A Howling Good Time

Are there wolves in Muskoka? Yes! But chances are you won’t see them. These beautiful but elusive creatures are hard to spot. If you aren’t lucky enough to see them, you may hear them howling at night. 

There are two types of wolves in Muskoka: the Eastern Wolf and its larger cousin the Grey Wolf, which is more typically found in Northern Ontario (they are sometimes collectively called Timber Wolves). The photo above is Akayla the Grey Wolf, a captive wolf at the Muskoka Wildlife Centre. Here are some interesting facts about wolves that you may not know: 

• A wolf’s sense of smell is 100 times more sensitive than a human’s and they can hear as far as 10 km away. These strong senses help make them effective hunters but also make them extremely hard to spot in the wild; they are very shy around humans.
• They primarily eat white-tailed deer but may also eat moose or beaver. Packs may travel long distances to find food; their range can be as large as 500 sq km but is more typically 150 sq km.
• Wolves have few predators: humans, bears and other wolves.
• Only the leaders of a pack, the alpha male and alpha female, mate to produce pups. Between 3-8 pups are born per year and are nursed by their mother for the first 6-8 weeks. Once they are weaned, other members of the pack help to feed the pups, first with food regurgitated from their stomachs and later with solid food.
• Scientists believe wolves howl for a variety of reasons: a single howl helps members of the pack keep in contact; a group howl may be used to defend territory or for social cohesion. You can listen to a pack howling here (recording courtesy of The Friends of Algonquin Park).

Every Thursday in August, Algonquin Park holds its extremely popular public Wolf Howls. If you’re planning to stay at Colonial Bay Cottages or visit Muskoka during August, you might want to consider adding a Wolf Howl to your agenda.

We still have some waterfront cottages available in August. Why not book a stay at Colonial Bay Cottages before summer's over? We're having one of the hottest, driest summers on record and the gorgeous weather looks like it's going to continue right through August. You can view our availability here.

From our Muskoka chair to yours,

The Howell Family

Triathlons in Muskoka

Not only is Muskoka a renowned vacation destination, it has recently become a popular site for triathlons. There are seven events still to come this year, culminating with the challenging Ironman 70.3 in September.

Part of Muskoka’s popularity for triathlons is the same reason other visitors converge here in the summer: pristine lakes, rolling hills and gorgeous scenery. Those features make for pleasing yet challenging race routes and provide ample training opportunities on many of Muskoka’s back roads and tucked-away lakes.

If you’re a triathlete, or have always wanted to try one, here are this year’s Muskoka triathlons:

• MultiSport Triathlon /Duathlon (includes a Give-it-a-Tri), Gravenhurst, July 14-15
• Muskoka Kids Tri (includes an adult try-a-tri), Port Sydney, Saturday July 21  
• Subaru Muskoka 5i50, Huntsville, Sunday July 22
• The Muskoka Grind, Sunday August 5, Limberlost Forest Reserve (just north of Colonial Bay!) - Off-Road Triathlon, Duathlon and Trail Run
• MultiSport Triathlon/Duathlon (includes a Give-it-a-Tri), Bracebridge, August 11-12
• MultiSport Triathlon, Bala, August 19
• Subaru Ironman 70.3, Huntsville, Sunday September 9

For more information about triathlons in Muskoka, go to the TriMuskoka website.

If you’re visiting Colonial Bay Cottages this summer (and why wouldn’t you be?!), why not check out a race and cheer the athletes on? If you haven’t booked yet, you can see our availability here.

We hope to see you soon!

The Howell Family