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An Ode to Journey (OR7): Don't Stop Believing

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18 May 2012, 5:23 PM

Kari Birdseye

An Ode to Journey (OR7): Don't Stop Believing

California's only "official" gray wolf runs with the coyotes

OR7, well camouflaged.
(Richard Shinn / DFG)

Oh, Journey, we know you are lonely. We know you have been searching for that special girl, maybe even from California. The search has been long—months long. We know you broke the pack rules, crossed the state of Oregon and then the California state border looking for love and made national news doing it.

But recent reports say you’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd. They say you’ve traded in your lone wolf status and are hanging with … the coyotes.

I know they are fun. I hear them often, laughing and carrying on all hours of the night. But, Journey, you are not going to find that special gal hanging with those California cavorters. If you aren’t careful and officials see hybrid babies of yours and one of those coyotes, the California Department of Fish and Game has to kill them.

You see, being a gray wolf you are an endangered species and humans are charged with protecting your kind, and that includes the next generations of pups. We have faith that you can find one of YOUR kind and do right by the family you left in Oregon. Don’t stop believin’ that perfect girl is out there, even if you have to settle for one of the Oregon ladies. On this Endangered Species Day, our hearts are with you.

Wolf track in snow. (Linda Hay / DFG)