The headline story on the front page of the Free Daily Vancouver Island newspaper on May 30 quickly caught my attention.
The story, “Wolf Put Down After Pair of Dogs Attacked”, tells the tale of a wolf who had to be euthanized in the Ucluelet area after it had lost its fear of humans and attacked two leashed dogs, among other transgressions.
What struck me is the fact that my adventurous niece, Lisa, returned from a camping trip with friends last weekend from that area of the West Coast with a story of an encounter with a large wolf on the beach.
The group Lisa was with were sitting around a beach fire when one of them pointed out a large dog was approaching.
My niece casually looked over her shoulder and expected to see someone’s pet who had escaped its owner’s bonds, but was shocked when she quickly realized the creature that had come to within just a few feet of the gathering was no harmless canine, but a large wolf.
Lisa, who had never actually met a wolf face to face before, said she recognized the difference between this animal and a dog right away.
She described it as very large and it gave off a powerful impression of feral strength that domesticated dogs have lost in their thousands of years being man’s best friend.
What concerned and frightened Lisa the most, though, was that the wolf showed absolutely no fear of her or her group of friends.
It nonchalantly looked around the site searching for anything that was edible and, eventually, slowly sauntered away into the nearby trees.
Knowing that wolves usually travel in packs, and not wanting to come face to face with a more than one of these wild and unafraid predators at a time, Lisa and her friends quickly vacated the beach while making as much noise as possible to try and keep the animal(s) at bay.
It was just a few days after this close encounter that I read the headline in the newspaper about the wolf that had to be euthanized.
There’s no way to be certain it’s the same wolf, but I’d bet there’s a good chance that it is.
I’ve been debating whether to tell Lisa about the death of the wolf, but I fear that it would only upset her.
She’s a kind-hearted person and I know she would not be happy to hear about this wolf being put down, regardless of how badly it (or another one) had frightened her and her friends.
Lisa is smart enough to know that the wolf was just being a wolf and looking for food.
She would realize it is people that have obviously been feeding the animal and habituating it to being around humans that caused it to lose its fear of humans, and that led to its ultimate demise.
Wolves, and other large predators like cougars and bears, are no strangers to the Cowichan Valley either.
Two wolves, with one large black one described by conservation officers as an alpha male, were reported making their way through the Lake Cowichan area in March, along with related reports of missing cats, geese and other farm animals along the way.
If you see a wolf, don’t turn and run because it could trigger a predatory attack, but back slowly away and let the animal continue on its way.
Also, make sure any dogs you have are securely on a leash while in the woods. And, for your sake and your neighbours, don’t start feeding it and trying to treat it as some sort of pet.
Animals and people always lose when that happens.