predator Conservation Alliance, all jumped on the bandwagon too.
 
Thanks for the reply NASA,,, I live in this area and in the late 90's I was calling an area that I had never called before. I've been calling sence I was 14. It was late in the evening and I setup backed into some timber over looking a couple of draws that emptied into prime coyote country. The conditions were perfect and I waited a short time before starting the calling even though it was getting very late. After the first sequence of calls there was a very low howl that started back in the timber. As near as I could tell, it was about 1/2 a mile or a little more from my position. I've spent my 57yrs. in coyote country, from Texas, Oklahoma, to Colorado, most of it very rural. I have never heard a coyote that sounded like this. I could detect at least two voices, and maybe three. I sat tight for about 10 min. and then thought of something I had to do at home. I was there alone and was not sure what I was getting myself into, the light was fading fast.
I had heard wolves in northen Minnisota, and that is the sound I heard that day.
When I talked to the Dept. of Wildlife they would not even intertain the idea that it was wolves.
Of course they wouldn't admit there were grizzlies still in Colorado either.

Thanks Again,
MaBell
 
Well, that would make the timing just about correct. I'll bet the hair on the back of your neck was straight up, lol! Those southern wolves are the Mexican Gray. I wonder what will happen when the Yellowstone Grays moving down from the North meet up with the Mexican Grays moving up from the South? The I-70 corridor could become another Alamo! :eek:
 
Thanks NASA,

And your right about the hair on the back of my neck. In fact there was something deep down in side of me that kept screaming "RUUUUN" in my ear. :eek:

MaBell
 
Here's one Thomas & Ma Bell,

I personally have never believed there is any kind of way we'd know whether or not the wolves ever left?!?! Man, there's an awful of terrain and timber of nothing but un-roaded wilderness. Even on those hundreds of thousands of undisturbed acres that have a few roads here and there does not nessessarily mean that wolves would be sighted there. I suppose there is a more scientific method of determining that there are no wolves. But how?

There could very well be native lynx, grizzlies, wolverines, and even jack-a-lopes still living in the wilds of CO that never left. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Even our "endangered" black-tailed prairie dog has recovered from being nearly extinct. LOL All the biologists had to do was look around a little harder.
 
NASA, a Gray Wolf is a Gray Wolf is it not? I mean there is only two kinds of wolf in N America, Gray and Red. The Gray Wolf ( Timber Wolf ) and the Mexican Gray wolf Im sure well get along just fine when they meet, except maybe for a language problem lol.
 
I have seen five separate wolves and wolf/dogs in and around the Truckee CA area. Three are purebred wolves (one female and two males) that escaped from one person who was keeping a total of four. They are almost all black with some brown mixed in. Two of these wolves killed a coyote in the back yard of a residence in Truckee about two and a half years back, not long after they escaped. They also killed most of the squirels, chipmunks, and stray cats and dogs around the neighborhood where they escaped.

One is a large Wolf/dog mix that escaped from a car involved in a traffic accident in which the owner was killed. Before he escaped for good, he would get loose and terrorize picknickers in the regional park.

One is a very old wolf or wolf/dog that I have only seen on one occasion at night about a year ago. He was a very impressive animal weighing in excess of 120 lbs. He was very gray around the muzzle and walked like he had bad hips.

I have seen the wolf/dog that escaped from the car wreck several times and as recently as last week at about 10pm headed into Donner State Park.

So far there has been no human interaction but the three purebred wolves run together and I have seen them in three locations in about a 15 mile triangle around Truckee. They are extremly people shy. The wolf/dog crossbreads are less so.

We don't have any cattle operations within about 30 miles so there is no commercial damage yet. Its pretty amazing what's lerking in the woods out there that 98% of the people in town arn't even aware of. I've seen these animals a total of about 10 time in the last three years. Eight of those times were in residential areas.

Truckeedan
 
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