Although the wolf pictured below is not a resident of Haliburton Forest, I include it here because it's the closest I've been to a wolf in more than 50-years of canoe tripping in places like Algonquin Park, Haliburton Highlands, Quetico, Temagami and Killarney Parks. I took these pictures at Bracebridge, ON, on December 30, 2006, across from the stoplight at the Home Depot store. I was leaving the store parking lot, sitting in my car at the traffic light waiting for it to change to green, when initially I thought that what I was looking at was a German Shepard standing up on the rock face directly in front of me. I soon realized that it was not a dog, but a wolf. I quickly reached behind my seat for my Nikon D200 camera, luckily equipped with a 70-200mm Nikko lens. Not more than 20 seconds later when I was ready to squeeze-off some pictures, the wolf was gone! I figured correctly that it would likely remain nearby, so I left my car sitting in the middle of the intersection, turned on the 4-way flashers, and as quietly as I could, circled around to the left of where I first spotted the wolf, and quietly climbed up the to the top of the rock face. Slowly, I poked my head up over the top to see if I could spot the wolf. No such luck—it was gone. Noting that I was down-wind from the wolf, I quietly walked around up there looking for its tracks in the occasional bits of snow that had not yet melted (none was seen), and of course, the wolf. I spent about 15 minutes looking around, but saw nothing, so I returned to the base of the rock cut. Upon reaching the bottom, I turned around and looked up to the top where I had been about 30 second earlier, and there was the wolf standing up there watching me very carefully. 

I was careful not to raise my camera directly toward the wolf, but away from him/her and swung it slowly toward the wolf, trying not to frighten it into exiting again. I had the camera in "continuous" shooting mode and squeezed-off a dozen or so pictures before he/she turned and disappeared.

Once again, I climbed back to the top and carefully stuck my head over the top. The wolf spotted me immediately, turned and took off at a run. I managed to squeeze off a total of 75 pictures before the wolf disappeared behind a pile of wood chips, where he/she stopped, turned, and took a last look at me for a couple of seconds, then disappeared.

Programs and Events at Haliburton Wolf Centre

March Break Programs...

March 1, 2008.  In Search of the Elusive Wolf 9:00 – 4:00 
This is a one-day snowshoe experience into Wolf Country guided by a Wild Life Biologist. The day will be spent exploring the hills and valleys on snowshoes looking for evidence of the wolf in our forests. Your host and guide for the day is Haliburton Forest's resident wildlife biologist, who possesses a tremendous amount of knowledge about the flora and fauna of the area and who is presently doing research on wolf predation on deer. Snowshoes will be provided for participants who will not bring their own.

March 12 to 16, 2008. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the Ontario March school break, the Haliburton Forest Wolf Center will be offering a variety of activities for the whole family. Starting at 1:30, these afternoons will include fun learning activities including a presentation, display tour, games, puppet show and crafts. Every year we have a special, mysterious storytelling guest! All kids and adults are welcome. Regular admission rates apply.

May 9 - Conference : Celebration of Research Research partners at Haliburton Forest are reporting on their past and proposed research - from forest ecology and climate change to wolves and flying squirrels. Fee: Free

June 30 - July 4. - Youth Day Camp. A week of outdoor activities and excitement for youths aged 8 to 12. Canoeing, wilderness travel, large group games, wolf studies, tracking and so much more. Fee: $165.00 per youth.

July 7 - 11. - Youth Wilderness Experience. A week long outdoor leadership residential camp for youths aged 10 - 14. Building on the successes of previous day- and adventure camps, this one week experience will take youths into the wilderness to be exposed to activities such as canoeing and kajaking, rock climbing, ropes course, orienteering, astronomy, night hikes etc. This is an exciting opportunity for youths interested in taking their wilderness experience to a new level.

July 25-27 1st Annual Butterfly and Dragonfly Count. This is your opportunity to become a citizen scientist working along side a number of professional naturalists. No experience is necessary as there will be many experts and enthusiast to help you catch and identify these remarkable insects.  Fee: $65/day or $300 for the weekend.

July 28 - August 1st - Youth Adventure Day Camp. A week of outdoor activities and excitement for youths aged 12 to 14. Canoeing, wilderness navigation, wolf studies, rock climbing and so much more has been established to build on the skills of past participants or youth that have some experience in the out-of-doors. Optional overnight canoe trip. Fee: $165.00 per youth/ 185.00 incl. overnight trip

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