There is something about Wolves that has always drawn me towards them. Perhaps I relate to their social living. Maybe I just commend their ability to cling on in the shadows, even with a bounty on their heads. Or possibly it's just their wild, free nature that I aspire to.
So when I had a few weeks off work and was in Canada I knew exactly what I wanted to try to see.
So off I went, backpack, tent and a complete lack of commitments in search of a wolf.
The sign filled me with confidence but as I quickly learned, after decades of persecution, wolves are pretty tricky to see in the wild. Never the less, there's nothing better than being surrounded by nature and there was plenty of wildlife to keep me occupied.
After a week I was beginning to lose hope, maybe it was a foolish idea to try to see a wolf. But the next morning I got a lifeline. I still find it weird, and maybe if it happened on the first night and I hadn't had a chance to acclimatise to the island I would have been terrified, but when I woke up to find a set of wolf tracks right past my tent I was ecstatic.
I guess it put me in my place. The island was no longer mine, I wasn't the top dog, and that was good thing.
After over a week on the island, and having become content with the fact that I'd probably never see a wolf in the wild I continued with my adventures round the island. Then, as I round yet another head land, I spotted an unmistakable silhouette.
A real life wolf!
Having spotted me eyeing him from across the bay with complete admiration, he lay down and had nap.
What an animal. Without a care for me, he skipped casually across the beach as if to show off that it was his island and I was but a visitor. And a few magical seconds later he headed back into the forest, and I never saw him again. Probably a good thing, unfortunately, these days a wolf that's comfortable around people is a dead wolf.
