Eastern wolves are elusive, I've been going to the park for 30 years and never seen one.



I've seen glimpses back in the trees, watching from a safe distance...





The Eastern Red Wolf is an endangered species. There are 14 known packs, 13 in Algonquin Park, north of Toronto and one in Texas in a fenced in reserve. At one time they ranged from Florida to Texas, to Minnesota to Maine. North of here is grey wolf territory.

For some reason , this one was willing to come out and say hello.





For the photographers present, it was possibly a once in a life time experience.





At some point in our shooting one of the park biologists turned up. We all agreed the wolf was healthy and not at all in fear of human. In fact it displayed signs of having been fed. A park ranger was called. Apparently the procedure when a wild animal has become too tame is to shoot it with a bean bag gun, to reintroduce a fear of people, without hurting the animal too much.

In the meantime , we were able to enjoy some face time with an elusive animal I've wanted to photograph for years.





After the encounter on the way home, it was back to shooting moose.... how ordinary.



I'm sure Tess will have a follow up post with some of her images.

[normhead]

My word, what a once in a lifetime chance meeting, maybe he (wolf) thought that food was a possibility.

He was definitely hoping for a meal...

[lesmore49]

I've never seen that variety of wolf. We have quite a few Grey Wolves...which locally are called Timber Wolves and quite a bit larger than this Eastern Wolf.

I've seen a few Timber Wolves in my time in Western Canada. I can't imagine getting that close to a Grey Wolf.

A rare photographic opportunity you had. My favourite photo...is the first one.

[normhead]

I've never seen that variety of wolf. We have quite a few Grey Wolves...which locally are called Timber Wolves and quite a bit larger than this Eastern Wolf.

I've seen a few Timber Wolves in my time in Western Canada. I can't imagine getting that close to a Grey Wolf.

A rare photographic opportunity you had. My favourite photo...is the first one.

Thanks for commenting.... strangely the first one is my favorite too... followed by the one of him peeking head on through the trees.

[dcmsox2004]

superb series norm... i always get excited when encountering wildlife when i least expect it....
thanks for sharing.. viva lobo !! dave m

[Brazeal]

Extraordinary shots! I always enjoy seeing photos of creatures that you don't commonly see. TFS.

[normhead]

superb series norm... i always get excited when encountering wildlife when i least expect it....
thanks for sharing.. viva lobo !! dave m

Thanks for commenting... it seems it often happens like this, it happens after a long drive, or you need to be some where, but you just have to stop...

Extraordinary shots! I always enjoy seeing photos of creatures that you don't commonly see. TFS.

Thanks for commenting. We live with these guys, they've come right to the edge of our property, we see their scat on the trails we walk our dogs on, we see their tracks on our driveway in the winter, we hear them howling, lying in our bedroom at night or from our tents when camping. We feel like we are completely familiar with them, yet this is the first one we've seen.