This weekend an unexpected mammal sighting caught me off guard. Happened to glance out the window of the Eagle Valley Center (EVC), my current residence, as I'm so prone to do with its several inviting vistas . The new snow highlighted two dark objects upstream about 250 meters away. Nearly brushed them off as two dogs ahead of their owners on a President's Day stroll.
Something didn't jive though. The behavior seemed more purposeful than that of domesticated canines. I looked out the front window and the parking lot was devoid of any visiting cars. The animals displayed an unusual interest in the stream. It donned on me that these were not dogs but wolves.
Even from a distance their size didn't match my romanticized vision of terrors of the wild running down an elk, moose, caribou, annoying lap dog, or other. Nonetheless I was excited yet almost letdown, does it count to see such amazing creatures through my living room window? The scenario of a first sighting was to be over the course of a camping trip. First, my sleep would be interrupted by far off howling. Then, the next day I would witness tracks and then sign of a kill. Finally, in the distance the magnificent beast would make its presence be known.
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This is not a hoax, the best I could do to recreate the seen. Oh and to extoll the virtues of Juneau's awesome used bookstore- its called the Amazing Bookstore- this field guide was $1
As it was through my living room window my brain must have been playing tricks. My mental Rolodex of dog like creatures did a double take: too big for a coyote and the behavior wasn't right for even a husky or similar dog of the north. It left only one possibility, a wolf.
I had just heard about a recent local black wolf regularly seen at Mendenhall Glacier, so it was not unheard of in these parts. This wolf was later shot and a memorial was held. Alaskan Brewery will not confirm or deny if the image of a black wolf on the label of their soon to be departing seasonal black IPA was a coincidence or no. When I saw the EVC caretaker and ran the details past him, he concurred and added that wolves in Southeast Alaska tend to be a little smaller than their counterparts of the interior.
My unconfirmed sighting was cemented furthermore by another sighting on Tuesday. While headed south between Methodist Camp and the EVC, two co workers and I spotted yet another wolf on the east side meadow. We knew to look because a vehicle was pulled off the side of the road with both passengers peering though binoculars. Adam instantly saw what they were studying, wolf number three in two days for me! Come spring I'm looking forward to my first Grizzly sighting and the summer seasonal from ABC.
