Wolf on Old York Road

by Tim
(Burlington, Ontario, Canada)

Running on Old York road, around 8:45 AM about .2 km west of the cemeteries.

I'll start of by saying I'm a wildlife lover first and foremost.

Any time I happen to spot even a Raccoon or a Fox, I'm delighted to stop what I'm doing and watch the animal for as long as I'm privileged enough to.

I'm a runner who runs a route varying a bit through Waterdown and Northeastern Hamilton every Sunday morning.

We often spot Deer, have seen a few Turkeys as well as a few other varieties of birds, Turkey Vultures, Hawks etc.

I've had many encounters with Coyotes around Burlington and have always found them to be a bit mangy.

This morning on our run, we saw a few Deer and my girlfriend was very apprehensive about it, asking what she should do if she were to encounter them on her own.

I told her merely to keep running and let them be, even if there were on the road they would quickly pass. I teased her about it a bit and she then asked if there were any animals she should be scared of.

I jokingly said that if she encountered a Wolf or Bear she should probably change her course and allow them to move on before she continued.

It wasn't much longer as we passed the cemeteries heading west on Old York road (about 1 - 1.5 kms from the HWY 6 access) that something jumped out in front of us, maybe 100 yards ahead.

At first I thought it was another Deer but it wasn't walking right for that, it's long tail dropped down and hid the white underside that led me to my original assessment.

It revealed an animal that looked like the largest Coyote I'd ever seen, but a bit darker, with strands of black, grey and white, as well as a black tipped tail. I tried to speed up to get a better look (foolish idea I know), but was unsuccessful as it ran off and was gone through a small wooded area on the north side of the road.

I convinced myself it was just a Coyote, partially to calm my girlfriend, and we continued on.

It wasn't until this evening that I had a bit of time to look into it and find all of these great sightings.

I was describing it all day as an 8 - 10 month old German Shepherd, so I think that would be the best assessment for size, probably around 50 - 60 lbs. It had a bit lighter colourings than a Shepherd though.

I'd love to hear any feedback or if anyone has seen an animal similar to this around the same area.

It was truly a gorgeous animal, big mane on the chest with a lighter colour, and not mangy at all, looked strong in every area.

Please discuss because I'd love to know more about these animals living in our area.

Thanks for reading

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