THE QUIET WATCHER
A large, adult male wolf from the Banff Town wolf pack, photographed during John’s full month of dawn to dusk cougar tracking in January 2021. While following old cougar tracks in the snow on Day 5, John noticed ravens flying up out of a small parcel of trees far ahead in the distance. As he got closer, he noticed a wolf stepping out of the trees before it noticed him. John was able to duck behind a tree and into a tree well, hiding in his camo. To his amazement, the entire family of wolves from the Banff Town wolf pack slowly sauntered by him fifty metres away. While some of them, like this male, noticed the big glass eyeball sticking out of the branches, none of the wolves recognized it as being a human object.
The wolves bedded down just seventy metres from John, and for three hours, he blissfully hung out with the pack. As darkness neared, he slipped away unnoticed, ending what had become a truly remarkable day.
This adult male dispersed from the Banff Town wolf pack shortly after this photograph was taken. However, his mother, Riley, also known as wolf F1702, is still the matriarch of the family in 2026 and the Banff Town wolf pack still rules the Bow Valley between Banff and Lake Louise.
