There are a few thousand eastern wolves – a slightly smaller relative of the gray wolf – in Ontario and Quebec. DNA analysis of scat found in northern Maine near Canada shows that at least one of them has crossed the border, making it the first documented case of that species in the U.S. Whether any friends joined it, or whether its still here, is unclear.
Maine Public Radio has a story here.
Many people would like to see wolves return to the Great North Woods because alpha predators are important for an ecosystem. Many others would not like to see them return because – well, because they’re wolves. “Cry of the Wild” and all that.
To anticipate excited reaction from the big cat crowd, don’t say “Wolves are here so mountain lions must be, too!” The two species migrate in very different ways (female mountain lions don’t like to travel far to set up new dens but female wolves will cover long distances – literally thousands of miles in some documented cases – to find a mate.)
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I think this is great news. Wolves are a big part of the ecosystem and will help decrease numbers of deer population down to safe numbers. Deer can get diseases and die from them. I think if we educate people now the wolves chances of survival will be great. Education is key and understanding the wolves important role in nature is where we should start. Teach to coexist and we could save the wolf for many generations to come..
I am a resident of Lebanon Maine and I believe I just witnessed the howl of a wolf. It certainly was not a coyote or fox.
If it was high pitched it was more likely a fox or coyote wolf’s have a lower tone not sure which one you heard but I’m happy that maine is getting back to old times we messed up not the wild we need to work with it
If I see a wolf in Maine I’ll shoot it dead. And then leave it to rot as a warning to other wolves.
We’re all very impressed, I’m sure.
How sad. What on earth has a wold ever done to you. They are afraid of people and avoid them. Why not educate yourself on wolves. Ste=art with Rick McIntyre’s book The Reign of Wolf 21. I’ll bet you’ll go on thread the other 3 he has written about Yellowstone wolves. He has studied them there for many years, every since they were reintroduced in 1995-1996.
In the summer of 1999 coming back from Acadia we saw a large grey wolf along the wood line and I reported it to state police. It was large and grey brown. I have seen wolves so I know OT was one.
I recently visited the Rocky Mountains and a Wolf sanctuary in Colorado near Denver, and all the wolves they were awesome, at one point after the tour we got a one on one with Kekoa a bachelor of the pack and he was very friendly. It’s extra to be in the enclosure with him, he’s the oldest and largest of the pack. I believe they said they have been around for 16 years. The disturbing news I recently read is that the Governor of Idaho wants to decrease the current population of wolves from 1,500 to 150. To bad there wasn’t enough concerned people to relocate a few dozen wolves to a isolated area in Maine or establish a Wolf sanctuary there.