Trappers keep Iqaluit safe from wolves

SARA MINOGUE

A local wildlife officer got an unusual assignment in the very first days of 2005: go and shoot a wolf in Apex.

Alden Williams was responding to reports of a young wolf hanging around town. He eventually shot the wolf, which he said was “the size of a medium dog,” and gave it to a local harvester to skin and pelt.

There’s no way to tell exactly why the wolf was in town, but Williams guesses it was left behind by a pack that was mostly trapped.

“It wasn’t showing aggression, it was just being a wolf that didn’t know what the hell to do.”

Several wolves have been spotted running in front of vehicles or underneath houses this winter.

Hunters have reported wolf tracks “just about everywhere,” and

Williams has heard from three different hunters who say that wolves came right up to them while they were snowmobiling.

“The same thing happened a year ago. One of the taxi drivers in town was out skidooing and he had a gun with him. A wolf came right up to him and he shot the wolf within probably 40 feet. It can happen.”

Williams can’t say why there are more wolves than usual, but speculates that there may have been a good pup crop last year. He also noticed that there were quite a few caribou around this fall, which may have managed to move on, leaving the wolves behind.

About nine wolves have been successfully trapped within city limits.

Local harvesters have set small leg traps, about four to five inches round, along the Sylvia Grinnell River by the golf course, past the old metal dump at Upper Base, about half a mile off the road between Iqaluit and Apex, and in the Rotary Park picnic area.

The traps are safe for people and pets. They won’t break bones, Williams said, so owners just need to step on the trap to release it, and their dogs.

None of the wolves so far have shown any signs of aggression or rabies. People should be cautious, but not afraid.

“Most of the time wolves will go away.”