During the months of May and June 2005 the Y Canyon Ranch was under siege by wolves from both the Francisco and Ring pack of "managed" Mexican Gray Wolves. Their experiences document not only how their baby calves and cattle were brutally killed by wolves but how their livestock continued to be harassed by wolves and wolf personnel disorganization and lack of effective action to preventing the destruction the wolves were dishing out on this family.

Their story documents the inability and lack of desire of the Wolf Program mangers to efficiently execute orders to remove problem wolves in order to protect local business, children, pets and livestock. The wolves are also mistreated by the behaviors permitted and thus habitually training them to target cattle for their dinner or killing pleasure.

In late February and March we lost some cows and several calves. Some of the calves were eaten and some were not. Since no wolf people had contacted us we did not know that there were any wolves in the area. Had we known this we would have checked them for wolf kills.

Sometime in the first week of May Donnie saw what he believed to be a wolf fighting with a cow in Collins Park. He went out to the cow and found her dead calf. At this point we have had NOT one email, NOT one phone call and NOT one personal conversation with any wolf people to tell us that we had any wolves near! This calf was NOT confirmed as a wolf kill.

John Oakleaf then came with Alan Tackman to our headquarters following this incident. Donnie requested that the wolf people PLEASE keep the wolfs out of Turkey Park where we had cows calving. He repeated this request at least three times.

Two days later we returned from church and had a message on our phone that the wolf people had hazed the wolves up Elkhorn Canyon!! Elkhorn Canyon saddles over into Turkey Park. So now wolves have been herded into Turkey Park and the cattle are now wolf bait!

We saw a collared wolf at the top of the ridge above Turkey Park. Wolf people had told us that they were camped on Road 141 and to come there if we had any trouble. So we drove there and no one was there. We left a note on the doorstep that the wolf was at Turkey Park and we needed help. Richard Grabbe found the note two days later!!! No one was “monitoring the wolf “ situation! They were not even here!! Where are the hazers that we were told would be here 24/7!!

Two dead calves in Turkey Park CONFIRMED

Tracks and sign of Three wolves

This makes Number 3 and Number 4 confirms on the Francisco Pack

Dan Stark is there and tells us that they will have to go by protocol and that will be lethal. Richard Grabbe said that he could put out traps.

We assume that lethal means DEAD and never to be returned!!!

Richard Grabbe sets traps and did catch the yearling male of the Francisco Pack the next morning. Nick Smith gets to the Grabbe trap before Grabbe gets there. Smith sees the Female and the adult Male and shots AT them and scares them away. This turns out to be VERY COSTLY in terms of the killing of many more cows and calves and it could have been averted at least from this pack.

KOBTV - Feds order lethal hunt for endangered wolf pack.

Three-year-old cow found dead on the ridge above Turkey Park near where we had spotted the wolf on May 9.

Richard Grabbe and Mike Kelly went to the dead cow and saw the battlefield. They agreed that the wolves did kill her but she was too rotten to skin. She was a healthy young cow (two years old). She died at the top of a steep mountain on TOP of a big ROCK. Sick cows do not climb mountains and lay on top of big rocks to die!

She was called a “Probable”

Found another killed calf very near the Probable Cow.

Richard Grabbe, J Brad Miller and Shannon came to confirm this calf and did CONFIRM the kill. They also searched the battlefield. They saw where the cow had given birth and valiantly fought THREE wolves. Wolf hair was on the fence. This mother cow tried to save her baby and her own life and was killed BUT NOT CONFIRMED. This cow was NOT EATEN. Just thrill killing.

News of the day.... “Francisco female has five pups” therefore no lethal take on her!

Another dead calf confirmed in Turkey Park.

NO ACTION

NO dead wolves

NO HAZERS

Just more DEAD CATTLE!

NO TRUTH from the wolf folks

Found another dead calf

Richard Grabbe and J Brad Miller CONFIRMED this kill.

Very sad scene....this poor baby had both ears sliced off and the tail jerked off and then the wolves DID NOT even eat it. They are THRILL KILLERS!

John Oakleaf FINALLY brings us a wolf monitor! We NEEDED this from the very start!

The wolves and the greens have moved the cattle out of Turkey Park. This makes finding the new kills much harder to find as we do not know WHERE the wolves are or WHERE they are killing!

Vandals hit our drinker at the Collins Park windmill! They removed the float, stole the rope off the regulator pipe and drained half the storage tank before we found the trouble.

Found a horned cow babysitting three calves. Her baby had a damaged crooked neck, NO tail and her head was swollen and it could not see! The mother was a tough fighter with those horns and did save the life of the calf. Wolves are not kind!

Wolves do not take Holidays even when the wolf people do.

Found an adult uncollared male (Francisco Pack) in Collins Park chasing cows and calves! This is the WANTED male but we do not have permission to kill. Donnie jumped his horse out and stayed with the wolf while I went to the neighbors to borrow a phone and call for help. Since I did not have the Wolf peoples phone numbers I called Arizona Game and Fish ( the number my neighbor had for “depredations or wolf harassments) I asked for John Oakleaf and the man said he had NEVER heard of him! I asked him to give me the phone number for Richard Grabbe, J Brad Miller, Mike Kelly or John Oakleaf. He finally admitted that he did have the numbers but would not give them out!

Finally called another neighbor and got Oakleaf’s and Grabbe’s number. Requested help ASAP before the wolf killed again. We rode the park the entire day and NEVER saw a ‘Wolf Person”. Oh well, what could we expect from them?

Found another killed cow.......again too rotten to skin....the WOLF WINS AGAIN!

During the day while Donnie was in Collins Park the wolves slipped in and killed a 260-pound calf! We are really sick of this.

NO DEAD WOLVES. ONLY one captured wolf and he will be released somewhere sometime maybe in Mexico only to return to Collins Park to kill again.

Why, why do the ranchers have to FEED the wolves? We did not ask for this job nor do we want it! These wolves are eating everyday therefore they are KILLING everyday.

Still no evidence of getting the wolves out of here.

Request permission from John Oakleaf for Donnie be allowed to kill the Adult Male of the Francisco Pack.

Oakleaf was on the road near the kill site with us at dark. He said the Ring Pack male was on the hill between the Cox Canyon Headquarters and the Collins Park Pen as he drove in to us.

Westbrook’s son found a tight bag cow on the hill between his house and Collins Park pens but could never find the calf! Wolf wins again!

Donnie and I hear a wolf howling in the park!

Richard Grabbe confirmed the calf from yesterday. Ring Pack male was very near the kill site this morning. Found the bite marks from two different wolves. Ring Pack territory....must have been the Ring Pack FEMALE involved also. Wolf people do NOT want to admit that SHE would kill!

Found another killed calf 3/4 mile from the 260 pound calf. CONFIRMED WOLF KILL!! How depressing can it get?

Found a killed cow at Ghost Lake....NOT confirmed even though she was lying with her legs doing the splits!! But she had been dead too long. Wolf WINS again!

Found another DEAD COW. A two-year-old cow dead for too long for a call! Young and healthy cows don’t just drop dead! We just cannot find them as quick as the wolves KILL them! What a day!

Wolf on the private land at the Deadman Ranch stalking man! That really makes us PROUD of the wolves! Everybody needs a few in their private yards!

Found another KILLED baby calf!

Not yet confirmed but we are sure that the wolves got him also! He was 1/2 mile from a confirmed kill of a few days ago and also in the area where the Ring Pack is killing!

WOLF in Collins Park stalking cattle! Chasing calves and looking for his breakfast or maybe just another THRILL KILL!!

I left Donnie to keep him from killing and went to a phone for WOLF PEOPLE help. I should have tried 911. NO HELP! NONE!!! I do believe that it might have been more important to check their empty traps than to try to help a rancher save a cow!!! Why do I even bother to call John Oakleaf when I know that it is useless!

There is no managing, no control, and no wolves being killed. They just capture once in awhile and then make sure that they re-release the KILLER Wolves back so the ranchers can fed them for another year!!

After a LONG day of trying to prevent another dead cow we spot an uncollared wolf (the WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE) crossing the road in front of us!!! How many will he kill tonight and get away with? We do have a lot to look forward to tomorrow! Ring Pack male and female are VERY near their killing field as we finally go home for a little sleep!

Found a calf that was MUTILATED by the Ring Pack male!! The poor baby was still barely alive when Donnie found it!! What heartless people could ever support this? I do Not understand!

Mike Kelly and John Grants CONFIRMED this slaughter as the baby died while we were taking pictures of the CRIME SCENE!!

A volunteer had found the Ring Pack male with a monitor on this very calf between 1 and 2 A.M. The wolf was chased away. It was 10:30 A.M. when the same volunteer was driven by the calf and she did not tell us of the happening until Donnie found the calf. This baby had suffered for every breath of air for 8 1/2 or 9 1/2 hours! How cruel can you get?

We found another cow without her big calf. Another cow was bawling and tight bagged searching for her calf. Too many tight-bagged cows to even think about the losses!

How much longer till these blood thirsty savages are removed? How many will it take to wipe out all the ranchers. So many pups are being raised that I hate to even think of next year. No cattle, no deer and no elk very soon??? That means no hunters for Catron County and soon for New Mexico. What an economical disaster for everyone. Maybe we should raise WOLVES for the city folks and everyone would do well.

Found another killed calf but not enough of it left to confirm a kill.

Rack up another win for the wolf!!

Found remains of a calf and it was the same old story. The wolf had devoured so much of it that there was not enough left for confirmation.

Wolf wins again and again and again!

We learn that the wolf people are going to RELEASE the pack of KILLERS known as the Aspen Pack. This is a pack of FIVE more only twenty miles away from us! So much for the CONTROL.

Donnie found a mother cow mourning beside the leg bone of her baby calf that was killed by the wolves TEN days earlier! This is STRESS on the cattle and it is STRESS on the ranchers!

Since the “GO LETHAL” report that was given to us on May 10 for the Francisco Male, Female and Yearling KILLERS only the yearling has been caught and taken to the refuge! NOTHING else has happened in the way of control, removal, going lethal...... BUT the wolf people have given us a new pack of killing wolfs!

The Ring Pack is KILLING on us. BUT the wolf people have not allowed them to be caught! There is so much activity by too many wolf folks for the Wildlife Services to get their job done! The wolf people interfere on every angle to make sure that the KILLERS are protected.

How many dead carcass have the wolf people removed? How many have the greens removed? How many are out there that we cannot find? How many were completely devoured with nothing to find?

The killing goes on and on. Next year there will be so many more wolves that the cattle will not have a chance. The packs will spill on to private land, private homes, all the campgrounds will be at risk. Children and adults will not be safe in the woods or their own yards. Why? This cannot be for the good of the United States. What are people thinking?

SUMMARY as of June 15

4 KILLED COWS      ONE PROBABLE

11 KILLED CALVES   SEVEN CONFIRMED

1 blind, wounded and without a tail

1 crippled in the foot calf

The wolf people estimate that for every one kill found there are eight not found.

We learn that Rainey Mesa Ranch has a confirmation on a calf killed on them

We hear from the Brandon Jones and Shannon (trapper and volunteer) that they caught a male yearling this morning and they do not know the identity of the wolf. He has a broken leg and he was taken to the vet.

John Oakleaf claims that this is the Francisco Male that has a LETHAL order on him. Since he has no collar we do not know who he is.

Jim Haught has a confirmation on a calf killed on private land on the F Bar D Ranch

We have two tight bag cows bawling for the babies. Go to Slater Pasture and find another tight bag cow and no baby to be found!

People are driving all over the grass in Collins Park in the dark of the night. We are not finding any carcass for several days. Where are the dead bodies? Wolves do not just quit killing.

Had a wolf at our house at 2:30 a.m. Not very comforting!

Monitor is not picking up the Ring Pack male and we MUST know where he is killing. Oakleaf took our monitor to fix it and we requested a better one that will work.

Found a dead cow this afternoon. John Oakleaf said that he would get Richard Grabbe for us. We expect him Monday morning as these cows rot very fast in the heat.

Request the monitor numbers for the Aspen Pack from John Oakleaf. He refused to give them to us! Said that he would if they get on us! From experience that will be after two or more months and many kills before he even tells us that they are here.

Donnie and I drove into Collins Park and found two wolves feasting on a big calf! We had to drive right out to the scene and put the mauled baby in the horse trailer to keep the wolves from eating the whole thing.

We are expecting Richard soon since Oakleaf said he would notify him last night. Donnie decided to drive to their camp with the calf and only found a volunteer further down the rode. Gave him the report and asked for help.

We drove back to the pay phone at Negrito Fire Base and called the Sheriff Cliff Snyder to see if he could get Richard Grabbe by radio. Drove back to the park and Oakleaf showed up and I requested the monitor back from him so we could MAYBE know when the Ring female was near. He checked and said she was near Eagle Peak (the standard answer that he gives us). When the plane flies to locate the wolves Richard ALWAYS says that the Ring Pack Male and Female are up very near Eagle Peak. NEVER once has the plane found either of them in Collins Park!!!

I then took Donnie to Ghost Lake and he started with his horse from that area. He sent me back to the dead cow to check on her baby. We believed that the lone calf we saw near her was still surviving at this time. Our monitor picked up the Ring female and I believed that she was close. Unloaded my horse and rode over the ridge to find a wolf on the scene where the cow was killed.

Called Donnie on the radio and he suggested that I try to keep the wolf in site so Oakleaf could identify the wolf for us

This wolf is very wise and does not want to stick around. I hazed her for 1 1/2 to 2 miles till the wolf went under the Deadman fence only to get away.

I went back to the dead cow to try to locate her baby only to find it dead also! What savages! Three kills within 1/2 mile and within 2 to 3 days time!

Richard Grabbe arrives at 5:45 PM to start the skinning.

The first calf of the morning was CONFIRMED and given to Ring Pack male and Ring Pack Female.

The second calf was CONFIRMED

The cow was CONFIRMED and given to the Ring Pack male and Ring Pack Female.

Should be three strikes on the Ring Female..... oh no!

They call the cow and calf ONE incident so they can protect the Ring female! She has been on the scene killing all along but John Oakleaf will not admit that.

Oakleaf tells Richard Grabbe that he can now kill the Ring Male. Richard believes that if we will pay to put a plane in the air to kill coyotes it will be helpful to try to shoot the Ring Male. Donnie agrees to pay $100 since they have not killed the Francisco Pack of three still. That order was May 10 and no dead wolf as of June 20! Only more DEAD cattle. We NEED this female out of here and need her dead. How much more can we stand?

Donnie gets home after 10 from the late night in the park and he is up at 4:30 for another day of finding dead cattle!

Plane flies at 6 a.m. Cannot find the Ring Male

Plane flies again and still cannot find the Ring Male.

Plane flies again and still cannot find the Ring Male. We hear from a neighbor that they have FINALLY captured the Francisco Female and will try to get her pups. We really did want her DEAD! She was to be shot tomorrow! What a coincidence that they were able to SAVE her life so that she can have more and more pups! She is a big value to the Wolf program and they did not want her dead.

This is NOT good news for the ranchers!

Donnie and I will be finding the kills from her pups sooner than we want to think.

Another frustrating day as we cannot find whatever the wolves have killed this week. Grabbe spotted the Ring Male on the Deadman Ranch in Collins Park but his shots from 450 yards missed.

Met with Richard Grabbe, Mike and Brandon Jones, Mike Kelly at Collins Park. They are using a spotter plane and a helicopter to spot the Ring Female and hoping that she will be showing them the Ring Male. She was near her den site SE of Eagle Peak with pups. After trying by air Richard Grabbe and Kale with Wildlife Services went to the site on the ground. They did spot the male but by that time the air support had already left. The hunt was not successful so they will try again in the morning.

Covered a lot of territory horseback and still could not find any new kills. Five days without a carcass does not make any sense. The wolves are still eating.

Donnie and I went to church this morning and missed the events in Collins Park. Mike Kelly stopped at the church to tell us that he shot the Ring Pack Male from the helicopter. The Ring Female was with him and they were in the park and obviously getting ready to kill more

After church we rode but could not find any new kills. This makes 6 days without a carcass. More new vehicle tracks in the park. We are wondering who is doing this in the dark of the night.

Dan Stark drove into the park with a wolf box in the back of his pickup and I surely hope that he was not bringing us a NEW PRESENT!

Learned today that Richard Grabbe found wolf scat on Road 141 near Negrito Firebase. OH NO! That is Slater Pasture that we hope to move to real soon and we are still having babies!