Every Friday evening in Whiteshell Provincial Park you can go for a walk and howl with the wolves.

Mark Collicutt is a Senior Interpreter with Manitoba Parks and leads a program introducing those interested in learning more about wolves in the provincial park. A two-hour hike around the Alfred Goose Sanctuary introduces people to learn more about the wolf, including their howl. Attendees spend time learning the wolf’s howl and then call out as a pack and wait to hear back from other wolf packs in the park.

Wolves are elusive and fearful of humans, and with minimal sightings, one might think there aren’t many in the park to howl at. Collicut shares, "we figure there’s about 100-150 wolves spread over 6 to 8 packs and for a park the size of the Whiteshell, that’s a pretty healthy number."

Wolves typically prey on whatever main ungulate (hooved and antlered animal) is residing in their territory and in the Whiteshell it’s white-tail deer. But not exclusively deer, Collicut says "one of the beauties of being a carnivore is, as long as an animal has meat on it, it qualifies as food. In years where deer populations are maybe not quite sufficient enough for the wolves, they’ll go after whatever else they can. Beaver is a very common second choice."

There was a wolf pack hanging around a more populated area of the Whiteshell earlier this year. Collicut says, "they do frequent similar areas and when they find a good food source, they will stick around. Occasionally we see footprints along the trail or in the area that we’re hiking."

Collicutt says, the chances of coming across a wolf pack while in the Whiteshell are not high, but not impossible either. "Wolves have an amazing sense of smell, and an amazing sense of hearing and they are also terrified of humans. They do not like us at all. Chances are if there are wolves in the area, they're going to be long gone before you actually reach them. If you do see them, sometimes you may be stumbling across them as soon as they sense you and see you, they’re gonna run away."

There is a diversity of wildlife in the Whiteshell and Collicutt suggests those living in the area, in cottages at the lake be vigilant in creating an environment to avoid animal encounters.

Similar to what is suggested to campers in the summer, cottage owners should be keeping their area clean, not leaving garbage or pet food outside. "I’m sure we’re all aware that yes, bears do have a very good sense of smell and can be attracted to that,’ says Collicutt, ‘but it’s not just bears, it can be a whole wide variety of animals that we don’t necessarily want to have close encounters with. Wolves, skunks, raccoons, foxes. All those animals can be attracted to those similar types of attractants."

The amount of snowfall doesn’t typically impact wildlife. "Depending on how much snow we get it can have a bit of an impact on the white-tailed deer, just because it can hinder them a little bit sometimes in getting away from predators. But most animals they’re way more adapted for winter than us."

But the negative effect of lots of snow for one animal, like the white-tailed deer, will have a positive effect on the predator, the wolf.

And the extreme weather we’ve been experiencing doesn’t really affect the animals negatively. Collicutt says the animals are way more adapted for dealing with winter than humans are. Many animals have special adaptations for winter, like the lynx, or the snowshoe hare. "We complain when it gets over minus 20 out...the animals don’t care."

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Written by Carly Koop