8th February
On breaking camp and returning to my cabin I noticed tracks in overnight snow, evidence of a lone wolf passing while we slept. A passing pack would be less likely to go unnoticed and make me somewhat twitchy. Waiting for violent storms to abate in my tent on sea ice can be a little anxious too. The thought of ice breaking up underneath me while I sleep is only surpassed with the vision of a pitiless crushing white blow punching through my tent. No-body survives a polar bear attack so the thought of being emptied onto ice is never a warm one.

The dogs' finer sensory perception gives them a different world of understanding and emotion to mine, or yours. In poor light a dog's eyes are able to trace and expose minute movement. Their noses have a fifteen times greater area for smelling than a human's. On top of it all their hearing is nearly five times greater than our own.

Pingo and his henchman brother Hansel are demon fighters and smart with it. They buy me time to de-fuse life threatening wildlife confrontations. They shadow me like bodyguards. Curled close, sniffing, watching and prepared they anticipate trouble. Pingo and Hansel were obviously just not bothered last night.

Despite dogs receiving free rabies immunization every year reports of rabid wolves hassling dogs in Arctic communities are normal and I think of the reported killings in Inuvik this year.