wolf sighting?

[edhomenick]

On the North Trail toward Giant Mountain (trail #111), about 1/2 mile past the bridge over Slide Brook (about 1.6 or so miles from the trail head) I spotte a dark black animal crossing the trail and then the stream. I thought immediately that it was a bear cub. I have seen several bear cubs hiking the Adk's and Catskills. I realized quickly It was not a bear, even though I kept telling myself that it was, after all, what else is all black? I then notice the long body and long tail. I then thought "fox" but I don't believe there are any black foxes, and besides, this was too big (I was thinking all of this in a matter of a few seconds). I watched it slink along the underbrush for at least 50 yards before I lost it. It was hurring to get away from me, but it did not go into a full run. It was very smooth walking. I am quite sure that it was not a dog. I never saw the head, but the size of it and the tail were like a wolf. Although I am not certain about it, what else could it be? I went on line and see that there may be a few wolves in the northeast. If any one has any opinion or believes that they have seen one, I'd be interested in hearing about it. I must say that I was very excited after thinking that I spotted one. I did mark the area with GPS unit if anyone is interested. I spent almost a year in Alaska in the arctic and never saw a wolf there, but here I am in the Adk's and ???

PS I also thought that this could be a coyote but never heard of a black coyote. I have received two e-mails since posting this on the trail conditions for NY which said that black coyotes exist. I suppose that sighting a black coyote and a wolf in the Adirondacks would be equally rare?

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

I wasn't there, so I can't say for sure, but I think it is very unlikely you saw a wolf. They are extinct in New York and New England. I'm aware there have been unsuccessful attempts to reintroduce them into New York and New Hamshire, apparently the public is generally against that idea.

While a black coyote is a possibility, I think a gray fox is more likely. Under the cover of the forest canopy the gray fox can appear nearly black. I've seen gray foxes that were the size of a medium sized dog.

Note: Some "experts" believe the eastern coyote is actually a cross between a western coyote and a red wolf. This would explain the larger size of the eastern species.

Photos of Black Coyote

We also have gray foxes in the Northeast

Eastern Timber Wolf

 

[Dugan]

It's my understanding that both black wolves and black coyotes are fairly rare. Also, has NH_Mtn_Hiker says, a wolf sighting would be extremely unusual in the northeast.

My guess would be a coy-dog, which is a coyote-dog cross or mix. Adding a dog's genes to the mix would probably increase the possibility of black. I can't speak for the 'dacks, but according to a few dog officers I know, many of the "coyote" sightings here in MA are actually coy-dogs.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

On the subject of coy-dogs

Coy-dogs aren't as common as you might think.

Coyotes do not readily mate with dogs for different reasons. The female coyote is highly selective in her choice of mate, for he plays a role in the rearing of the young. Nevertheless, dogs have been known to crossbreed spontaneously with wild coyotes in areas where Canis latrans is indigenous. However, without the help of a mate, the odds of her successfully raising pups would be greatly reduced.

Even if a litter of coy-dogs is successfully reared by the mother alone, these hybrids must later face still-greater obstacles when seeking mates for themselves. Coyotes, both male and female, can breed only in late winter. Male dogs, of course, are ready to mate throughout the year; thus, no barrier exists to a first-time coyote-dog match. But the offspring of such a union, the coy-dog, inherits an annual breeding pattern from it's wild parent with one hitch. Both male and female coy-dogs come into oestrus in the fall, three to four months earlier than do pureblood coyotes. Thus, they can never mate back to the wild side of their family, a fact that prevents mongrelization of the species Canis latrans.

The mongrel generation does, of course have the option of finding mates from among other coy-dogs or of pairing back to domestic dogs. But given the untimeliness of it's period of oestrus, any issue born to it must meet life during the harshest time of year, in midwinter, and the prospects of such an unfortunate litter surviving under wild conditions are poor indeed. To compound the handicap, studies show that coy-dog males take after the domestic-side of their family in that they do not assist in the rearing of the young. It is doubtful, therefore, that a coy-dog female can, by herself, find sufficient food during the winter months to nurse and feed a litter. For these reasons, it is unlikely that a race of wild coy-dogs has arisen or ever will arise to plague worried citizens who claim this has already happened.

Excerpt from Hope Rydens book God's Dog

 

[sardog1]

I wouldn't necessarily dismiss the possibility of a wolf out of hand. Wolves have spread amazingly well in MN for example. Thirty years of protection has enabled them to expand out of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness all the way south to the outskirts of the Twin Cities (about 130-150 miles as the raven flies.)

If you have a chance to go back to the scene, try to get photos and/or measurements of tracks. A wolf has an enormous forepaw compared to a dog of the same stature. If you find any scat, I'd collect it and find someone knowledgeable to have it analyzed.

I'd appreciate a PM with the coordinates if you have the time. Thanks.

 

[Doc McPeak]

I watched it slink along the underbrush for at least 50 yards before I lost it. It was hurring to get away from me, but it did not go into a full run. It was very smooth walking. I am quite sure that it was not a dog. I never saw the head, but the size of it and the tail were like a wolf. Although I am not certain about it, what else could it be?

It could be, and most likely was, a fisher. They are usually all black. They slink, and are very smooth and quick. And they are good sized. I saw one this spring and would have written the exact same synopsis as you did. I did see the head, as it turned to check me out. Sure enough, it was a weasel. So, most likely you saw the largest member of the weasel family.

As for wolf, there was one confirmed "lone wolf" shot and killed in the southern ADKS last year. It was a grey, and the first confirmed since the extinction. I've heard first hand accounts of sightings, so they are there. But wild, or "re-introduced from the private sector" is anybody's guess. Just like the half dozen cougar sightings that I've heard from reliable sources. And the lynx sighting in the sewards recently. Think of how many moose there are now. There has to be members of the predatory sect, they are just very elusive.

 

[steppinwolf]

On the North Trail toward Giant Mountain (trail #111), about 1/2 mile past the bridge over Slide Brook (about 1.6 or so miles from the trail head) I spotte a dark black animal crossing the trail and then the stream.

About 15 years ago, I was driving between Long Lake and Tupper Lake and a slick black animal darted across the road about 50 yards in front of me in the snow. It took me by surprise and all I noticed was that it was black, extremely fast, graceful, and bigger than a large dog...only it didn't look like anything from the canine family. To me it looked like one of those rumored black panthers you hear about once in a while. When I got to Tupper Lake, I stopped and excitedly reported it to the State Police and asked the trooper if he'd report it to the DEC. All he did was tell me what I saw was probably a fisher. It wasn't any fisher, unless the thing was on growth hormones.

 

[Maddy]

Several years back I was in a remote area of VT in early spring. I was alone with my 2yr old Akita. We crossed a stream and I as I looked up I saw what I believe to be a wolf. He had emerged from dense woods, came to a dead stop, looked at us, and took off like a jet. I had just unleashed my dog and she immediately took off after it. I feared I would never see her again. Approximately 10 minutes later Kita returned alone unscathed. IMO this animal wanted nothing to do with the two of us!
I called a ranger and reported it but was told there were no wolves in VT.
I later had an opportunity to speak with some wolf "experts" who do research, recovery, education, etc from out west. I related the siting to them in detail, and it was their belief that it was very possible that this was a lone wolf come down from up North and that I had been very fortunate to see this. It happened so fast and he was gone in the blink of an eye. I was so happy to hear someone take me seriously and not just blow it off like it was just another coyote. I have seen many of those but never thought they were wolves.
I have a large framed picture over my desk of a wolf who looks very identical to what I saw that day.
Each time I look up at that picture I am in awe of what I saw and will never forget it. I can still see it as it it happened yesterday.

 

[mavs00]

As I wasn't with you, I certainly cannot come to any reasonable conclusion to what YOU saw.

However, I do want to back up something that Doc said. All to often, people (esp. the Authorities) seem quick to say, "Couldn't have" or "No way" when it comes to these type of sightings. They often are likely correct, but you can totally dimiss them out of hand.

For example, here are a few items of interest (IMO).

• There was a US Fish & Wildlife Dept. confirmed (via DNA) Gray Wolf killed in Day, NY, which is in the Adirondacks (about 65 miles south of where your sighting was). It was taken in December, 2001, but widely reported in 2004. It was only the second confirmed Gray Wolf found (in the wild) in the Northeastern US in the last 100 years. It's possible that it came from known populations that exsist in Quebec only a few hundred miles away. (details).
  
• While there are many "unconfirmed" sightings each year, there is one "confirmed" cougar report accepted by NYSDEC (According to Eastern Cougar Net). It occured in October 1993, and coincidently, it was outside Keene Valley (within 5 miles of your 'wolf sighting'). Here's a copy of the official -DEC memo- about the incident.
  
• On a more personal (but less exciting) note - Recently, while bushwhacking in the Sentinal Range, I (and a few others) beleived we saw some pretty good evidence of Moose. It was only droppings, but it seemed to us to be WAY to large for deer (-reference-). Most of the literature I've seen states that Moose, while present further south, have not yet migrated as far north as the High Peaks. I disagree based on the above. I've heard of other sightings as well.

My whole point is that there is a real lot that we obviously DON'T KNOW about the presence of particular wildlife in different regions. So it's quite possible (even if unlikely) that you saw what you thought you did. As someone already said, where ever there are large "prey animals", larger "preditory" ones will generally follow.

Interesting discussion

 

[Doc McPeak]

... Most of the literature I've seen states that Moose, while present further south, have not yet migrated as far north as the High Peaks. I disagree based on the above. I've heard of other sightings as well.

Tony Solomon and his carload were stopped dead in their tracks on Blue Ridge road two weeks ago by a huge Bull Moose. There have been sightings right amongst the Tahawus buildings as well. Also, many sightings in the hunting clubs below Tahawus. I would love to get a shot of one wandering through old Adirondac. Hopefully I'll see one next week in NH.

 

[Waumbek]

Coy-wolves

The subject of coyotes who are looking more and more like wolves came up in a previous thread and the Caledonian Record carried this article on "coy-wolves" on July 2, 2005:

Eastern Coyotes Are Becoming Coywolves
Biological Investigators Discover Wolf Ancestry
By DAVID ZIMMERMAN, News Correspondent
- A handsome, stuffed, wild canine presides over the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife's conference room on Portland Street in St. Johnsbury.
Shot in Glover in 1998 by Eric Potter, the animal, a male, is a puzzler. With its gray, tan, black, and beige pelage, it looks like a coyote. But, as Fish and Wildlife biologist Thomas Decker points out, it weighed 72 pounds at death, and it's built like a wolf.
"It's smaller than a wolf, and larger than a coyote," Decker said. "It's a hybrid" - a cross - "between a large, eastern coyote and a wolf."
He said the animal's ancestry was confirmed by genetic testing. What it is not, he said, is a cross with a domestic dog. In fact, none of the coyotes tested in New England in recent years have turned out to carry dog genes, Decker said.
In New Hampshire, Eric Orf, a biologist with the state Fish and Game Department, agrees with Decker, saying it is "wrong" to call the animals "coydogs," because they have no dog DNA.
The "coywolf" is thus becoming a poster animal for issues that biologists, farmers, and sportsmen are trying to sort out: What are the "coyotes" now seen or killed in the Kingdom? And where do they come from?
For answers, researchers are turning more and more to genetic studies, called DNA profiles. The answers that geneticists come up with will help shape wildlife management plans - and may be decisive in the question as to whether wolves should be reintroduced in New England.
In point of fact, as hybrids, wolves already are here.
Several years ago, for example, Donald "Rocky" Larocque of Lyndonville, who is a mechanic for the St. Johnsbury highway department, was hunting deer in East Barnet. It was late in the season - Thanksgiving, he recalled in a phone interview - and late in the day he encountered a large "coyote" and shot it.
The animal, a female, weighed about 60 pounds, and appeared heavyset, more like a wolf than a coyote. Larocque said he showed it to Rodney Zwick, a professor at Lyndon State College, who was impressed enough to send the animal to a biologist in Kansas. Its DNA was tested, and it was "part wolf," Larocque said.
Based on DNA tests, a picture is emerging on the relationship of coyotes and other wild canines in the Northeast, although the history is still quite fuzzy.
In the Colonial era, there were few if any coyotes in New England. Wolves were here. But, strangely, because there are so few ancient wolf specimens still around in museums, DNA research to determine what kind of wolves they were cannot be done, according to a pair of biologists, Paul J. Wilson, a DNA profiler at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, and Walter J. Jakubas, a biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The scant evidence, according to Jakubas, suggests they were not "timber wolves," or gray wolves (Canis lupus), as northern and western wolves now are called. Rather, he said they appear to have been similar to the red wolves (Canis rufus) found in Canada's Algonquin Provincial Park north of Toronto. Red wolves are also in the southeastern U.S., where a captive breeding project has been started to save them from extinction.
The settlement of New England destroyed or drove off the resident wolves, according to the scenario developed by Jakubas and Wilson. In the last century, they speculate, coyotes replaced wolves, filling their empty biological niche. The researchers said coyotes appear much abler than wolves to live among people.
What is unclear, is where the coyotes came from. "We don't know," Decker said.
Eastern coyotes are larger and heavier at 32 to 38 pounds than western coyotes at 22 to 30 pounds.
The diet of eastern coyotes includes white-tailed deer, while western coyotes feed mostly on rabbits and small game. The coyote in the Fish and Wildlife conference room had four pounds of deer meat in his belly when he died. But, aside from diet, part of the reason for the eastern coyotes' larger size may be hybridization with wolves.
The Fish and Wildlife specimen and Rocky Larocque's animal certainly have wolf genes. More tellingly, a study by Wilson and Jakubas shows that of 100 coyotes collected in Maine, 22 had half or more wolf ancestry - and one was 89 percent wolf. Over half of the specimens had eastern coyote ancestry, but only 4 percent were mostly descended from western coyotes (Canis latrans).
"The [introduction] of eastern Canadian wolf genes into eastwardly expanding coyotes could have provided a composite genome [Canis latrans X lycaon] that facilitated selection of animals with a larger body size ... that may be more adept at preying on deer than smaller western coyotes," Wilson and Jakubas report in their study. The study, co-written with Shevenell Mullen of the University of Maine, is awaiting publication.
In plain language, Wilson said his work suggests the large, eastern coyotes in Canada are hybrids of the smaller western coyotes and wolves that met and mated decades ago as the coyotes moved toward New England from their earlier western ranges. The animals, he said, may become amplified in size by further crossings between the now-larger eastern coyotes and Canadian wolves.
Vermont's Tom Decker said he wants to see more evidence published to support that view. However, he said, collecting evidence is difficult since no systematic genetic sampling of the state's coyotes has been done.
The gaps may soon be filled. Biologist Roland Kays, who is curator of the New York State Museum in Albany, said he and his associates are planning a major investigation to supplement the study by Wilson and Jakubas of coyotes from Maine. Their work "opens up a lot of new questions," Kays said.
Between 100 and 1,000 animals from throughout New York and New England will need to be studied to sort out their backgrounds, he said. Kays and his associates would like to get samples, particularly whole animals, along with information on where they were from. He can be reached for further information at 518-486-2005.
The outcome of further studies could discourage wildlife officials and conservationists who have talked about reintroducing wolves to the Northeast, Decker said. The usual goal of reintroduction efforts is to preserve true species, not create more hybrids.
The other side of the reintroduction coin is that hybrids may be better suited than purebred wolves to survive in 21st century New England.
"Once you get that coyote-and-wolf hybrid," Paul Wilson said, "it is a very adaptable animal."