A wolf

At the start of October, this year, I took a few days to close up the cottage for the 2025 season. I had not used the cottage much this year as other activities and obligations took much of my summertime. However, I needed the getaway, and I needed to close up the cottage before the bad fall weather set in.

I arrived on a Wednesday evening, unloaded the boat, and settled in. As I have travelled almost all day to get there, I didn't plan on working this first evening, so I made dinner, and took some time to relax. It got dark around 7:30PM, and the solar-powered porch lighting came on. By 8:00PM, it had turned pitch black outside, and the nocturnal animals started to come out to play.

At about 8:30PM, I had settled down to read a book at the table by the front window. I had opened the window to let a bit of cool air in (as I had the wood stove burning, to get the cottage warm for the night) and was half reading, half listening to the silence outside.

I heard a definite rustling of leaves, as if an animal were walking in the forest. The sound proceeded to cross in front of the cottage, from left (towards Russel's cottage) to right (towards Ingram's cottage). The rustling was continuous, not like a grouse or a squirrel, and not as heavy as a bear or moose might make. When the animal reached the right front corner of my cottage, about where the steps to the door are, it turned up the path, away from the lake, and walked a bit towards my shed. After a moment, it stopped, and turned back. When it reached the right front corner of my cottage, it stopped again.

Then it let out a howl.

I had suspected, and now I was sure; a wolf had come to check out my cottage.

I closed the window, and ensured that the doors were locked. Then, I grabbed a party horn (something I keep handy to scare the larger animals away with), opened the window a bit, and let out two blasts from the horn. Over the next few minutes, the wolf kept howling, but the howls seemed to get further and further away from the cottage. The last howl I heard seemed to come from the direction and distance of the Ingram's cottage, about 30 metres away.

Needless to say, I kept the doors locked, and the windows closed that night. In the morning, I checked around for signs of the wolf, but saw nothing. The wolf did not return while I closed the cottage.

But, I had a wolf visit! How cool is that?