There are some occasions when a wolf may be described as cute. This is not one of them. Those eyes are piercing … and beautiful.
Are you quick to savour or quick to use?
When I get something new, I like to enjoy the process of discovery – get familiar with all the features, check out the manual and slowly ease into using it. It is a luxurious process that makes it seem more special.
When another unnamed person in our house gets something new, she is likely to open it up and immediately start wearing it. She would say that the opportunity to use it right away makes it special.
This reminds me of an old commercial whose lines are still clogging my brain’s memory arteries:
“When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last?
Do you suck them very slowly or crunch them very fast?”
What is your preference when a metaphorical Smartie enters your life? Given my bias, you should not be surprised that you are only reading about an amazing wildlife encounter that happened last spring.
The wolf heads off as I’m still frantically trying to catch more images.
Each year that passed without the opportunity to photograph a wolf, only served to magnify the creature’s legendary status in my mind. Even a trip to Yellowstone, which is often described as the best place in North America to see wolves, got me only as close as reported sightings in the area. It turns out that’s dangerously close to not seeing anything!
You can imagine my shock when we encountered a wolf on the first evening we arrived at Banff. I think I uttered something profound like, “That’s a wolf!” and promptly stopped breathing.
Heart racing, hands shaking – it’s truly a miracle I was able to take anything worth saving in the short time before the wolf bounded away. Later I had some doubts about what I saw so I had to quickly do some research to determine if it really was a wolf and not a coyote. With my last doubts assauged, I knew I had finally captured a wolf.
The memory of that evening still makes me smile. I call it savouring.
Now I could have saved this shot for my upcoming butt collection but it seemed like a good way to end this post. Of course there’s more to the wolf story but I’m still savouring that so who knows when that will appear.
Krahnpix 
Mein Favorit! Obwohl die Wahl ziemlich schwer war.
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That was an amazing encounter. I appreciate your comments.
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Wow – an encounter worth waiting for – those eyes are amazing!
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Yes I keep going back to that encounter when I hit the long wildlife droughts. Those eyes get me every time I go back to them.
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Glad you were able to see one and even better that it cooperated for some photos!
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Putting those two together made that all really special. It may not happen again!
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Beautiful creature – and what colour!
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They really are a beautiful creature. Thanks for checking this out. I was thinking the other day I hadn’t heard from you in a while.
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I feel your pain. I had the same thing with leopards. I rattled around in the bush for about six years without seeing one. Everyone around me seemed to bump into them around every corner; all they needed to do to see one was to leave me behind.
On the plus side, once I finally broke my hoodoo I started seeing them all over the place; I hope you have the same experience.
Their eyes, are creepily similar to your wolf’s. Maybe it’s a “you are a piece of meat” thing.
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It’s funny but unfortunate that leaving you behind got everyone else what they wanted!
Hmm – I’m thinking I would be much more concerned about that whole meat thing when encountering leopards but maybe it’s because of unfamiliarity. The eyes definitely tell a story!
I certainly hope you’re right about now seeing wolves around every corner. It could start right now!
Thanks for checking this out and commenting.
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I love how you can stop breathing when you see a wolf. I’m sure I would, too (albeit for very different reasons!) 🙂 I also love how connected you are to the world around you – and your sharing your beautiful experiences with us helps breathe a little bit of the natural world back into all of us.
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I’m happy that my description of beautiful experiences helps you connect with it a little more. It is something that really stirs me in a way that I can’t entirely explain. But it keeps calling me back.
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Now, I know jealousy is a bad feeling, but man oh man, you just made me experience that! 🙂
You have no idea how hard I have tried to photograph a wolf in the wild, with no joy whatsoever thus far. My only two wolf encounters, one in Alaska and one in Canada, were such that the wolves were so far away they would like like ants in my viewfinder…
Kudos to you: the first two shots are jaw dropping. Just fabulous.
Thank you for sharing them with us all, Lyle.
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Sorry for inspiring the bad feeling:) It’s actually quite confusing to be on the other end of that since I have drooled over the opportunity to photograph wolves and honestly never thot it was going to happen. On the day when it was the last thing on my mind, I find one. Go figure. I hope you have the opportunity to find one (or a pack) and get great photos!
I really appreciate your kind comments on the photos. I’m still pinching myself.
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Lyle,
I can’t believe you have a ‘butt’ collection. I thought I was the only one who did. It is now a yearly tradition at our Christmas party for me to provide a new image for someone’s collection. There are people all over the state who have these pics hanging in their bathrooms. Started out with a skunk in high grass, moved to five mallards with their butts in the air all feeding at the bottom of a pond, then bighorn sheep feeding in a row, then a baboon butt, an African elephant, etc. Again, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. By the way, very, very nice work!!!! Cheers, Rick
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Glad you like the photos – this set means a lot to me.
Butt photos in the bathroom – makes perfect sense to me! I was fascinated to read about your tradition. Your collection sounds more interesting than mine – I’d like to see them. My butt collection started out as frustrating mistakes but after a while I got to thinking that they didn’t look half bad. So now I keep an eye out for them. Sometimes that’s all I get!
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the look on that first shot – wow
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Thanks. Those eyes are hard to ignore.
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There is a special personal connection, I think, when an animal or bird of prey looks directly at you. It certainly can be disconcerting and maybe a little uncomfortable (especially when looking through a telephoto lens), but it is definitely special and it is usually a moment to be savored and relived.
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That’s a great way to describe it. Your comments remind me of a time when I was about 250 yards away from from four grizzlies, watching them through my long lens as they ambled away. Despite the long distance, I still felt a little uneasy when the mom turned around and looked in my direction. I still savour and relive that moment as well! I appreciate your comments as always.
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Yep, I certainly could savor a wolf. I’ve never had the opportunity though….not many around these here parts. Actually, none.
That first image is quite haunting, Lyle.
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I hope you get the opportunity to savour a wolf – there are none where I live either. I like the word haunting for that first image. I think that’s why I keep going back to it.
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The yellow eyes are spectacular!
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I am mesmerized by them.
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I just love your posts. You describe photographing nature so accurately. Those are amazing shots. The first one will quickly eliminate anyone’s botion that a wolf is simply a dog in wild clothing. Cant wait to see/hear more of this story…
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I’m glad you find my post enjoyable. I tend to analyze things in general so that probably comes out in my description of photography. I appreciate your comments.
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Wolves are cool. I love his yellow eyes. I think those will haunt my dreams.
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Those yellow eyes are wonderfully haunting. My dreams will all be positive. Wolves are incredibly interesting animals.
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Great Photos
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Thanks. I appreciate that.
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The first image is exceptional, a great capture !
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Thanks. I appreciate you checking it out. I’m still pinching myself that I was able to get it. That’s also a good thing to remember when I droughts and don’t find anything for a long time.
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I’m so glad for you that you could capture this wolf. I never saw one yet 🙂
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I hope you get the chance.
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The eyes in that first photo are incredible – they made the whole post. I liked your words too though!
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I love those eyes. I supposed that’s one of the things that makes a wolf so special. Glad you enjoyed the post.
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What a beautiful animal. You are incredibly lucky!
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It’s the beauty of the animal that makes the sighting so special. I appreciate the comments.
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What a spectacular experience you had and shared, Lyle. Those eyes. THOSE EYES! Hauntingly beautiful. And I’m a savorer, too. (Is that a word even?)
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Thanks for helping to make the experience better with your comments. Hauntingly beautiful is an apt description! And I’ll say it’s a word even if we have to start from now.
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I get more enjoyment from savoring. If I don’t savor, I usually wish I had. I’ve never seen a wolf (although there is a dog I see regularly on the trail where I walk every day that looks a lot like the animal in your photos!), but I hope some day to be able to savor a whole pack!
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I hope you get to savour a whole pack as well. That would be a blast! I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that a wolf looks a lot like a dog but somehow it is. Keep on savouring.
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Those eyes.
Just, fantastic. Thanks for sharing (at long last) so we can savor a wolf along with you.
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I really appreciate your comments as well as helping out with the answer below. I am still mesmerized by those eyes and I’m glad you enjoy savouring with me because that is still continuing.
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Wow! What a truly amazing animal beautifully captured! That first photo especially is a real stunner!
If it’s not already, get that up on your wall!
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Thanks so much – I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It was a rare and special opportunity that worked out well. I just may have to put that on my wall. Then it’s easier to savour!
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Wonderful. Wonderful! To savor or to use… I think I will savor this idea before responding in full. Likely, I will use it in my own blog of letters. Right now I am tempted to speculate that your unamed family member savors the experience in her own way. Lastly, when is that butt issue coming out?
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Thanks. Savouring ideas is also good as well as using it on your blog. I don’t think I have a corner on savouring so I think you’re right – her savouring just looks different than mine. I haven’t decided on the timing of the butt issue yet but it’s one of a few posts that will likely be out in the next couple of weeks. It’s nice to see some anticipation for it.
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Awesome photos, Lyle! The eyes in #1 are amazing! And I know the feeling, I’m still smiling when I think of the wolf I saw up in Denali earlier this year.
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Thanks. It’s fine how some creatures have an amazing capacity to make you smile.
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Absolutely – savour it.
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I’m still doing a fine job of that!
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Dear Lyle, Nice photographs.Are the alsation dogs a breed of the wolves ?Regards, Ganesh.
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All dogs are descended from wolves and are technically a breed of wolf, but not the way you’re thinking. Alsations (we call them German Shepherd Dogs in America) haven’t been bred from wolves for many thousands of years.
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Glad you liked the photos and I think you got your answer – good thing because I didn’t know that.
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Not at all sure of himself this one? A stray in unknown territory?
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Since I don’t ever see wolves, I don’t know enough about them to answer your questions. I didn’t notice any other wolves in the area though there might have been. That region of Banff National Park has wolves so it wouldn’t be uncommon for it to be there – just uncommon for me to see it.
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I like all the photos, but THAT look from the first photo has something beautiful, on the one hand, but also scary, on the other hand. I don’t find my right English words to describe my feelings, but I hope you understand.
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I understand completely – you described it well. It is scary and beautiful at the same time and that is exactly why I liked it so much from the moment I saw it. I’m still amazed at the opportunity to see it.
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