Trail cameras are great for keeping track of wildlife, and they also can apparently double as a pretty good chew toy for wolves out in the wild.
This footage was captured thanks to some cameras that are set up around Alberta, Canada, which are usually utilized for tracking the area’s wild horse population.
The “Help Alberta Wildies Society” is a group dedicated to the conversation and protection of the area’s wild horse population, and while they usually post about the “wildies,” they occasionally post about some other animals they encounter as well.
In this case, the trail cameras that the wildlife society has set up actually helped solve a small mystery. One of cameras that was mounted in the woods was actually stolen, and no one knew what happened to it or what/who could have taken it.
The nighttime footage showed two wolves walking by a still functioning trail camera, with one of them holding something in its mouth that didn’t look quite right. Upon further inspection, you can see that the wolf is chomping on a trail cam it had pulled off of its mouth, and the infrared light on the camera (being held by the wolf) was still working and shining into the night.
The Help Alberta Wildies Society was eventually able to retrieve the camera that the wolf had taken, saying that it was “pretty chewed up but it kept recording.”
They also made it clear that the infrared light that was coming out of the camera that the wolf was holding didn’t harm or disturb the animal in any way because that light is only detected by other technological devices that have the same infrared capabilities.
We are all still wondering why the wolf decided to swipe the trail camera, and I think I might have a pretty decent theory: they are just dogs too. Our furry friends evolved from wild wolves, and just as your pet dog likes to chew on the TV remote sometimes, wolves also like to grab things they aren’t supposed to and use them as chew toys.
The Help Alberta Wildies Society posted the funny video to their Facebook page, saying:
“In case there was any doubt about who ran off with the trail camera, the evidence is a bit telling.”
