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 that 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 they 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 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.”
CC: Are we just talking about sightings, is that it? Wolves were seen?
Christine: “Yes, to our knowledge there’s been no incident where a wolf has come into a backyard, taken livestock, taken chickens, or taken cats. I don’t think that’s been a situation at all.”
“These are all sightings of either single, or two or three wolves. With one exception, they’re all sightings where the wolves were off in the background. They were moving through. They may have been very aware of people walking through, but they were keeping their distance.”
“There have been two or three observations of a single wolf closer to the central Mansons area, where a wolf has displayed what we would consider not typical wild wolf behaviour in that they were either approaching a cyclist, or one was observed on its back rolling on the side of the road. Those are probably isolated situations and they are probably not part of the group of wolves that seems to be moving through the Commons right now.”
FOCI is trying to identify specific wolves, to get a sense of the wolf population and the areas they’re moving through.
CC: You mentioned there has been an incident in recent years.
Christine: “This Spring there was an incident near Hanks Beach, which is quite well known as a wildlife corridor. A couple of dogs were running freely through that area. One came back injured and one did not return. I think it was quite clearly understood that it had been a wolf attack. In that situation, the dogs had got out of their enclosure and were moving through a wildlife corridor.”
CC: What do wolves add to the ecosystem?
Christine: “There’s a known balance between predator and prey. That’s not just here in Cortes, it’s documented everywhere. Wolves play a role in keeping deer and raccoon populations down. All of us who have fruit trees don’t want raccoons in them.”
“We as humans tend to change that dynamic, and usually when we do that, it’s not to the benefit of the wild creatures.”
“What’s happening on Cortes with development, with housing initiatives, is not unique. It’s happening everywhere. We’re well aware of the fact that natural habitat is disappearing. Sometimes it’s industry, as much as anything it is residential. As that happens, wild animals, whatever they may be, are feeling impacted. They’re getting squeezed out. When you have large carnivores – large predators like cougars, wolves, and bears – they are more obviously squeezed. I think we see them because – then where do they go?”
CC: Isn’t the north of the island relatively free of people?
Christine: “We call them ‘the Northern Wilds’ and there is no road access. That, at least, is a protection for those wild animals, but they have certainly been moving through the southern parts of Cortes for years and years. This is where people are living and the residential area is spreading somewhat. It’s bound to have an impact on the wildlife corridors.”
Helen: “What we’ve been doing as FOCI is making people aware of wolves, cougars, bears on the island and how the community can learn to live alongside those creatures by following specific guidelines. We have a wildlife coexistence section on our website that people can look at, and in that there are recommendations on how to basically keep the wolves wild and everyone safe.”
“There’s recommendations for:
- if you’ve got livestock – fencing your property,
- if you’ve got pets – keeping them in at night,
- if you are going for walks in wildlife corridors in the parks, ideally you should have your dog on a leash,
- if you’re with a dog and encountering wolves, you should carefully move out of the park, get back to your car and stay out of their way.
(FOCI’s recommendations are reposted at the bottom of this page)
“The more consistent we are as a community in how we interact with wolves, the quicker they learn that we’re going to be consistent. So the wolves learn to avoid us.”
“I’d strongly recommend people look at our website, that’s friendsofcortes.org to look at the guidelines we have there and follow them as closely as they can. Hopefully we can all continue coexisting with these amazing wild creatures.”
Christine: “I’ll just add to that, FOCI has worked very closely with the Conservation Officers out of Black Creek. We’re in their jurisdiction and there are frequent phone calls back and forth. They’re very supportive of the work that FOCI has done in public education. Their focus is always public education and doing whatever is possible to prevent any possible incident. There’s a very good professional relationship and linkage that goes back and forth between FOCI and the conservation officers.”
“The other thing I was going to say is that wolves move around. They happen to currently be in the Whaletown area, and they may well move on any day, any week, as they move on to find other prey. So we may find that in the space of another week that they actually will be less active in this area and they will have moved on somewhere else.”
“For anybody who wants to enjoy walking through the Commons right now, I would encourage them to do that, but without a dog. I don’t think anybody is going to find that they probably are even fortunate enough to see a wolf, but if they are and they’re on their own or with another person, there is, I don’t think, anything to be concerned of.
CC: Is there anything either of you would like to add?
Christine: “Just as a community, stay informed and conscious of where you’re moving and how you’re moving through.”
Helen: Yes, and just really asking the community to be really mindful of these amazing wild creatures and to follow the recommendations so that we can carry on living alongside them.”
Learning to Live with Wolves on Cortes Island
We need to keep our wolves WILD; here’s what each of us can do!
- Never feed wolves It is illegal and completely irresponsible to feed wolves as it endangers you, your fellow community members and the wolves! (Take care not to leave meat or seafood scraps out near your home or in your compost pile. Dispose of these responsibly; dig into a pit or feed to the crabs.)
- Do not feed deer or raccoons; they are prey species of wolves. Food conditioned deer and raccoons WILL attract wolves to your doorstep and your neighbours. Be responsible to yourself and your community.
- Keep yourself safe HAZE wolves !!! when you encounter them in a residential area i.e. near your home, your neighbour’s, the community halls, stores, schools etc. Wave your arms to make yourself look bigger, shout loudly and use noisemakers. Let the wolves know, in no uncertain terms, that they need to respect you and you will not tolerate their presence in this place!! Use your most aggressive body language; take on the alpha role. (Take an airhorn and/or bear spray along as an extra precaution when hiking alone off the beaten track or working the beaches at night.)
- Keep your pets safe. Dogs must be leashed when walked; unleashed dogs are seen as prey by wolves. Take an airhorn and/or bear spray along as an extra precaution when walking dogs, as dogs are a magnet for wolves. Wolves view all dogs as a territorial threat. *Ensure all pets are secured overnight in sturdy, predator proof kennels outside or kept inside your house at night. (Keep outside pet feeding areas clean; never leave uneaten food in them. *Do not take your dogs with you when hiking in natural areas frequented by wolves i.e. Carrington Bay, Von Donop Inlet, Hank’s Beach, Marina Island, etc.)
- Practice good animal husbandry Ensure all livestock are secured inside sturdy, fenced (min. 6′ high) enclosures by day and predator proof shelters by night. Free-ranging livestock are seen as prey by wolves. (If wolves approach livestock during the day, HAZE them; scare them away, shooting over their heads if necessary. (After butchering livestock, dispose of carcasses responsibly; buried deeply and ideally well away from residential areas.)
As a community, work together and CONSISTENTLY follow these guidelines! We must keep our wolves WILD in order to live together with them. Report routine wolf sightings to the FOCI office at 250 935 0087 and report wolf encounters of concern to the COS at 1 877 952 RAPP (7277).
Top image credit: Looking through a screen of trees towards the ocean – Roy L Hales Photo
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