There are wolves on the east coast.

Less now, since we just passed one, dead on the side of the road.

Jaden saw, but I was on the lookout for black bears, gazing out the passenger window. He didn’t say anything when he saw it. As if miles between us and the dead wolf made it easier to say out loud.

“It was…gruesome,” he said, finally.

Still, I wished he had pointed out the wolf, no matter how grotesque the sight may be. I wish we had pulled over. Stopped to see. Dare I say- touch the magnificent creature? Pay the wolf some kind of respect, I dunno. I wish we could have placed a flower at his feet. Said goodbye. Gave him an apology on behalf of our species.

Little dead red wolf, I am so sorry. Humans are out of control, I know. I’m sorry they bulldozed your home. I’m sorry my ancestors shot yours. I apologize for the one who sped through you. It’s not enough, I know. Goodbye, little red wolf.

North Carolina is home to the only red wolves left in existence. Red wolves used to roam up and down the east coast, some as far west as Texas. They didn’t just disappear, they were systematically wiped out with guns and hunting competitions. Why?

Because men are afraid of wolves. They only learned to love livestock.

There are only twenty red wolves alive in the wild, living out their days on the Albemarle Peninsula. Down from 2012, when there were 120 red wolves in the wild and several success packs reintroduced.

There are nineteen now, evidenced by the one we passed laying lifeless on the side of the road. Cast aside next to the empty Gatorade bottles and cans of Coca-Cola. Assumed that someone else will pick it up later.

The wolf had a name.

Muppet was only two years old, following the footsteps of his father,who was hit by a vehicle on the same stretch of road.

So, eighteen are left in the wild.

There’s a wildlife drive through the red wolves territory. “Road” and “Wildlife Refuge” don’t belong in the same sentence. Yet, there we were driving through with our eyes peeled and our nose pressed up against the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wild world we wonder about so often.

The red wolves share their habitat with gators- big ones. We saw one with its huge head poking up out of the water. Aptly named the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge, these gators are the furthest north alligators go, at least for now. I suspect their territory may creep more north as the climate changes again and again.

The red wolves were declared extinct in the wild by 1980. When the Endangered Species Act of 1973 became law, Fish & Wildlife employees captured the remaining red wolves and brought them into captivity in attempt to save them. They discovered very few true red wolves, learning that the red wolves were breeding with coyotes to stay alive.

Now this is where it gets sticky. The Red Wolf Recovery Program has done some incredible work to keep this species from extinction, and cares for more than 200 red wolves in captivity in North Carolina.

One way they are attempting to save the red wolves is by sterilizing the coyotes in the region so the red wolves can’t mate with them.

Is it just me- or is that the kind of thinking that got Voldemort into some trouble?

Decide for yourself by learning more about the red wolves in North Carolina by following the links below.

Learn more…

• North Carolina Wildlife Federation has a lot of great facts and information about red wolves
• Donate here to help the Red Wolf Recovery build a wildlife bridge so less wolves are killed by traffic
• Red Wolf Recovery Program information and history here.