Just saw a wolf in my yard!

We have wolves on the island I live on in B.C. and I have never seen one until about an hour ago. I was upstairs and heard both my dogs barking in the way that means 'something' is in the yard. Even Finnigan was barking and he is half Basenji (barkless) which he almost never does so I knew it was something of great interest.
I raced to the window thinking it might be a bear and I saw a tall, beautiful wolf bound over to my dogs (who were in their large fenced in dog area).
They were all wagging their tails and sniffing noses through the fence.
I freaked out and ran down the stairs and yelled to my husband and we both were outside a few seconds later. The wolf took off.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d.../Theboys-1.jpg

I was so excited to see it but I was more nervous for my dogs because there is a pack of wolves in my area that has been attacking and killing dogs.
Two of my coworkers dogs have been attacked by wolves. One, just a few weeks ago and thankfully they were right there and managed to get their dog back, though she had about 800.00worth of surgery afterward. The other dog, Molly was being walked by my coworkers husband on a trail, just as they always did. Molly (a black lab cross) was making these yipping sounds as she liked to do. He said that he heard the pack of wolves up ahead on the trail making the same sounds back to Molly and knew that they were trying to draw her closer. He tried to stop Molly but she ran right to them. He tried everything he could, throwing sticks and rocks but it was a whole pack and he couldn't stop them. It was 3 hours later before he could carry Molly's body out of the woods. :(

This is Molly:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...2008_00000.jpg

Another dog was killed a few months ago at the end of my street. He was a beagle and his owner had died a few months before that. He was being cared for by his mother and they saw the wolves take the beagle down in their yard. At least the dog and his owner are together now.

About a month ago a couple were walking their small terrier on a street a few miles from me and the wolves came right out and attacked the little dog who was on a leash! They were able to get the dog away and scare off the wolves but that dog also had surgery.

I don't think the wolves could jump the fence that keeps my dogs in but I was and am nervous when we bring our dogs into the house from their area. And my husband takes the boys for multiple walks a day around the property off leash but I think that's going to stop.

This wolf was truly beautiful. Tall and white/grey with bits of orange flashing. I won't soon forget it.

Thanks for reading! :)

Oh my, I did get tears in my eyes reading the events that have taken place in your area. :(
I guess wolves do not attack people? :confused: That would have me traumatized for life if I ever saw a dog or any animal being attacked like that right in front of me.
I hope your doggies stay safe.

In general a healthy wild wolf will not attack or even approach a human.

I am glad your dogs were safe, and all that tail wagging may have convinced the wolf "we are friends!" But I am sure the fence had more to do with their safety!

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Originally Posted by Karen

In general a healthy wild wolf will not attack or even approach a human.

I am glad your dogs were safe, and all that tail wagging may have convinced the wolf "we are friends!" But I am sure the fence had more to do with their safety!

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Yes, it does seem to be the case that they are not interested in us humans. I sure am thankful for the fenced area we built for our dogs when we moved here. We got is set up for them even before we unpacked our boxes. :)
The cat enclosure was set up after that. We do have one cat, Sneakers who goes outside and always has but I need to start keeping her in. The wolves have also taken cats so we need to be wary of this as well.

E.T.A. I found a picture of Molly that my coworker printed off and gave to me a few months ago and scanned it and added it to the first post. She was 7 years old and very sweet.

That event must have been beautiful, yet freightening, at the same time. I think I would be paranoid about the dogs being outside after something like that. And those poor other not so lucky pooches - how tragic! Do you think now that you're seeing them, that it's due to an increased population, or maybe a dwindling food source?

I think the wolf that attacked Glacier's dogs jumped a fence, so I would still be cautious.

I'm sure it was quite an experience! Glad the dogs are okay. So very sad that many in the area were not so lucky. :(

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Originally Posted by ramanth

I think the wolf that attacked Glacier's dogs jumped a fence, so I would still be cautious.

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Not in my case...when the wolf got Hobo, he came right up the driveway, into a yard full of over 30 dogs that night(we had another musher's team here), directly under a spotlight. He took Hobo off his chain. Hobo wasn't mine at the time. He was tethered with the rest of his teammates. It's very common around here for the wolves to take sled dogs off their chains.

A friend of mine in the same subdivision lost his best leader when the wolf somehow got past his six foot chainlink fence. That happened around the same time as Hobo was injured.

800 buck is a CHEAP vet bill for a wolf attack. The wolves on average take 20 dogs out of my area every winter. I know of three who survived a wolf encounter, including my Hobo(who never left after his attack). By the time Hobo was back on his paws, his vet bills were well over four grand. Hobo still has physical scars and is very phobic of the dark--a bit of a problem up here where it's dark 20 hours a day for months!

The wolves have never put much effort into getting past our fence, but I have no doubt that they could if they wanted to. There was one in the driveway checking out the gates when Delta was missing. Wolves are smart hunters. They will expend no more energy than they have to in order to eat. If there are loose roaming or chained dogs around, they'll take those before they bother trying to get past a fence.

Wolves don't attack humans. I've run into them a couple times with the dog team. I'd much rather see them on the trail than a moose. Far less dangerous to me and the dogs.

Glad your pups are safe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Glacier

Not in my case...when the wolf got Hobo, he came right up the driveway, into a yard full of over 30 dogs that night(we had another musher's team here), directly under a spotlight. He took Hobo off his chain. Hobo wasn't mine at the time. He was tethered with the rest of his teammates. It's very common around here for the wolves to take sled dogs off their chains.

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Wow, thanks for sharing that. My 4-5 foot fence feels very short now. My neighbour behind me has 6 dogs that are all chained. They collectively howl every morning around 7:30. I'd like it if they could bump that up to 8:30 but we've gotten used to it. This neighbour is the one that told me that the wolves pass through our properties in the wee hours of the morning. He has seen them in his driveway a few times. I guess he thinks there is safety in numbers but after reading your post, that is obviously not the case.
My other neighbour also chains her dog up on the porch when she leaves the house and we actually went over there the other day to check on the dog. She is a border collie and was barking non-stop for 4 hours which she usually doesn't do so we were concerned. When we got to the house, we found her chained to the back porch in the shade and it was pretty cold. She had managed to wrap herself up pretty good around the porch railing but she was growling at us and wouldn't let us help her. We went home and I left a message on my neighbour's phone telling her what we had found when we went over there. I had to go to work but my husband went over again about an hour later and this time, our neighbour two houses over was there and he knew the dog's name and was able to get the chain untangled. My neighbour phoned back and left a message and thanked us for checking on her dog. She said she usually doesn't chain her and just leaves her loose but lately she's been taking off. This is true because her dog was running down the middle of the busy road last week on my way home from work. I tried to help her but she was afraid of me so I slowly followed her to make sure she got home which was a few miles away. She kept looking over her shoulder as if to say "who is this crazy person following me?!?" lol
Anyway, now I think I will tell her about the wolf siting but she has taken her dog up to Terrace for 6 weeks so it will have to wait until she gets back.

I know of another woman who lives here who often walks to work with her dog in tow. Her dog, a shep cross is always off leash but listens to her quite well and goes wherever she does. A month ago she was walking along and a big dog that looked ALOT like a wolf came out of the bushes and was sniffing her dog. She told the dog to go home and shewed it away. It went back into the bushes. And then about a block later, there was that dog again with the rest of the pack! She had her bike and started riding it fast and calling her dog and thankfully he ran alongside her and they got away safely. I've heard of the single wolf coming out to check out a dog a few times before the whole pack shows up and that may have been what was happening in my yard this morning. Yikes.

Seeing the wolf must have been awesome. That is how I feel when i see the coyotes out back.

But the reality is, we must keep our pets safe. Just because ONE wolf wags his tail meeting your dogs through a fence, well, things will be different if the whole pack arrives.

This is the season when their food supply is disappearing as some of their food chain hibernates. So they are looking for what more is available.

And if one man with one dog couldn't save the dog (RIP Molly), then what does your hubby expect to do trying to save 2 dogs, who are off leash, probably amid a pack in 2 separate areas? No, I think the off leash walks need to stop, sadly. Even on leash, hubby needs something with him. Around here, many folks bought an old golf club or 2 at yard sales and always carry that when they walk their dogs. Just one thought.

Folks laughed when we put up a 6 foot fence for bichons. Well, it isn't only to keep my dogs in, it is also to keep the coyotes OUT. And a desperate (i.e. hungry) coyote could manage to get over it. We don't leave the dogs out alone for that reason. (Ozzy is a whole different issue; he is small enough to be hawk food!)