Rumors of wolves have some in Colorado howling

The news had scarcely gotten out that a western Colorado rancher suspected he had wolves on his land when the phone started ringing at state wildlife offices. "Get rid of them, and do it quietly," one caller said. "You need to make sure no one is trying to shoot these wolves," another offered. No one has confirmed yet whether a pack of wolves has taken up residence at the High Lonesome Ranch in De Beque, nearly 200 miles west of Denver, but even the prospect has created a stir in a state that hasn't seen a regular wolf population in 70 years. Wildlife officials say both sides are reacting prematurely to a claim that could prove groundless. Wolves were exterminated from Colorado by the 1940s, although in recent years, lone wolves occasionally have forayed into the state from the Northern Rockies. Two years ago, High Lonesome Ranch owner Paul R. Vahldiek Jr. hired biologists to survey his land for, among other things, evidence of decline in aspen stands. What they found was evidence of what he believes to be more than one wolf: droppings, sightings and howls...read more