January's Trivia : Wolves in Florida ?

[flcracker]

I am posting this a day early but here is the trivia for January.

 Did you know that there used to be wolves in Florida ? Actualy wolves roamed the whole southeastern part of the U.S.  The Red Wolf . Its range stretched from Texas to Florida and up to the Carolinas .

  The Red Wolf became endangered in the late 1960's and it was believed that only a few dozen were left . All the remaining wolves were caputed in an effort to repopulate them.

 The red wolf is a smaller and a more slender cousin of the gray wolf.The red wolf's coat ranges from cinnamon red, gray to black.
   
  Red wolves are making a comeback. A recovery program has taken the species from extinction in the wild to a restored population of more than 100 in northeastern North Carolina . There is also a program that has a small population on Florida's St. Vincent Island .

  Some folks including myself have claimed to have seen some Red Wolves in the wild in the dense Florida woods. There is a tract of public hunting land in west Florida where there has been numerous sitings. I am pretty sure I saw one last year at the end of hunting season. This thing was way to big to be a coyote and it acted totaly different to be a dog. I have heard some of the oldtimers tell stories of when they were kids and having wolves mess with livestock. Yes , wolves in Florida.

  Hope everyone has a safe new years weekend !

  See ya in 2010 .

  Pete ( flcracker )

[Badger]

I actually saw one of these wolves on the eastern shore of NC about 10 years ago.  It was a mangy looking critter but a wolf non the less. 

[flcracker]

The one I think I saw was very skidish.

[royaltine]

Cool colors on 'em!