Queen of the pack

Late one night while camping on the Croche River in Labrador, I had drunk too many mugs of tea and had to go to relieve the pressure. It was a fairly dark night; I really didn’t require a flashlight but carried one because I had heard ducks quacking on the river earlier in the night and wanted to see if I could spot them.

I don’t normally turn on a light at night because once my eyes are used to the darkness, I usually can see well enough to get by on. So, I proceeded to walk the short distance from the tent to the waters edge. After taking care of business, I turned on the flashlight to shine it across the water in search of the ducks, I didn’t see any but I discovered that I had a visitor.

Not twenty feet from me in the process of getting a drink of water was the queen of the pack looking up at me in a not too surprised reaction. At first, I got the usual jolt at seeing what I wasn’t expecting, but I was not really surprised because earlier in the evening I had heard a little commotion in the distance and had planned on trying to locate them the next day. She finished her drink and dissolved into the night.

I turned to go back to the tent and did get a start at getting a glimpse of what I was not expecting at all, there were several sets of eyes glowing in the beam of my flashlight just long enough for me to realize what was behind me.  Following me down the trail from the tent were several wolves who very quickly turned and disappeared into the night. This is a portrait of a queen as I remember her.