December 2019 BBC Wildlife 101P
hotographyand
connectingwith
naturehavebeen
mysalvation
duringa lifetimeofanxiety
anddepression.Aftera
particularlychallenging
periodlastyear,I felt
inexplicablycompelledto
stepoutsidemycomfort
zone.I decidedI wouldhike
aloneintothebushatthenorthernendof
VancouverIsland,insearchofa coastalgrey
wolf.I hadneverseenonebeforeandhad
alwaysdreamtofit.
Tobeginmywolfpilgrimage,I walked
forhourswithnothingbutthethoughtsin
my head and the sound of my breath. My
pack was heavy and, never having done
anything like this before, I felt slow and
inexperienced. Honestly, I was terrified.
The first night was pitch black, with
a torrential downpour. To keep my pack
light, I only brought an open tarp – no
tent. I remember laying there, thinking:
‘what am I doing?’ Everything got soaked.
I couldn’t get a fire going and there was
no phone signal. Still, despite being
uncomfortable and afraid, I kept telling
myself this was something I needed to do.
The next morning, as I looked out onto
the beach, what happened next was nothingshortofmiraculous.A pack
of 10 wildwolvesmarched
towardsmelikea bandof
guardians.AsI satinthe
treelineequippedwithmy
camera,knifeandbearspray,
I wasnolongerscared.I felt
morealivethaneverbefore.
I watchedthewolves
‘dance’andrunalongthe
beach,manyofthem
pausingtolookatme.Onewolfstopped,
curiouslytitleditsheadandtooka few
stepstowardsme.I said“Hey”ina calm,
confidentvoice.Webothstayedstilland
staredintoeachother’seyesforquitesome
time.I feltdrunkwithadrenaline– like
falling in love.
The pack eventually moved down the
beach, while two stayed behind and began
howling to each other. The morning sun lit
up the sand with piles of washed-up kelp,
ocean mist and a rainbow appeared in the
distance. I couldn’t believe what had
happened. It changed my life. Overnight,
I went from terrifying self-doubt to a feeling
of strength and assurance. That was the day
I was accepted into the wolf pack.Spending some alone time
with a pack of wolves
TA L ES F R O M T H E B US H
When Charlotte Gruneau set o into the wilderness on
her own, she ended up with a life-c counter.I’m sure that lots of us
who are concerned about the
environment could do more
at home, but we have no way
of knowing what measures
the young people in the
protests have or have not put
in place. Add to that the fact
they are probably not in control
of the household spending on
solar panels or electric cars, so
they can have little influence in
a direct practical sense.
Terry Halls, EssexThe business
of hunting
The debate of whether trophy
hunting is a good or bad thing
for conservation is one that
could go on for ever (Wild
News, September 2019). While
I do understand that there is
a lot of money being spent
by trophy hunters in pursuit
of their ‘hobby’ – money on
rifles, bullets, permits and
any other equipment they
might need, travel expenses,
accommodation and so on –
this money is going into the
pockets of big businesses. I
don’t see it being put to use in
the local communities, a claim
given by the people who back or
participate in trophy hunting.
While a few people may get
some sort of employment as
guides, the majority of local
people are unaffected. Instead
of accepting money for trophy
hunting, why aren’t tourists
being encouraged to visit
these areas for holidays and
safaris, with the money going
to the communities?
Owen Hollifield, via emailOUR WILD WORLD
CHARLOTTE GRUNEAU is a
Canadian wildlife photographer
living in British Columbia.QUIZ ANSWERS (see p97)
The Wild Words are: 1B, 2A, 3C, 4B, 5B, 6C
COMPETITION WINNERS
Dancing with Bees book and bee-friendly goodies:
S Shaw, East YorkshireRohan Van Twest/Alamy
Everything
got soaked, I
couldn’t get a
re going and
there was no
phone signal.S
T
Some of the coastal
wolves seemed just as
interested in Charlotte
as she was in them.Have a wild
tale to tell? Email a
brief synopsis to
sarah.mcpherson@
immediate.co.ukTr o p h y h u n t i n g
divides opinion.