Wolf attacks baby mule
By Tom Jackson King, Managing Editor
A three-month-old mule offspring of a mare was badly cut up in an attack
by a wolf on a corral full of livestock on Upper Eagle Creek, near the
home of Ed and Edie Fitch, on July 14.
Edie Fitch told The Copper Era “the baby mule . . . got cut up as a result
of a wolf trying to attack her and her mother in a small pen at our house.
“Our dogs were barking violently from their houses and the other horses
were pretty rattled, so my husband walked down to the barn to check things
out. He saw a wolf chasing around the pair and yelled to get it out of
there,” she said.
“As a result of the wolf chasing them around the pen, the baby cut her
face really bad trying to escape. This is our third major encounter of
wolves at our house since they released them,” Fitch said.
The mare, Lady, sustained a slash to her right rear hindquarters while
Bonnie, the baby mule, sustained deep lacerations to her forehead, nose
and lower neck. A photograph provided by the Fitches show the wounds to
both animals.
Edie Fitch said after they reported the attack to U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service a government trapper came down from Springerville, set out traps
July 16, then collected them July 19.
The Fitches reside on Upper Eagle Creek near Honeymoon Campground, in the
Apache National Forest. The area is north of Clifton, the county seat for
Greenlee County.
USFWS Wolf Program Manager Brian Kelly told the Era he was aware of the
report and that a worker from Wildlife Services went to Eagle Creek to
investigate.
“It didn’t have a collar on. We don’t know if it’s a wolf or a hybrid or a
coyote,” Kelly said. “We need to resolve if it was our animal. We want to
be helpful if there are wolves down there without a radio collar.”
Kelly said someone from Fish and Wildlife would contact the Fitches and
interview them on what they saw Sunday evening. “I’m not saying they’re
not wolves. We need to get the information to know what is the truth
here,” he said.
The reported wolf attack on the Fitch baby mule appears to be the third
attack on horses or mules in Greenlee County in the last two years.
On April 14, 2000, near Rose Peak about 22 miles north of Clifton, rancher
Dean Warren reported he was attacked by Pipestem Pack alpha female wolf
518 as he rode his horse along a mountain trail, in company with his dog,
which he relies on to herd cattle.
The alpha female led an aggressive attack on Warren and his horse, jumping
up onto the front quarters of the horse, snapping at Warren and prompting
him to shoot off .22 rifle rounds until he ran out of bullets. Warren
retreated to the cabin’s barn, where he was encircled by wolf pack members
as he called the Greenlee County Sheriff’s Office for assistance. His dog
was badly bitten by the wolves.
The attack by Pipestem Pack wolves was later verified by U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service spokesman Tom Bauer.
On Sept. 25, 2001, at least one wolf from the Cienega Pack entered a
corral attached to a barn, not far from a house at Hanagan Meadow Lodge on
U.S. Highway 191, in Greenlee County and Apache National Forest, where it
attacked a seven-year old quarterhorse.
The horse, Joe, had its throat ripped open in the wolf attack.
Horse owner Joe Garrett, who with his wife Trixie ran Pioneer Stable trail
rides out of Hanagan Meadows, said when he checked the corral, “Joe, the
gelding, was standing away from us with his head down. When we checked him
out we noticed his throat had been bit. We could see fang marks on the
throat and there was saliva around the wound.”
The attack on the Garrett horse was later accepted by U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service as a “probable” wolf attack.
Kelly, when asked last fall whether the fact that presently released
Mexican gray wolves are captive-bred might make them more daring in
approaching areas where people are present, said it was possible.
“Maybe the wolf was in the corral because it was a little less fearful of
people. Maybe our wolves in this first generation are a little more bold
in being around a horse. But most of the wolves out there most of the time
are captive-born but they’re not being seen by people,” Kelly said about
the Hannagan Meadows attack.
In the Hannagan Meadow wolf attack and in wolf attacks on livestock such
as cattle, sheep and dogs, the environmental group Defenders of Wildlife
has shown up and provided compensation to livestock owners for the vet
bills or economic loss of the killed animal.
The Era was unable to determine if Defenders of Wildlife had contacted the
Fitches about their wolf attack incident.