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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Maxim Bloudov got quite the shock on Thursday evening when he looked out his window at this Peace River Flats residence and saw two wolves making their way across the snow-covered field outside the Yellowknife Racquet Club and across Franklin Avenue toward School Draw Avenue.

Maxim Bloudov saw two wolves slink by his Peace River Flats home Thursday night. - Katherine Hudson/NNSL photo

He saw one at first, in the glow of the street lights, slinking by the Fritz Theil ball park fence and as Bloudov rushed to another window facing the downtown area, he saw the first wolf follow a second wolf through a parting in the gate and across Franklin Avenue.

"There was another truck that stopped and flashed its lights and honked its horn to scare them away," said Bloudov on Monday.

This was the first time he has seen a wolf in the neighbourhood, although other animals are not strange to the area.

"We live on the outskirts. Basically we have a lot of wildlife. Three weeks ago, I saw a coyote run across the field with a cat in its mouth," he said.

He judged that the animals he saw were wolves by their size and their big bushy tails – they were much bigger than his leonberger, a giant breed of dog that grows up to 74 kilograms.

"We have a lot of foxes and coyotes running around, this was a big animal. As soon as I saw it and its big bushy tail, I knew it was a wolf. Then I looked and there was another one, and I know they run in packs," he said.

Bloudov said he thinks the wolves came in looking for food from the Back Bay area, which is only a block and a half away from his house and is first body of water to freeze in winter.

Immediately after the sighting, he phoned the RCMP and then announced the sighting on Facebook, where he also warned people to bring pets inside.

"Basically 80 per cent of the neighbours have dogs … Getting message out there is all you can do," he said.

Const. Amanda McGillivray with the Yellowknife RCMP said if police receive any sort of animal call, the concern is to be forwarded to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

However, according to Judy McLinton, manager of communications for the department, there were no calls concerning wolf sightings as of Monday.

In an e-mail, McLinton said when the department gets a call about wildlife, the officer takes the details to determine if there is a need for an immediate response. She said wolves are fast and can cover long distances before an officer can respond to the call.

"If it is about problem wildlife which could pose a threat to public health or safety, an officer or officers respond to the call," McLinton said.

She said action on the part of officers depends on the level of threat the animal poses to the public.

"Generally, we hope the problem can be handled without harming wildlife but under certain conditions the animal may need to be destroyed," McLinton said.

"Residents must remember that wolves do live in the wild areas around the City of Yellowknife and they should take precautions to deter wolves or other wildlife from coming into their yards or neighbourhoods and to keep pets on a leash when walking them," said McLinton.

Wolf sightings are not uncommon in the city. Last year a wolf was shot at the dump, and around this time in 2010, dogs were attacked by wolves near the Sand Pits and in the Kam Lake industrial park.

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