This is the most curious wolf I have ever met. While other members of the pack would keep their distance and keep moving when they saw us, this wolf sometimes approached and, in this case, just lay down and watched us for a while. This was not a one-off. Over two or three seasons, there were numerous times when this wolf would change its course to investigate us.
When I took this photo, the tide was out, giving this coastal wolf a large expanse of tidal flats to travel over. It could have easily avoided us by keeping its distance, or by simply slipping into the forest. Instead, it came by to check us out.
We woke to heavy fog on this morning. Sitting in camp drinking coffee we felt like our chances of finding a wolf were just about nil. Then we heard howling in the distance.
This was a rare occasion when I was out in the wild with a camera but I was not guiding. And this wolf showed up
You take what you get with wolves. Most of the time what you get is a lot of waiting and time to contemplate things. If you’re paying attention, there is always something to see. So all the waiting is okay. But when a curious wolf pup appears out of nowhere and trots past, well, that’s another thing entirely.
Life is full of repetitive and mundane tasks. And, occasionally, also encounters like this.
When you spend time looking for wolves, most of the time you end up watching other things instead. On this evening, it was sandpipers. Semipalmated or Western? In the fading light, I couldn’t be sure, and it didn’t really matter. It was good enough to simply watch them wheel and swoop in unison, each bird exquisitely sensitive to its neighbour, each responding to the smallest flicker of a wing.
