By Brenda Starkey
The Chronicle

     TONASKET - State wildlife officials say a wolf caught by a game camera in the Pine Creek Road area is a mystery.
     Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are aware of the creature, are contacting area residents and have taken measures to find more information, Assistant District Biologist Jeff Heinlen said.
     A photo shot by Sean Overman's game camera on July 31 shows what appears to be a wolf with its tail between its legs heading down a slope in a treed area.
     The animal appears to be stressed, enforcement officer Sgt. Jim Brown said.
     Officials have been attempting to contact residents in the area to find out if any have seen the animal and if it has created any problems, Brown said.
     So far, it seems the animal is a lone individual and hasn't attacked any pets or livestock, Brown said.
     Biologists are hoping to get more photos and possibly some DNA so they will know more about the creature.
     "We've put cameras up in the area - not on private land - and are monitoring the situation," Heinlen said.
     It might be a young male cast out from the Look Out Pack in the Methow Valley or it could be one that has wandered in from British Columbia, Heinlen said.
     If it's a young animal, it wouldn't have been a dominant member of the pack, Heinlen said.
     Brown said the submissive position of the creature in the picture tends to make him wonder if it is a hybrid that has had harsh treatment from a human at some point in its life.
     The behavior doesn't appear to be aggressive, Brown said.
     Both men say the area's migrating deer could make conditions ideal for a wolf, since that is the canine's preferred food.
     It also could just be a creature passing through the area, they say.
     The coloration of the pictured wolf is similar to that of the Look Out Pack animals, but that might not be significant, Heinlen said.
     The Look Out Pack had an alpha male, alpha female and four pups last year, Heinlen said. That number could have changed and the alpha female seems to be missing.
     If she had somehow lost her radio collar, the collar would still be heard, and it has gone silent, he said.
     "My impression is that this is not the missing female," he said.