In fall 2007, I was camped near Luna Lake in Arizona. I awoke to howling around midnight. Three animals, two together one apart (distant) were talking to each other west of me, maybe within 3 miles or so (hard to say). I heard them continue to howl to each other as they moved closer to my site and the third animal eventually the joined the first two, then they swung south of my campsite. It was the most special night ever. I was pretty sure it was wolves I'd heard, but called the MW Inter-agency FIeld Office in the morning and asked about wolf locations. The last spotting of the Hawk's Nest pack had indeed been 10 to 15 miles west of my campsite the day before. There is still a Hawk's Nest Pack out there, but it is different animals. The ones I heard, the male and female would not breed so the management removed them, I think, and replaced them with breeders.
Those wolves had better stay in Arizona. If they cross the line those Catron County, NM, redneck ranchers will shoot 'em. The Gila Wilderness is excellent wolf (and grizzly bear) habitat but the ranchers think they "own" the national forests they let their cows trash.
Such a beautiful animal.
In fall 2007, I was camped near Luna Lake in Arizona. I awoke to howling around midnight. Three animals, two together one apart (distant) were talking to each other west of me, maybe within 3 miles or so (hard to say). I heard them continue to howl to each other as they moved closer to my site and the third animal eventually the joined the first two, then they swung south of my campsite. It was the most special night ever. I was pretty sure it was wolves I'd heard, but called the MW Inter-agency FIeld Office in the morning and asked about wolf locations. The last spotting of the Hawk's Nest pack had indeed been 10 to 15 miles west of my campsite the day before. There is still a Hawk's Nest Pack out there, but it is different animals. The ones I heard, the male and female would not breed so the management removed them, I think, and replaced them with breeders.
This site has some great information about this animal and the recovery effort: http://www.mexicanwolves.org/. They are also on twitter as @mexicanwolves and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mexican-gray-wolves/74849366944?ref=ts. If you want to see a range map showing pack distributions, Arizona Game and Fish Dept publishes this every three months, here's the most recent: http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/documents/QuarterlyWolfLocationMapBRWRA10-0…
Those wolves had better stay in Arizona. If they cross the line those Catron County, NM, redneck ranchers will shoot 'em. The Gila Wilderness is excellent wolf (and grizzly bear) habitat but the ranchers think they "own" the national forests they let their cows trash.