NF: Eastern Wolf Caught on my Trail Cam - Algonquin Park

[JustinHoffman]

Hello All: Visited Algonquin Park this past week, both to meet up with friends and do some wildlife photography. On my second last day, my good friend and I decided to drive some back roads on the outskirts of the park, in and around Whitney. We discovered an open area that had a large amount of fresh wolf tracks visible. Since I had my trail cam in the truck, we decided to set it up that afternoon and retrieve it the next morning. As luck would have it, a lone eastern wolf returned that night! My first wild wolf sighting - albeit on my trail cam - but still a cool discovery. Here are four short clips I edited together. Enjoy....

 

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Edited March 12, 2014 by JustinHoffman

[Pickeral eater]

Very cool!!

[Skud]

Smart creature. He knows something is up with the camera and just has to find out more. I love my trail cam. So many animals show up when you're not there.

[misfish]

That's cool Justin.

Pops got a couple up at his place. Big black ones. When the deer come to the yard to eat,he says their really skiddish. He has seen the big one up close while out in the yard.

[FLEX ROD]

Neat, thanks for posting.

 

 

How do you distinguish a wolf from a coyote, as I had what I thought was a coyote in my back yard a couple of hours ago and size wise they looked to be the same?

[misfish]

Neat, thanks for posting.

 

 

How do you distinguish a wolf from a coyote, as I had what I thought was a coyote in my back yard a couple of hours ago and size wise they looked to be the same?

 

 

http://dnr.wi.gov/news/images/slideshows/Wolf_Coyote_Comparison/

[FLEX ROD]

Thanks, great link have seen it before will have to try and keep my eyes open and look at the face better.

 

As right now I would not say one way or the other as to what we looked at earlier and the tracks are long gone.

 

Could a wolf be this far South? Woodbridge / Vaughan?

[davey buoy]

If that is infrared,looks like they know.Stayed to the outside edge of the light.Maybe that was a camera light?.Either way cool video

[misfish]

Thanks, great link have seen it before will have to try and keep my eyes open and look at the face better.

 

As right now I would not say one way or the other as to what we looked at earlier and the tracks are long gone.

 

Could a wolf be this far South? Woodbridge / Vaughan?

 

I know a few years back,I seen one at the hwy 9/400 area.

[davey buoy]

 

I know a few years back,I seen one at the hwy 9/400 area.

Brian I can almost see them and Coyotes daily around 5am in the morning going southbound on the 400.Mind you in the warmer season.

I am not surprised there are so many around now.Sometimes they are so brave they will stand right at the guard rail.A bit scary that time in the morning I'll say.If it's not them it's the deer.

[JustinHoffman]

Thanks, guys. Was definitely cool to open up the camera the next morning, turn on the screen, and see that we had captured a number of videos during the night.

Davey Buoy - Yes, this is an infra-red camera. When the camera is tripped, a small red light comes on on the unit. I am wondering if this is what spooked or alerted them. It is funny how it stays right on the peripheral of the infra-red "lit" area.
As for coyotes to wolf comparison, great link Brian posted. Where this video was shot (in Whitney) there are apparently no coyotes - and we had heard word that 3, possibly 4, eastern wolves were being regularly seen in this one area - traveling from the eastern side of the park out to feed.

 

Will be back to Algonquin in less than a month. Will be trying to capture more wolf footage....as well as fox, as I discovered an active fox den on my last day there.

Cheers,

Justin

[captpierre]

Cool.

 

Nature of Things did a whole show on wolves/coyotes

 

Seems Coy-wolves are the predominant species (cross) in Ontario other than the far north.

[Lunatic]

awesome.this is now on my bucket list.

[misfish]

We call them Coy Dogs.

 

Yotes mixed with loose/lost strange/mange dogs. No wolf involved here.

[akaShag]

Justin, cool video and thanks for showing it here. I would be interested to learn if a biologist agrees with your conclusion about the species. I have little experience with wolves, but quite a bit with coyotes, and that looks to me like a coyote. Not trying to rain on your parade...............and of course if you found tracks the next morning where the critter had been, and they were the size of your palm, then that was no coyote! Just curious................

 

Doug

[JustinHoffman]

Hey Doug,

 

Thanks for the note. The spot where this video was shot was less than a kilometer from the east gate boundary of Algonquin Park, in Whitney. According to the locals (my friend gets many tips as he resides in Whitney and runs the Mad Musher Restaurant), 3 to 4 wolves have been seen in this one area for some time now - traveling from inside the park. They are actually scavenging in the local dump as food is scarce due to snow depth this season. Our friends have photographs of these animals and live less than a minute from where I set up my trail camera. Keep in mind that eastern wolves are not gray wolves - the size difference is very noticeable and they are definitely closer to the size of a coyote - in fact, only a few centimeters taller at shoulder height. (58 to 66cm's for yote compared to 60 to 68cm's for an eastern wolf)

My friend, who is very well-versed in wildlife, has never seen nor heard of a coyote in the Whitney region. He has lived here for 20 years. The wolves have pushed them out and the heavily forested areas are not the type of habitat they desire.

 

This area was filled with tracks. Large paw prints (much bigger than any coyote and definitely an adult wolf) and smaller ones - again, most definitely wolf. According the locals that live down from this area, a young wolf has been traveling with this small pack. This very well could be the juvenile I caught on tape.

Here is an excerpt from Algonquin Park wolf research:

 

Eastern Wolves (and therefore Red Wolves) are very small in size compared to the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) living in the boreal forest north of Lake Superior in Ontario. Unlike the Gray Wolf, the Eastern Wolf in Algonquin Park has never been recorded with an all-black or all-white coat. Instead the Eastern Wolf typically has a reddish-brown muzzle; reddish-brown behind the ears and on the lower legs; with a black, white, and gray back. Most people lucky enough to catch a quick glimpse of an Eastern Wolf in the wild for the first time are surprised by the animal's small size (only about 60 to 68 centimetres at the shoulder). People from more southern areas dominated by agriculture often believe that they have seen a Coyote (Canis latrans) in Algonquin Park. Coyotes are generally absent from Algonquin Park, since wolves will regularly kill any trespasser into their territory and Coyotes have a difficult time finding food in completely forested environments. However, wildlife biologists do know that Coyotes have on occasion bred with wolves here in Algonquin Park. Although this was likely more common when the land was cleared by loggers in the late 1800s and early 1900s, some coyote genetic material continues to find its way into some Eastern Wolf packs along the Park's borders.

 

I have attached an image of an eastern wolf...

 

 

 

So, due to all of that, I am 99% certain it is an eastern wolf. I will leave a small margin for error

 

Cheers,

Justin

Edited March 13, 2014 by JustinHoffman

[akaShag]

Thanks Justin. I was not looking to get into an argument..............and yes the photo (thumbnail) looks to my eyes like a coyote rather than a wolf. As I said earlier, the paw prints would be the dead give-away.

 

Hope you get more photos - and maybe in daylight! (Of course, you know that I would be looking to set up a bait and a blind..............)

 

Doug

[JustinHoffman]

No argument whatsoever, Doug - and I certainly didn't see it that way. Just providing some information, as, much like you, I was under the assumption as wolf would be much bigger. Many don't realize the eastern wolf in Algonquin Park is much different than it's cousin.

 

Yes, I would love to get a daytime shot. I spent three days driving through the park. Found plenty of fresh tracks but no luck on a sighting. I hope to get lucky in three weeks when I return.

 

And yes, I travel with a ground blind. Unfortunately, no moose carcasses

 

Here is a wolf print I found in the interior of the park late this past fall. It was snowing rather heavily at the time. As you can, they don't come much fresher than this. If I had to guess, I missed it by less than a minute. He was actually trailing a red fox down a dirt lane for a good 200 yards before veering off into the woods.

I was fortunate to find and photograph my first pine marten last week. Very cool little animal!

 

Cheers,

Justin

Edited March 13, 2014 by JustinHoffman

[akaShag]

I was going through the park many years ago and nearing the Eastern gate, when a large critter ran across the road in front of me. I got a very good look at its hind quarters and tail as it disappeared - and even though there was "no such thing" in Ontario at that time, I had absolutely seen a cougar. All kinds of interesting animals to see in the park!

 

That wolf print could not have been much fresher unless he was standing in it!

Doug

Edited March 13, 2014 by akaShag

[bigugli]

Thanks, great link have seen it before will have to try and keep my eyes open and look at the face better.

 

As right now I would not say one way or the other as to what we looked at earlier and the tracks are long gone.

 

Could a wolf be this far South? Woodbridge / Vaughan?

Even as far South as Niagara we get the occasional wolf brought in by a farmer or hunter fresh after a shoot. The last one I saw brought in was brought in by Herb Shnick about 5-6 years back. Far bigger than a yote, and certainly had the paws.

 

Whatever the case, they are fantastic animals to watch . I hope you see many more, Justin.

[captpierre]

Nature of Things: Coywolf

 

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+Nature+of+Things/ID/2335216723/

[BillM]

Awesome Justin!

[tender52]

thats cool

[ONbuckhunter]

Piles of wolves in the Alqonquin area. They are a separate species of wolf and are similar to a red wolf. Much smaller than a timber wolf. Seen lots in the area. They do interbreed with coyotes too as sub dominant males will breed with coyote females. There are also coyotes in the area. Red wolves are designed to kill deer, and timber wolves are designed to kill larger animals like Moose and elk, Caribou etc.

 

 

This subject was my thesis in College. Im surprised at how few knew this? Kinda thought it was common knowledge to the regs in the areas and all the info about it. I tried pasting an MNR website link but I have no idea how to use this site.

Edited March 13, 2014 by ONbuckhunter

[turtle]

My cottage is west of the bottom tip of Algonquin Pk with mostly undeveloped bush between the two. In the no trap-no hunt area. I see wolf tracks every winter, especially when moose are around. Heard wolves only a few times. I've only seen one wolf -I'd say a young timber wolf. It was black and the size of a large german shepherd dog. I see coyotes where I live in north Durham and that wolf was 2X the size. Some of the coyotes I see are the typical pointed nose grey-brown shaggy dogs, Others I've seen look simllar to a domestic dog-larger, brown, shorter hair and not wolf-like.