Besides the supposed red wolf genes in the Galveston coyote population I've not really heard of any wolf sightings since the 80's.

A person I trust swears he saw a grey wolf in Panola County last week. He should know the difference between coyote and wolf. Says it was twice the size of a coyote.

BS or believe him? If it was south or west I'd be more of a believer.

I know folks that hunt all over the State. This is the first wolf tale I've heard.

We talked about that. My guess is a wolf hybrid pet that escaped. He's not convinced.

I saw a huge coyote in 2017 in the Athens area that looked way more like a wolf than it did a coyote.

I sat and watched it through binoculars for a good 5-10 minutes from about 50 yards.

I wont say it's a wolf, but if it didn't have wolf DNA in it I'd be very surprised.

My old boss who also hunts Panola county swears he saw a grey wolf. I'm sure it is some kind of husky or a big coyote.

I'd be more of a believer if they weren't solo sightings. When they show up with a pack I'd take it more serious.

I grew up with a place on the Lake in Panola County. We did see a black bear once on 84. Ursus convinced me it was a Louisiana bear that had been released at the State line and was lost. 1990 or so.

I'm way more likely to believe that

2018 I saw a red wolf on Matagorda island while duck hunting

nealan said:

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We have too many good old boys out with thermals at night and trail cameras up for wolves to be out there cruising around unknown

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Or black panthers

Thaddeus Beauregard said:

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Correct, there are no wild wolves living in Texas, and there is no such creature as the mythical black panther (melanistic mountain lion/cougar/puma). People claim to see a lot of things.

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Nah man! My great uncle knows a game warden that saw a wolf. Unfortunately it got ambushed by a black panther before he could get a good photo.

Thaddeus Beauregard said:

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Correct, there are no wild wolves living in Texas, and there is no such creature as the mythical black panther (melanistic mountain lion/cougar/puma). People claim to see a lot of things.

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Just to be contrary- haven't they proven that there is a not insignificant number of coyotes in SE Texas that are exceptionally large because they carry a large amount of red wolf DNA? If they're hybrids, does that count?

NoahAg said:

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Thaddeus Beauregard said:

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Correct, there are no wild wolves living in Texas, and there is no such creature as the mythical black panther (melanistic mountain lion/cougar/puma). People claim to see a lot of things.

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Nah man! My great uncle knows a game warden that saw a wolf. Unfortunately it got ambushed by a black panther before he could get a good photo.

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I hate it when that happens! I had similar bad luck when I was videoing an alien craft landing in my driveway. I wasn't able to provide the footage to local news cause a Sasquatch ate my cell phone.

I lived and worked in Lajitas for almost 4 years up until recently. Pretty sure I saw a few red wolves there. Way bigger than coyotes

txags92 said:

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ttha_aggie_09 said:

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I have a hard time believing most folks and things they saw when they:

• Cannot tell the difference between a house cat and a mountain lion or "black panther"
• Cannot tell the difference between a 125lb pig and a 300lb pig, usually stating the former as a "monster"
• Will tell you the average Coyote weighs 60-70lbs

Not directed at anyone on this thread, just pointing out how many folks cannot accurately size things we see regularly, e.g. Pigs, yet are "sure" it is a 80-100lb wolf...

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"But I know what I seen!"

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"And I been hunting all my life!"

lknapp said:

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I lived and worked in Lajitas for almost 4 years up until recently. Pretty sure I saw a few red wolves there. Way bigger than coyotes

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Lajitas would be within the historical range of the Mexican grey wolf and not the red wolf. So hypothetically.... on the very slim chance you did see a wolf, it was probably a Mexican grey wolf. However, they do not look similar to coyotes the way red wolves do.

Panola County is well east of the historical Gray Wolf range. A Wild Red Wolf sighting is highly doubtful but a Wild Gray Wolf sighting is not credible.

Gray Wolf Traditional Range Map

P.S. I grew up in Panola County. The wildest most remote area's in Panola County could not conceal a wolf. Unless, Big Foot is keeping one as a pet!

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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I have a hard time believing most folks and things they saw when they:

• Cannot tell the difference between a house cat and a mountain lion or "black panther"
• Cannot tell the difference between a 125lb pig and a 300lb pig, usually stating the former as a "monster"
• Will tell you the average Coyote weighs 60-70lbs

Not directed at anyone on this thread, just pointing out how many folks cannot accurately size things we see regularly, e.g. Pigs, yet are "sure" it is a 80-100lb wolf...

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Have said almost exactly the same thing on all your bullet points, especially the "black panther" sightings. Another one is when people that are not really the outdoors type swear they saw a black bear. It is always at a distance, no binoculars or scope. What they saw was a large hog more likely than not.

As to accurately sizing things, our property is in two counties and the year before the 13" antler restriction went into effect in both counties, on opening day there were two 8 points and one 10 point killed, and the heads were on a low concrete wall at our cleaning station. As people would come to camp, we would get them to guess the width of the three deer. The guesses ranged from 11 or 12 inches up to like 18 inches. And they were only about 10 feet away from the deer heads.

Ears, snout, and gait are the differentiators. Not size.

Link above has legit scientists doubting red wolves were ever a distinct species. Interesting...

Oh I've seen a few wolves .. after a bottle of tequila at deer camp when I was younger all the coyotes become wolves .. coons became black bear .. we saw all kinds of animals