BANCROFT-AREA SHEEP, EATEN AT NIGHT WHILE THEY SLEEP, HAVE BECOME
EASY PREY FOR A FEARLESS PACK OF BIG, BAD WOLVES

MAYNOOTH, Ont. -- Where some $8 million worth of high-grade marijuana
plants once bloomed two years ago until the drug cops of Operation
Longarm literally nipped the grow-op in the bud, a flock of sheep now
graze.

But so, too, do the wolves -- the large alpha-male being the most
brazen of the three who have come at eventide to graze on fresh
spring lamb.

"He simply looks at you as if you don't exist," says farmer Tommy
Sundberg. "He shows absolutely no fear.

"He moves slowly. At his own pace."

The old farmhouse with the two-storey porch and the almost 80
hectares of rolling pasture had sat fallow for almost two months
before the Sundbergs bought it some 18 months ago.

The real estate ad on the back page of the Bancroft Times had carried
its picture, but it was the description of the property that brought
a smile to the face of Staff-Sgt. Ray Westgarth, then the head of the
jurisdictional OPP detachment a few kilometres south in Bancroft.

"This unique property has great potential for an organic beef or
produce farm," the real estate listing read. "It has 197 acres,
including a 1928 updated two-storey farmhouse, barns, outbuildings,
runway, and heated airplane hangar. The house and outbuildings are
not visible from the road, and the property is gated."

"Sounds almost perfect for a marijuana grow-op, doesn't it?"
Westgarth had said. "It's got it all ... privacy, lots of land, and
even a runway."

And perfect it was ... until the cops sniffed it out.

MORNING RAID

Only the "gardener," a 26-year-old man from Toronto, was arrested on
the morning the police made their raid.

The identity of the person who actually leased the land, however, is
still being sought -- all par for the course when it comes to
marijuana grow-ops.

We were at that farm shortly after that bust went down, then the
largest operation the police had ever taken down in this area. And we
were there, too, shortly after the Sundberg family moved in, and the
first sheep arrived.

"Yes, we were aware of the property's history," Tommy Sundberg said
at the time. "My brother-in-law told us about it. But it's perfect
for what we want it for. And that's for breeding sheep for lamb
production.

"But I'm not the boss on that," he said. "My wife is."

Evalina Sundberg, mother of four, was making lunch back at the old
farmhouse, and waiting for the first load of breeder sheep to arrive,
a number that would eventually total 90.

"Stick around," she said. "They'll be here soon."

It was only a month or so earlier that the Sundbergs had returned to
Canada from their native Sweden, having sold a sheep farm there to
help finance a similar venture here.

If the name Sundberg sounds familiar to cottagers, boaters, or the
environmentally-conscience, however, it's because Tommy Sundberg's
father, Hardy Sundberg, invented the popular Sun-Mar composting
toilet, leading to his family setting up the company's Canadian
operations in Hamilton.

Counting Sheep

"I sold my share to my brother and another investor," he explained.
"Now I only get royalties."

It was about then that a half-ton truck pulling a cattle trailer
loaded down with sheep appeared on a hilltop not far from where some
8,000 pot plants had once burst into bud.

This was where Evalina Sundberg took over, her being the "boss" of
the operation, and began directing the herding of the sheep into
their winter pens.

When last seen, the truck was heading south to Madoc to pick up its
second load of breeder stock and Evalina Sundberg, was doing what
future lamb producers do to ensure a restful sleep at the end of the
working day.

She was counting sheep.

Until the wolves got wind of the sheep, the flock had grown to 140,
with the two rams and the 80 ewes producing 58 lambs over the fall
and winter months.

It was front-page news in the Bancroft Times last week, with reporter
Barry Hendry piecing together the story of how 70 sheep had perished
over recent weeks -- 23 ewes and 47 lambs, many dying as orphans
because other ewes will not adopt them and bottle-feeding rarely
works -- and how a number of carcasses left behind, and photographed,
confirmed it was the work of wolves.

'Dealing With It'

That, plus the fact that Eva Sundberg saw that big alpha-male take
down one ewe before her eyes, in broad daylight.

"Like I said, the wolf has no fear," says Tommy Sundberg. "Now it is
just a matter of dealing with it."

Hastings Highlands is one of 29 area townships with a moratorium on
the hunting and trapping of wolves, but that all goes out the window
when a farmer has livestock to defend.

And so Tommy Sundberg has given two local hunters written permission
to track down and kill "predators" on his property -- all while he
pores over brochures regarding government assistance for better
fencing, a task in itself considering there are 36 government
programs, each wrapped in a different shade of red tape.

In the meantime, the market-value loss due to the wolves' destruction
- -- assisted, perhaps, by scavenging coyotes -- has reached almost
$15,000, $300 per ewe and $175 per lamb.

Unfortunately, however, the Sundbergs were under insured by $150 per
ewe and $50 per lamb.

Such carnage, after all, could not have been anticipated.

"We had wolves in Sweden, but not like this," Tommy Sundberg says.
"There are so many deer around here that you can look out the window
and see them.

"But the wolves don't bother with them," he says.

"Sheep are easier kills -- especially the lambs."