Brazen Wolves

Two recent wolf attacks in the Thunder Bay area are serving to remind northern pet owners to be cautious when outdoors.

On July 11, Helen Lee, a friend, and Lee's two small dogs were at a remote campsite on Northern Lights Lake, just west of Thunder Bay, when a large wolf carried away her miniature dachshund, Sadie.

"The wolf was right outside my tent," she said. "It was awful. It happened so fast. I could hear Sadie whimpering, as I chased after the big wolf shouting, trying to get it to drop my dog." It never did.

"It wasn't afraid," she said. "It was there stalking my campsite." Conservation Officers told Lee it was the first time they've heard of a wolf doing this.

Then, on July 26, a Terrace Bay woman was walking her dog when wolves attacked it. Fortunately, the dog only suffered minor injuries before they were scared off.

While attacks on pets and humans are rare, sightings in the Dryden and Marathon areas over the past four years have prompted police warnings, advising people to keep pets indoors.

Last March, wolves killed a family dog less than 300 yards from a residential area in Pickle Lake. And, in September 2006, an injured black wolf attacked six people, including several young children, on a beach in Lake Superior Provincial Park.

At the time, MNR officials said no one has ever been killed by a wolf in North America, and instances in Canada in which wolves have bitten people are rare. Since then, a coroner's jury has confirmed that 22-year-old Ontario-resident Kenton Carnegie, who was working in a mining exploration camp 750 miles northeast of Saskatoon, was killed by wolves in November 2005 – the first documented case of wolves killing a healthy human in the wild.

OPP Constable Carol Michtics said in a news release that people should think "safety first" when hiking in the region. "Be aware of the area you‘re hiking in and the challenges you might encounter, as there are many wild animals such as black bears and wolves," she said.

Timber wolf numbers are believed to be on the rise across the north, due to an abundance of white-tailed deer.