Wolves in Northern New Mexico
Jon Meinecke
While backpacking in the Cruces Basin Wilderness last year, we heard
what we believe were wolves in the distance. The sound was an eerie
yipping, crying, echoing in the valley. It was unlike coyote howls and
sounded
like at least a pack of four animals.
This was our first trip to the Cruces Basin area. We've never heard
wolves before in other parts of the Carson National Forest where we
have hiked and camped many times.
A quick search of the web did not turn up any references to common wolf
range in this area. It seems too far north for native or reintroduced
Mexican
wolves. It seems too far south for gray wolves.
So what did we hear?
Jon Meinecke
Pat O'Connell
Coyotes--they howl too.
--
Pat O'Connell
Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints,
Kill nothing but vandals...
Jon Meinecke
Pat O'Connell wrote in message <3599B140...@nmia.com>...
>Jon Meinecke wrote:
>>
>> While backpacking in the Cruces Basin Wilderness last year, we heard
>> what we believe were wolves in the distance. The sound was an eerie
>> yipping, crying, echoing in the valley. It was unlike coyote howls and
>> sounded
>> like at least a pack of four animals.
>>
>> [...]
>> So what did we hear?
>
>Coyotes--they howl too.
We had considered whether what we heard might have been
coyotes. They didn't sound like coyotes we've heard before,
but it is entirely possible that they were coyotes.
Are coyotes common in the mountains of northern New Mexico
and southern Colorado? This was our first trip to Cruces Basin
which is just south of Colorado in north central New Mexico.
The area is 9000-10,000 in elevation with wide valley meadows
northwest of Taos. We've never heard wolves or coyotes
in the many times we've camped elsewhere in the Carson
National Forest southeast of Taos.
Recently, I heard the exact same characteristic yipping/crying
on a PBS wildlife show on wolves. There was no sustained howl.
We first heard the sound at about 3:00 am, in the Lagunitas
campground. I awakened thinking at first that one of the
children was crying. It took a few moments to wake up
enough to realize that the sound was an animal call from
some distance away. We heard it again an hour or so later.
The next day we backpacked into the wilderness and set up
camp by the middle of the afternoon. Just before dusk, we heard
the pack yipping/crying again. This was 6 miles or more from
the campground. It was impossible to tell exactly which direction
the sound was coming from or how far they were away. Sadly, we
didn't hear them again.
We saw lots of evidence of wildlife,-- deer and bear scat and tracks.
Two of the group saw a bear running into the trees across the stream
and perhaps 100 yards away when we hiked up the valley from our
base camp. We didn't see any scat or tracks which we could identify
as coyote or wolf.
Jon Meinecke
randall j lantz
On Wed, 1 Jul 1998, Jon Meinecke wrote:
<<First message about "was it coyotes or wolves" snipped>>
<<reply that it was coyotes snipped>>
>
> Are coyotes common in the mountains of northern New Mexico
> and southern Colorado? This was our first trip to Cruces Basin
> which is just south of Colorado in north central New Mexico.
> The area is 9000-10,000 in elevation with wide valley meadows
> northwest of Taos. We've never heard wolves or coyotes
> in the many times we've camped elsewhere in the Carson
> National Forest southeast of Taos.
What you heard were coyotes. There are no known wolves in that area.
Coyotes are common in the entirety of Colorado and New Mexico. You can
hear them almost every evening on the west mesa of Albuquerque.
>
> Recently, I heard the exact same characteristic yipping/crying
> on a PBS wildlife show on wolves. There was no sustained howl.
>
<<description of hearing sound snipped>>
>
> We saw lots of evidence of wildlife,-- deer and bear scat and tracks.
> Two of the group saw a bear running into the trees across the stream
> and perhaps 100 yards away when we hiked up the valley from our
> base camp. We didn't see any scat or tracks which we could identify
> as coyote or wolf.
>
> Jon Meinecke
>
There is a lot of wildlife in this area. Plenty of elk, deer, and smaller
game. Some bears, too, has you have seen first hand. I like hiking this
area in the fall because of the aspen and the elk herds. There have been
some reports of people claiming to have seen moose. New Mexico state game
officials have speculated that there could be moose in the area because
the state of Colorado has reintroduced moose to the San Juan mountains.
Officials believe that some of these moose could easily have migrated
south into New Mexico. There have also been reports of moose in the Taos
area.
But the only canide species in the area are supposed to be coyotes. I've
heard coyotes make all sorts of strange sounds. So, while what you heard
may not have been the "classic" sound of a coyote, it could well have been
made by a coyote.
With any luck, the Mexican Gray wolves reintroduced in the Apache National
Forest in March will migrate into the northern New Mexico mountains. But
it will take them some time to do that, I think. The release site is a
good 200 miles from Cruces Basin Wilderness.
Happy Hiking!
Randy
Albuquerque, New Mexico
57bo...@gmail.com
hlil...@juno.com
> Well we just shot an elk in Area 52 on Olguin Mesa (near Cruces Basin) and a grey wolf was stalking the group of elk. It was a wolf, not a coyote. There is no doubt!
pretty sure I saw on on the north side of Mt Hood a few months ago. I had my
camera but he wasn't interested in posing for a picture.
pga...@chamaschools.org
> Well we just shot an elk in Area 52 on Olguin Mesa (near Cruces Basin) and a grey wolf was stalking the group of elk. It was a wolf, not a coyote. There is no doubt!