<\/p>\n
SILVERTON \u2013 In 2005, a terrifying creature descended upon Silverton: Wolfie.<\/p>\n
At first, the wolf-dog hybrid stalked the surrounding hills. But then, he grew brave and entered town.<\/p>\n
Terror ensued. Many residents feared he was eating pets. Others threw things at him. In some quarters, fear of Wolfie grew so irrational, there was talk of killing him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least one person attempted to end his life by running him over,\u201d said Mark Esper, editor of The Silverton Standard & Miner.<\/p>\n
Fast forward 10 years: Wolfie is Silverton\u2019s most prominent canine resident. Though he is still feral, he is a downtown fixture, taking up permanent residence in the yard of Dean Bosworth and Paula Trautner on Reese Street. In his declining years \u2013 Wolfie is at least 14 \u2013 some residents talk of erecting a life-size bronze statue memorializing him when he dies. The Town Board voted to make Wolfie Silverton\u2019s official town mascot after officials determined the city could not legally adopt the creature in 2007.<\/p>\n
Like many love stories, the story of how beautiful Silverton fell in love with the beast has an unlikely beginning.<\/p>\n
Abandoned as a cross-breed pup on the highway, Wolfie wandered to Silverton in 2005, said San Juan County Sheriff Bruce Conrad.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was afraid of him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wolfie didn\u2019t behave like a friendly dog, and he looked like a wolf. Some residents demanded that Wolfie be put down.<\/p>\n
Then, one fateful afternoon, Wolfie was spotted roving town with a dead animal clenched between his teeth. Residents, convinced he had savaged a neighbor\u2019s cat, unearthed the grave Wolfie dug: his prey was revealed to be a stuffed animal.<\/p>\n
Wolfie, it turns out, is pathologically shy.<\/p>\n
Such is the animal\u2019s fame, one mention of Wolfie on Twitter produced immediate responses from Silvertonians, with one user writing, \u201cHe\u2019s been around forever! Never been able to pet him though \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
In interviews, Silvertonians who have known Wolfie for years agreed that he balks at human touch (he is known to have willingly grazed only two people) and detests crowds, skipping town during bicycle races and the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he hates having his picture taken,\u201d said Melody Skinner, who Conrad described as Wolfie\u2019s \u201cbest friend in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, when a reporter followed a trail of thoroughly defeated stuffed animals beginning at Wolfie\u2019s home and discovered Wolfie traipsing the ridge \u2013 exactly where Conrad said Wolfie would be \u2013 he shunned the camera, lowering his head like a long-suffering celebrity deflecting a paparazzo.<\/p>\n
These days, his elusive ways are well-known and accepted. Conrad, whose parents are close friends of Wolfie\u2019s, said when Wolfie arrived in Silverton, he followed his favorite people around, always maintaining a few feet of distance \u2013 earning him the nickname, \u201cShadow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still very bashful,\u201d Bruce said.<\/p>\n
But, like Boo Radley of To Kill a Mockingbird, Wolfie \u2013 far from a monster \u2013 is a gentle-hearted recluse and fierce neighborhood protector, Skinner said.<\/p>\n
Skinner said tales of Wolfie\u2019s heroism abound. Unlike many dogs who harbor primal antipathy toward cats, in forming affections, Wolfie doesn\u2019t discriminate based on species, so long as the animals he is defending live in his neighborhood. Skinner said he is special friends with one magpie, and recalled Wolfie launching himself at a visiting bear that Wolfie perceived had gotten too close to a Silvertonian. Esper said Silvertonians owe Wolfie a debt for his years of tireless service fighting off coyotes, who howl nightly at the outskirts of town, hoping to penetrate downtown Silverton in order to feast on pet cats and chickens.<\/p>\n
Though the lore of Wolfie is now well-established, mysteries remain.<\/p>\n
Joe Lewandowski, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said Wolfie is not 100 percent wolf, but the department doesn\u2019t know what, genetically, Wolfie exactly is.<\/p>\n
But other aspects of Wolfie\u2019s existence, like his fondness for fresh linens, have been established with certainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put his bedding in the laundry and fluffed it up \u2013 he was so happy,\u201d Skinner said.<\/p>\n
Deputy Sheriff Steve Lowrance said Wolfie, had been neutered to take care of what one town trustee described as his \u201cman problem\u201d a few years ago.<\/p>\n
It turns out Wolfie has quite a good gig going. Skinner said a decade ago, Dave Andrews was the first person to start putting out food for him. Since then, town sentiment toward Wolfie has shifted. These days, she said, people all over town come out in the dead of winter, when it is 30 degrees below zero, to feed him a diet that consists of liverwurst, elk and their best cuts of meat.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone worries that he\u2019s hungry, but he eats better than us!\u201d Skinner said.<\/p>\n
Conrad worries he doesn\u2019t have much time left.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been stiff the last couple of years, and he has a tough time with the coyotes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lyndon Skinner said, \u201cI wonder if when he dies, there will be a town memorial service. It wouldn\u2019t surprise me. A lot of people would be there.\u201d<\/p>\n