Another Mangy Wolf Story

You may recall my post last year about a mangy wolf that was living on the south shore of Gunflint Lake. Many folks had opportunity to see her, and we discussed how she was doing, with as little fur as she had. We were impressed by her ability to find warm shelter and enough food to survive, even during the cold snaps. We knew that she had made it through the winter, because I last saw her in May, crossing the road by our sign, and running up into the hills. After that, I figured it was just too busy around here for her liking, and thought little about her whereabouts.

This winter, another mangy wolf had begun to show up. I hadn't seen this one, but several neighbors had spotted it. We wondered if it could possibly be the same one, but folks were saying that this one was darker. One recent day, I did see a lone dark wolf come out from the driveway of Birch cabin, look at me, and then continue on up the road. It turned and walked in to the pasture. It didn't seem to be in any hurry, even after it saw me, but it did seem to have fur on it. These moments pass by so quickly sometimes, it's hard to capture all of the details.

My neighbor Ev and I talked today about the wolf. She told me the story of her husband John, who went ice fishing with another neighbor recently. John didn't get any fish, but his neighbor got a nice 5# lake trout. They called it a day to head home, and the fellow left his fish, as well as his lunch, on the porch of the cabin while he went in to get something. When he came out, he just caught sight of the wolf, running off with both. The guy ran after him, and the wolf dropped the lunch, but kept the lake trout. As Evelyn said, at least the wolf had one good meal at that point.

Early this week, I got a call from someone at Gunflint Lodge, asking if we had seen the current mangy wolf. I said that I hadn't, but knew that others had. It turned out that the wolf had been hanging out near the lodge, and had actually come up behind an employee, and had snarled at him. I have to admit, that would certainly freak me out! He went to the lodge to report it, and the upshot was a call to the authorities.

A fellow from the Dept of the Interior was called in, and he came up to see if he could find the wolf and put it out of its misery. I guess that he had been receiving many calls on the wolf, and given the report of its condition, this seemed to be the best answer. Greg met the man on Wednesday, and was able to tell him that he had seen the wolf the afternoon before, about a mile in on our side road, just past the Pines.

Yesterday afternoon, I got the call that the wolf had been located and then shot. Some friends stopped by in the afternoon, and they had actually seen the dead wolf in the back of the truck. It was a sad and sorry sight---virtually free of hair, save for little tiny bits on its body, and a ruff around it's neck and head.

It turns out that this wolf was a female. Greg was fairly certain that last year's wolf was also a female. Could it have been the same one? We'll probably never know. While I hate to see the chapter end like this, it is best for the wolf to now be out of her misery. Mange is quite contagious, so I am hoping that no other wolves show up with it. It seems that the wolves will have a tough enough time this year, as the deer population appears to be in decline. I find it so interesting to have a front row seat in this show of nature and survival.