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  1. #1
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    Default Wolves in Virginia?

    As I was hiking last month north of Reed's Gap (just south of SNP) I saw what I thought at first was a coyote. It was about 30 feet away and just stood and stared at me. I then noticed it didn't have coyote ears but more like wolf ears. It had pale eyes and a reddish gray coat. It didn't seem to be afraid of me till I yelled at it and it loped away. Have there been any reports of wolves around there?
    I love the smell of esbit in the morning!

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  3. #3
    Registered User vamelungeon's Avatar
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    If there's a wolf here, someone set it loose. There were wolves here at one time but not in 150 years or so, maybe longer. Could it have been feral Husky?

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    Registered User Ol Mole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lugnut View Post
    As I was hiking last month north of Reed's Gap (just south of SNP) I saw what I thought at first was a coyote. It was about 30 feet away and just stood and stared at me. I then noticed it didn't have coyote ears but more like wolf ears. It had pale eyes and a reddish gray coat. It didn't seem to be afraid of me till I yelled at it and it loped away. Have there been any reports of wolves around there?
    My wife and I saw a wolf matching your description last year in the same area. We were a bit south of Reed's Gap on the Parkway and were stopped beside the road. We watched him cross in front of us, view time was about 30 seconds.

    The campground host at Rocky Know has also seen a wolf south of Roanoke. Their policy is to say that they do not exist.
    Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Gen 13:17

  5. #5
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    I've seen a sighting in Shenandoah - many, many years ago. But a few months ago I did see a coyote by the Skyline Drive.







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  6. #6
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    http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/jas/w...wolfprint2.pdf

    Grain of salt. One site I saw said coyote tracks were only 2 1/2" long. So I want to know where the track pics are.

    Another site I saw had a good profile. I have seen big, chunky coyotes, but not like that, and the muzzle shape! Having never seen one in the woods, I'd like to!

  7. #7
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    I assure you that you saw either a coyote or a hybrid wolf, the latter of which that has escaped its owner. I have a pack of coyotes living in a field and woods behind my residence and they are very large compared to a western coyote, which by the way I have been fooled into thinking was a wolf when first spotted in Yellowstone. I have seen the Yellowstone wolf pack also. The coyotes here are red to gray in colo, with a full coat and I would estimate weighing around 80 lbs. I also own a German shepherd that was a stray that is part wolf. Also we have a wolf habitat nearby and I am often there on weekends photographing them as a hobby. They can be mistaken for each other, even by one familar with both species.

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    We have a lot of coyotes around here and this didn't look like one of those. Could have been a cross, or feral husky I suppose. But considering there have been other reports it could have really been a wolf!
    I love the smell of esbit in the morning!

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    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    We discussed the Eastern Coyote, March of last year on WB, I generally when hiking make very little noise and travel alone. I walk right into them on the trail. My experience was on Hawk Mountain Northern lookout near Dan's Pulpit two years ago.

    Further reading.

    http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...4013&pp=12&n=1

    I first became aware by articles in the 1990's when Cape May NJ started loosing pets to the Eastern Coyotes.
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

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    Pretty close to what I saw except the ears were shorter and the head was wider between the eyes and base of the ears.
    I love the smell of esbit in the morning!

  11. #11
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    in june, i packed out of rockfish gap SOBO up out of mill creek and paul wolf shelter to a nice overlook called glass hollow. right as the sun was going down and i was settling into camp & getting my fire going, what sounded like fifteen coyotes about two hundred yards down the ridge started their evening howls. it scared the bejesus out of my, as i had never heard them before, though i had read they're in the area. at that moment, instictivley, a few seconds into their concert, i growled and barked and used my stovepot top against a rock to startle them. they shut up as fast as they started, and i did not hear a peep the rest of the night.
    def coyote you saw, keep close eye on ground in area for their scat. its hairy- the telltail sign.

  12. #12
    Registered User World-Wide's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lugnut View Post
    As I was hiking last month north of Reed's Gap (just south of SNP) I saw what I thought at first was a coyote. It was about 30 feet away and just stood and stared at me. I then noticed it didn't have coyote ears but more like wolf ears. It had pale eyes and a reddish gray coat. It didn't seem to be afraid of me till I yelled at it and it loped away. Have there been any reports of wolves around there?
    Could have been a Red Malamute that got away from its owner?? W-W


  13. #13

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    A Red Wolf, perhaps? They have been reintroduced in North Carolina. It's possible they have migrated north.

  14. #14
    Registered User Big Dawg's Avatar
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    I saw a Wolf in Damascus one time,,,, lonely scruffy lookin fella.

  15. #15
    Registered User World-Wide's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big Dawg View Post
    I saw a Wolf in Damascus one time,,,, lonely scruffy lookin fella.
    LMAO....new to the site, but starting to catch on to the humor amongst the veterans' on WB!! Not talking about LW are you?? W-W

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by chazmo View Post
    A Red Wolf, perhaps? They have been reintroduced in North Carolina. It's possible they have migrated north.
    Nope. The only Red Wolves in the wild in NC are on an island off the coast. They are most certainly no wild Grey Wolves in VA. Unless they escaped captivity, that is.
    'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by MOWGLI View Post
    Nope. The only Red Wolves in the wild in NC are on an island off the coast. They are most certainly no wild Grey Wolves in VA. Unless they escaped captivity, that is.
    Mowgli, we've got them both in MS. I've seen them. Why are you so sure they could have not migrated to NC? Just curious.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by leeki pole View Post
    Why are you so sure they could have not migrated to NC? Just curious.
    Roads (habitat fragmentation), hybridization with coyotes, parvo virus, to name three reasons.

    Both what? Both species of wolves? In MS? I'd love to see some documentation of that.
    'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~

  19. #19
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    Default Wolves in Virginia

    Yes, we have them. However, they are more commonly known as and referred to as Real Estate Developers.
    "Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour

  20. #20

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    Per US Fish and Wildlife:

    Gray Wolf: http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/p...on?spcode=A00D

    And per NPCA:

    Red Wolf: http://www.npca.org/wildlife_protect...s/redwolf.html

    I couldn't find anything about gray wolves being in the southeast. Red wolves are on islands in MS and NC.


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