Some people who saw this remarkable photo of what appears to be a wolf have claimed that it is fake or altered.

I contacted the person who sent me the photograph originally and she was kind enough to provide a full-sized version of the photo, which you can see here:

Wolf, full-size

I’m no photo expert but I think this goes a long way to disproving the critics.

I know it may seem hard to believe that they did indeed have a close encounter with a wild animal that is notoriously shy, but these things do happen. The rarity of the event just makes it all the more incredible.

These people didn’t notice that they weren’t alone until they looked at the photo on their computer.

The photo was taken in Campbell River, British Columbia.

The people in this photograph were hiking in Seal Bay Park. At the end of their walk, they found some butter mushrooms on a mossy log, and were inspecting them. One of them decided to take a photograph, but not being terribly good at photography, the photo was taken off center.

When they returned home and downloaded the pictures off of the camera they got quite a surprise – a large animal that appears to be a wolf heading straight towards them.

They theorize that the flash from the camera scared it off, although I don’t know if it would be a danger or not. Certainly, it’s not the kind of animal you would normally want to be too close to!

EDIT: If you think this photo is fake, check out the full sized version.

EDIT 2: Here’s the story behind the photo as told by the woman in the foreground whose back is to the camera:

This wolf picture incident has just been crazy! It’s spreading around like wildfire! For sure you can use the pic if you’d like. The story behind it is pretty ridiculous. I was visiting my brother, niece and my niece’s mother with my mom in Courtenay, BC. Me, my mom, XXXX and XXXX went for a hike at Seal Bay Park. This picture was taken at the end of the walk…me, XXXX and XXXX were inspecting some really cool butter mushrooms on a mossy log. My mom decided to take a picture, but she’s not very good at it, so it came out totally off center (imagine if she was actually good at taking pictures- we never would have even seen it!!!). We didn’t notice anything at the time, and the “wolf” wasn’t even noticed until after getting home, and my mom had put the pictures on the computer. She didn’t even notice at first, but my other brother was like “what the hell is that??!!”. So, yeah. I don’t even know if it is a wolf, but there were no dogs or anything! around. It’s just a pretty creepy picture- that’s all I know! And it was actually my mom who took the picture (I’m in it- in the gray jacket), so credit for the photo isn’t necessary. Well, that’s my story!

From the Globe and Mail, Too much caffeine raises risk of miscarriage:

New research warning expectant mothers against drinking too much coffee during pregnancy is adding further fuel to the heated debate over the role caffeine plays in a woman’s risk of miscarriage.

Pregnant women who consume more than 200 milligrams of caffeine, or more than two regular cups of coffee, on a daily basis are twice as likely to suffer a miscarriage as those who consume none, according to a study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.

The researchers interviewed 1,063 women and found that 12.5 per cent of participants who reported no caffeine intake suffered miscarriages, compared with 25.5 per cent of women who said they consumed more than 200 milligrams a day.

In a related study, researchers found that engaging in a variety of practices collectively known as as “the finer things in life” while pregnant – a list that includes sex, laughter, most foods with flavour, and sunshine – slightly increased the possibility of having a baby with an abnormally large head and/or unusually small genitalia.

As a result, pregnant women are now being advised to spend the nine months of their pregnancy in a darkened room eating rice flavoured with water and avoiding all human contact.

All morning, Google Calendar has looked different than it usually does.

I believe I have some appointments today, but I don’t know when they are or who they are with.

Sometimes, even mighty Google is no match for that free calendar, complete with recipes, sitting on my fridge at home.

Unfortunately, it’s at home. Not that it really matters, since it doesn’t have any of my appointments on it. They’re all sitting somewhere behind that 404 page.

Having a baby has inspired me, I think, because I’ve managed to put pen to paper more in the last couple of weeks than in all of the last few months.

Literally pen to paper, since I’ve been writing on a pad, the old-fashioned way, while trying to soothe Oliver to sleep.

So, if you’re interested, read away.

I’ll take offensive words over deeds

The disgust heaped on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since his speech at Columbia University in New York has been remarkable for both its ferocity and its hypocrisy.

Ontario Tories Putting Fund in Fundamentalism

It isn’t difficult to predict what would happen to religious schools if they were publicly funded. Existing religious schools would grow larger. The number of religious schools would increase, as it would suddenly become affordable and perhaps even profitable for even small religious groups to open schools.

Enrolment in public schools would drop. The more successful religious schools became, the more the public system would decline. This, in turn, would have a ripple effect across cities.

Dreschel dumps on pedestrian piazza proposal

Mayor Fred Eisenberger’s proposal to pedestrianize Gore Park is causing a lot of buzz among Hamilton residents, especially in the downtown core.

The idea is bold, innovative, and exciting. It’s an idea that has been proven to be effective over and over again in cities in other nations, especially in Europe. And it’s something that would never have been proposed under former Mayor DiIanni.

All that means that Spectator columnist Andrew Dreschel was bound not to like it.

On the other hand, if you were just dropping by to see if any new pics of Oliver were available, you came to the right place.