The Wolf
I have decided to create this page for two reasons. First, I believe that a wolf spirit has chosen me as a companion and as such, I have a responsibility to him and his kindred. The second is to educate people about the beauty and the wildness of these majestic animals. Be warned, I am not an expert. The information presented here has come from my personal reasearch. If there is anything I have neglected or am mistaken about, I would appreciate it being brought to my attention. I also have some wonderful WOLF PICTURES that you can view at your leasure. Thank you and enjoy.
A Brief History Wolves and humans have always had a love-hate relationship. Actually, throughout history it has been more of a hate relationship, which humans have fostered. While many Native American tribes hold a place of honor and love for these animals refering to them as brothers, their opinions have not been in the majority. Many Native American people know that wolves have similar traits to human and respect that. Then again, Native Americans have a great respect for Mother Earth in general, which many people have lost. In western societies, the wolf has been villainized. They have been given "evil" human traits. Stories and legends, such as Little Red Riding Hood and werewolves, have instilled fear and hatred of these animals. The idea that wolves eat humans became prevalent. We also must not forget the farmer or ranchers fear of the predatory nature of wolves and attacks on their livestock. Because of this these farmers/ranchers have continued and expanded the fear. A combination of fear and greed have brought these poor creatures to the brink of extinction.Due to my respect and love of wolves, the natural qualities of these animals will be addressed. This will not be limited to just their loyalty and similarities to humans, but also their predatory and wild aspects as well. To understand and appreciate wolves, one needs to respect all these qualities. To ignore one in favor of the other lessens the beauty of these animals.
Wolves: losing a precious thing Wolves at one time populated the planet. They populated many countries: Canada, USA, Mexico, Eastern and Western Europe, England, and Asia. Now they are mainly located in limited parts of Northern USA, Canada, North Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. They have completely disappeared from England, Central Europe and a majority of the USA. To examine the domain, past and present, of wolves see the MAP.Killing off wolves has happened systematically across the board. It is not limited to Westerners. Southwest Asia inhabitants went against wolves as early as 5,000BC.(1) However, it is the Europeans who brought their blood lust for wolves with them to the "New World". Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance rulers appointed officers and created position specifically for hunting wolves. In France, the official wolf hunt was not ended until 1971.(2) The English, during Henry III's reign, actually burned forests to get rid of wolves. This fear and hatred of wolves was transported to North America through the immigrants of Europe. In in US wolves no longer held the status of animals, but were elevated to criminal status. Bounties were issued for them and some were even given names such as The Traveler, Old Three toes or Mountain Billy. The esteem attached to killing wolves made this war against them even more popular. Men who killed wolves became "acclaimed hunters, uncontested king of the county, renowned and respected by all for capturing renegades."(3)
The horror of all this killing is tremendous. The knowledge that fear and irrational thoughts propagated this "war" is staggering. It is now know that wolves do not attack humans. As Daniel LeBoeuf states:
Wolf attacks on people are extremely rare in North America. The few reported cases have been, more frequently than not, a result of humans surprising wolves. According to L. David Mech, one of our greatest contemporary wolf specialists, no healthy and normally behaved wolf has ever seriously harmed a human. If a wolf suffers from rabies, it becomes dangerous to humans in the same way that a dog or any animal afflicted with this disease would.(4)Millions of people visit forests in North America. Algonguin Provincial Park, where Canada's larger concentration of wolves is found, in over a century of operations has reported no wolf attacks. I am not stating that attacks do not happen. They can, it is just rare and, usually, with probable cause. Any animal when either attacked, or precieving a threat to it's pups or person, will defend itself to the death. Also, we must take into account those wolves that are sick. In these cases it is probable that a wolf would attack. In all honesty, I would attack under these circumstances at well.
The Natural Wolf It is amazing how closely wolves resemble humans in their social life. Like humans (well, how we are "suppose" to be), wolves mate for life. They are social animal and prefer a pack life to a solitary life. They are loyal and fierce in protecting their families. They are courageous, tenacious and very intelligent.(to be continued...)
NOTES
1. LeDoeuf, Daniel The Wolf 15
2. Ibid
3. Ibid 20
4. Ibid 22
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