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Animal was struck on Highway 17 but not given up for dead
Published Jan 27, 2026 • 4 minute read
A young female wolf recovers on the weekend after being struck by a vehicle near Hagar.Article content
A female wolf was spared a brutal and lonely death on the weekend thanks to the efforts of a thoughtful motorist, a pair of OPP officers and local wildlife rehabbers.
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Gloria Morissette of the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre in Blezard Valley said she got a call Saturday night around 8:30 p.m. regarding the animal, which had been struck on Highway 17 near Hagar.
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It was an extremely cold night, with the wind chill making it feel like -30 C, she said, and the wolf had crawled off the highway, her hind legs disabled from the blow, and into a makeshift den.
“There was an industrial garage nearby with cars buried in the snow in the yard, and she snuck underneath one of those,” said Morissette.
That was known only because the driver who hit the wolf, a man from the Huntsville area named Blake, had not just stuck around but tracked the animal to its hiding place and reached out for assistance.
“It’s really nice that he stopped and followed this wolf to where it settled and stayed there until help could arrive,” said Morissette. “It took us over an hour to get there, so he was very patient in that cold weather to wait all that time.”
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In the meantime two OPP officers with the Nipissing West detachment, Deven Doodnath and Cody McMahon, had also shown up on the scene. They joined Morissette and her husband Brian, as well as Blake, who happens to a member of the armed forces, in a collective effort to coax the wounded wolf from its lair.
“It’s not something I recommend a member of the general public tries to do,” said Morissette. “And if it was just Brian and myself, there would have been no way we could have gotten her out. But luckily we had enough people and they were all very professional.”
A wolf hit on Highway 17 was in a state of shock and fear when picked up by rescuers, but will now be getting surgery and a chance to lope again.
Together they were able to dig out enough snow, while also blocking an exit route, to access the wolf and snag her with a catch pole.
“We didn’t put our hands anywhere near the mouth — we kind of know how to handle those situations,” said Morissette. “She was in a bit of shock at that point, plus injured, so she didn’t do much fighting. The toughest part was just getting her out of that place she had wedged herself into.”
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Once out, “we were able to cover her with a thick blanket and pull her into a carrier.”
The wolf was kept overnight at Turtle Pond and treated for shock and cold, then transported to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau.
“We don’t have access to X-rays currently so we wanted to send her down quickly to a facility that had that capability,” said Morissette. “And if there was a break, she would have to go down south anyway because that’s where the wildlife surgeon is.”
The Turtle Pond director learned early Tuesday evening that the wolf had been diagnosed with fractures in both femurs, and would be going for surgery on Wednesday at the National Wildlife Centre in Caledon.
While it was too early to say whether the procedures would work and enable a full recovery, Morissette said she’s hoping for the best.
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“The vets there are orthopedic specialists,” she said. “Fingers crossed.”
The wolf luckily didn’t experience a head injury, she noted, and was in decent physical shape prior to being struck. “She’s a young female, about 60 pounds.”
Turtle Pond has taken in all kinds of creatures since it formed in 2017, including bears, coyotes, snowy owls and even a pelican, but this is the first time it has accommodated, if only briefly, a wolf.
“They are not something that is easily caught,” said Morissette. “We have treated some in the field who had mange, putting medication in bait, but this is the first wolf we brought into the centre.”
The she-wolf was “pretty alert and aware” after one night in the shelter, the rehabber said, and she felt privileged to be in the proximity of such a striking and iconic animal.
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“She’s absolutely gorgeous,” she said. “I was just really happy to be able to participate in that, and the police were happy that they didn’t have to dispatch her. If they hadn’t found anyone, that was their only option.”
None of this would have been possible, however, had Blake not shown such compassion, she said, going out of his way to find her and get her help.
The soldier has asked that the wolf be named Vimy, she said, in honour of a military dog who passed away in 2021. The name, of course, is a nod to Vimy Ridge, where so many Canadians fought and died during the First World War.
The prognosis for the wolf remains uncertain at this point but at least she has a chance to live and possibly even return to the wild.
“It’s a lot better than that poor thing slowly dying in the cold, under that old car in the snow,” said Morissette. “So I feel good about it.”
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