Monday, April 14, 2008

Wolves in the woods?


Any of you Out There readers ever encounter a wolf or a wolf hybrid while hiking or biking in the area?

Check out Gaz reporter Scott Rappold's story about locals' worries about a wolf hybrid pack roaming the hills.

(That's a DOW photo of a gray wolf. Wouldn't want to meet him, hungry, on a trail at dawn.)

11 comments:

ej said...

we live near and have hiked and snowshoed blodgett open space 2 to 3 times a week for over 8 years and have encountered no hybrids as described.

Teleken said...

I think these people might be loco. According to the news story 4people have sighted this "pack" and two of them are a husband & wife. The man said he knows people who are now carrying guns. WTF? There is little chance of being attacked by a wolf pack let alone a hybrid.

ej said...

l follow tracks while snowshoeing on blodgett but they look like fox and are single tracks and not packs. we will watch out for these weapon carrying "human hybrids" instead.

Dena Rosenberry said...

It's curious to me we don't have reports from more people, considering how many folks hike around here. Ask a group about bears and mountain lions and you'll find someone who's seen tracks or the animals themselves. I haven't heard anyone mention wolves or hybrids till this story.

Anonymous said...

My wife teaches at the school mentioned in the article. When I ask her about the sightings she said it was the first time she's heard about it. Never seen a thing. What they do have is a ton of mountain lions in the area dropping deer parts.

Now that being said, up here in Woodland Park I've heard the rumor of a wolf / wolf-hybrid pack turned loose during the Hayman for years. I also heard from a reputable source that there was truth to the rumor, but as far as anyone knew, the animals had all been caught.

But I wouldn't be too surprised if someone produced proof. Hell no one ever thought we'd see a moose down in the Fountain Creek drainage either.

Anonymous said...

I guess those folks haven't heard the story about crying "Hybrid!"

Anonymous said...

LOL

Brian T said...

I live on the AFA, and about a year ago, my wife came home late one night from work, around 11:30, and saw what she thought was one outside our house. There was snow on the ground, and the next day there were some rather large tracks outside our house in the direction it ran off. Larger than a coyote or normal dog. I wish I had taken a picture, but alas...

We both grew up in the country and have seen plenty of coyotes. I asked her, and showed her pics of wolves. She said it was much larger than a coyote. A few months later I asked the DOW officer on base, and he said there were no wolves in the area. Some of the old timers in monument claim to have seen wolves a long time ago up there.

Also someone I work with who is brand new to the area claims to have seen one just recenlty, maybe about two days before this article came out.

Anonymous said...

THinking of AFA, I saw five wild turkeys in Ute Valley Park a week ago. I'd only ever seen them up by the USAFA O-Club and down by the zoo. These wild animals, man, you just can't control 'em. They're everywhere you want to be.

Anonymous said...

Saw a small deer hoof and partial leg at Red Rock Open Space on Sunday (4/27) What's roaming that area?

Dena Rosenberry said...

Likely a mountain lion, don't you think? They're certainly in the forest above and on Section 16 and Intemann trails and in Manitou and Garden of the Gods, so it stands to reason they'd be prowling Red Rock.