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| Eagles and ravens were picking on the carcass when we found it |
Today Brenda was on her way into town and phoned back to say there were bald eagles and ravens on a deer carcass about a half-mile down the road. I investigated and found the deer shown above. It must have been killed during daylight since it wasn't frozen. The temperature last night was -30C and didn't get above -12C in the day.
I can't swear it was wolves that killed this deer since it was within 50 feet of the road. But there were no car parts or headlight glass left on the road and there were wolf trails leading away from the carcass. The trails also seemed to indicate that wolves, not dogs, were to blame. I would suspect dogs would have made their trails between the road and the kill site.
Tracks show that wolves routinely come within 100 yards of our house. We wouldn't be worried except for our dog, Cork. We don't let him outside unsupervised.
I am trying something this year to keep the wolves farther away and it seems to be working. When I take my walks with Cork in the bush behind our house I take off my mitten and grasp branches that are growing near the trail, about a foot from the ground or right at wolf nose height. It occurred to me that touching anything when trapping spooks any canine -- wolves, coyotes and foxes. I've also "marked" some trees at the corners of our property. I've done this before but only when I see wolves doing the same thing. My message to the wolves is: this is my territory, not yours, so get lost. It seems to work but it also must be continuously kept up as the wolves recognize when the scent becomes old.
Wolves are a vital part of the Boreal Forest ecology and we don't consider them villains. They are absolutely no threat to people, just their dogs.
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| The deer are right outside our sunroom's windows |
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| Sunflower seeds are good but so is the protection from wolves that comes from being near to houses |
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