Fw: Young Family Held Hostage by Mexican Grey Wolf

 

J. Paul Brown

Colorado State Representative

House District 59

State Capitol

200 E. Colfax, Room 271

Denver, Colorado 80203

303-866-2914

 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Caren Cowan <nmcga@nmagriculture.org>
To:
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 12:03 PM
Subject: Young Family Held Hostage by Mexican Grey Wolf

Here's The Moos….               For Immediate Release / December 17, 2011

From the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association

P.O. Box 7517 / Albuquerque, New Mexico 87194

                                          

For further information, contact:  Caren Cowan

505.263.2015 phone / nmcga@nmagriculture.org email

 

Young Family Held Hostage by Mexican Grey Wolf 

Crystal Diamond, who lives on the family ranch near Beaverhead, spent 24 hours indoors with her two daughters, ages two and three, with a collared Mexican Grey Wolf on her front porch and in her yard, before the wolf was controlled by Wildlife Serivces personnel.  (Crystal has written a detailed timeline of events, see below.)

"There is no excuse for putting a young woman and her two small children in such a dangerous situation," said Rex Wilson, New Mexico Cattle Growers Association (NMCGA) President, Carrizozo.  "Our citizens should be able to rely on their government for protection, not be held captive in their homes by a government sponsored predator.  As a father and taxpayer, I am outraged."

According to Diamond, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) personnel were aware that the wolf was in the area, but made the decision not to stay and monitor the situation, Wilson said.  "These people knew the wolf was there, knew that its presence placed families, livestock and pets that could be in danger, yet chose to go home.  Crystal was fortunate that a neighbor came by and helped her with this situation, which easily could have turned into a tragedy."

The NMCGA has long opposed the wolf reintroduction program for many reasons, not the least of which is the burden placed on residents of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.  The New Mexico Game Commission has withdrawn New Mexico's participation in any facet of the program.  Arizona's Game Commission opposes any new wolf releases until proper recovery planning and environmental impact statements are complete.  The rumor is that the White Mountain Apache Tribe has withdrawn their participation, as well.

"The economy of southwestern New Mexico has been decimated, ranching, hunting and outfitting businesses are struggling to survive, people can no longer feel safe in their own homes, and for what?," Wilson asked.  "There is still not a viable population of the Mexican Grey Wolf, and timetable for establishing one.  We need to put an end to this huge waste of time, money and effort now."

-30-

 

 

 

 

 

Collared Wolf at Beaverhead

Crystal Diamond's Encounter

 

Tuesday December 13, 2011

I returned home to Beaverhead after being gone for several days with my 2 young daughters, Cayden (age 3) and Reece (age 2). My husband was away from home and scheduled to return Thursday. On the drive back I had passed my father-in-law who informed me that a wolf had been sighted at our Beaverhead Headquarters earlier that morning in the horse corrals & harassing our peacocks. The wolf had been chased away.

 

Arriving at Beaverhead, I drove up to the main headquarters to speak with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) representatives already there. They stated that they were aware of the wolf sighting and would return in the morning. I drove directly to my home, reversing my truck up to the front porch. I unloaded both of my children from their car seats and placed them on the front porch which runs the entire length of my house. I began unloading groceries and luggage from the bed of my truck walking in and out of the house with the front door wide open. The dogs played rambunctiously around my vehicle and around the yard. I gave little attention to the commotion of the dogs and continued to unload my truck. My daughters were still outside when I walked back out my open front door to see my neighbor speeding up my driveway hollering out his window. He yelled for me to take the girls inside while pointing to the dogs who were roughhousing with a collared wolf no farther than 35 feet from my 2 year old daughter. I grabbed my girls and ran inside slamming the door behind us. My neighbor asked for a rifle to haze the wolf and took off running in its direction. Within minutes I heard a gunshot. I waited about 15 minutes before locking the children in the house and walking up over the hillside to locate my neighbor. I was yelling for him as loud as I could. Topping out over the hill approximately 100 yards from the house - I saw the wolf stopped and staring about 50 yards in front of me. Screaming, I ran as fast as I could back to the house. Apparently, as my neighbor ran up over the hill to haze the wolf she had circled back around, beating him back to the house. It was soon completely dark & we were unable to see any further than the glow of my porch lights. My neighbor instructed me to remain inside the house with my children and dogs and not to open the door at anytime during the night.       

 

My overhead porch light, two motion lights, and a brightly lit holiday porch decoration were left on. Most of the inside lights were on, including our Christmas tree in the front window. Music played as the girls ran around the house up until bath time at 6:30 p.m. I had just placed them in the tub and walked directly to the recliner in the living room just feet from the front window. I was on the telephone when I looked over my shoulder to see the wolf staring back at me . . . her nose pressed against the window pane. I jumped up and stepped away from the window. She remained at the window watching me for just the few seconds before I ran out of the living room into the bathroom where my children were. I called my husband on his cell phone who at this time was on his way home. Throughout the evening my male border collie whimpered at the front door aggressively trying to get out. Both dogs paced the house on high alert all night. At my husband's request, my neighbor returned to my house. He sat on my front porch with nothing but a blanket, camera, & gun in freezing temperatures until midnight when my husband returned home. At that time, they noted all the tracks on and around the front porch and attempted to preserve several tracks by placing bowls and cans over the prints. Preserving all the tracks would be impossible, as fresh snowfall began to cover the ground.

 

Wednesday December 14, 2011

Our neighbor returned to our house around 7:30am. Together with my husband, they went to take photographs of the wolf tracks they'd tried to preserve the night before. New wolf tracks in fresh snow were everywhere - all around the children's play yard in the back of the house, leading up to and on the front porch, in the front yard, and in the driveway. Based of the location of tracks, they determined the wolf spent most of the night within 50 yards of the house.

 

USFWS, Catron County wolf investigator, and Catron County Commissioner all arrived around 8:00am. Using tracking devises, the wolf was determined to be with a quarter mile of the house. I was assured that the wolf would be removed.

 

Pressure from heavier-than-normal vehicle traffic and people on the ground, had pushed her as far as two miles from our house throughout the day.

 

Later that evening, the wolf was returning to our home and was put down by Wildlife Services. She was euthanized on private property 150 yards from my house. I was notified by Wildlife Service Officers that the wolf had been removed and would no longer pose a threat to me or my children. Words cannot express my overwhelming sense relief when I received the news.

 

My daughters and I had literally been held prisoner in our own home for over 24 hours. It's difficult to describe the terror of a predator so fearless and eager to get in my home. My responsibility as a mother is to keep my children safe at all times. For a period of time, that God- Given Right was stripped away. The thought of "what might have been" consumes my every thought.

 

Thank you to USFWS for resolving this issue in a quick and effective manner. Thanks for the swift action of Wildlife Services and the professionalism of their officers. And most of all, thank you to a neighbor who placed the safety of my children above his own. Without his watchful eye, the events of my story may have very easily had an unforgivably tragic ending.

 

 

 

 

 

From: caren.cowan1@gmail.com [mailto:caren.cowan1@gmail.com] On Behalf Of ~Caren Cowan~
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 11:40 AM
To: Caren Cowan
Subject: Fwd: Young Family Held Hostage by Mexican Grey Wolf

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NMWGIPRESS <nmwgipress@nmagriculture.org>
Date: Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 2:51 PM
Subject: Young Family Held Hostage by Mexican Grey Wolf
To: NMWGIPRESS <nmwgipress@nmagriculture.org>

Please see attached press release.

--
Caren Cowan
Publisher
New Mexico Stockman
Livestock Market Digest
505.243.9515 x 21
caren@aaalivestock.com
www.aaalivestock.com