Recent Sightings: Co-existing with wolves on Cortes Island

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There've been reports of Wolf sightings on Cortes island, which actually isn't too surprising.

“We're incredibly lucky to have wolves on Cortes. They've disappeared on a lot of the other islands. This is one of the last islands in the Salish Sea with wolves on it. Obviously we want to do everything we can to make sure that they can carry on living here, and that we can coexist alongside them,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). 

Christine Robinson added, "In an increasingly busy technological world,  the beauty of wild spaces and wild creatures that are not impacted by human development is increasingly rare and it's a beautiful thing, just a beautiful experience."

CC: How long have wolves and humans been peacefully coexisting on Cortes Island?

Christine: "There are stories of some of the early white settlers who were farmers having issues with wolf predation, but really, truly, if we're talking about current times, for the last 40 years.  I'm just pulling that number out of the air, but I would say most of us living on Cortes, as a community,  highly value the wild spaces and the wild creatures. That means working in whatever way we can to coexist. FOCI has done an excellent job of educating the public how to secure animals so that they aren't an attractant to wolves and then potentially create that conflict."

CC: Tell me about some of the recent sightings 

Christine: "I live in Whaletown, and have  a keen interest in both wild spaces and wild critters. I'm grateful that we live in a place where we cohabit with wild creatures and so I'm always 'ear to the ground' when I hear stories."

"Most people  don't  talk about cougar encounters, because cougars are more secretive and they're single animals. We had very few reports of bears this fall, given all the apples. So the stories trickle down to me are about wolf observations, people who are hiking here and there. I actually started to record the observations that people were telling me, so that could be passed on to FOCI and we have a sense of where the wolves are moving on the island. It's helpful for them and it's helpful for humans." 

"We live very close to the Whaletown Commons, and have a highly energetic dog. We walk the Commons every day with her.  As I started hearing more about people observing the odd wolf off in the distance,  through the forest, we started thinking, 'well, maybe we should actually have her on a leash.' So for the last three and a half weeks, either my husband or I are walking daily through the Commons with our dog on a leash, and we have yet to see a wolf."

"I would say judging from our dog's behaviour, they are present because she changes. She's more alert. She's just looking around and sniffing more. We have not personally seen wolves in the Commons, but I know other people have within the same space of time that we were there."

"I always find that interesting.  People often think that wolves may present themselves. If you're one of the fortunate people to actually observe a wolf doing what naturally wild wolves will do, then I'd say you're very, very lucky." 

"We all learned, through the coexistence with wildlife program that FOCI sponsored, that dogs are a real magnet for wolves. They have a longstanding historical, genetic maybe, dislike of dogs. They may see them as a competitor for food and territory and basically will not tolerate dogs  running freely through an area that they consider part of their wildlife corridor." 

"Because of the recent activity in the general Whaletown area,  last week I very quickly put up extra notices in all the entrances to the Commons, advising people to not walk through the Commons with their dogs for the time being.  That was in response to several sightings where people felt wolves were close enough that it made them feel uncomfortable. In those cases, there were dogs that were the draw for the wolves."