THE COMPANY OF WOLVES

Wolves are probably the most misunderstood animal in the world. For centuries they have been a focus for mankinds fear and scapegoats for a variety of ills. Wolves have been prominently featured in many of the greatest tales as the monster who crouches in the darkness waiting to strike. Both times in history when the zealotry of men of God destroyed countless innocents, the wolf was seen as a creature of the devil.

Though we as a race are no longer led by superstition in these modern times, wolves are still persecuted, by ranchers and the agricultural conglomerates who support them. As a result the wolves are considered an endangered species and are in danger of becoming extinct.

Wolves are the perfect representation of the wilderness and as such embody the very essence of nature. They are a symbol of both sides of nature, the ability to create and the capacity for destruction. They are dual natured just like man, just like everything in nature and the universe. Man saw wolf as a reflection of the beast inside him and as such used wolf as a representation of all he feared, didn't understand or couldn't control in himself and his surroundings. This is why the wolves were made to suffer and their portrayal in stories only fueled man's determination to wipe them out.

Back before wolves were placed under the government's protection, our goverment paid bounties on every wolf kill. Hunters, after killing a female wolf, would seek out her den and either place the helpless cubs in a burlap sack and drown them or beat them to death with clubs. The hunter's recieved no bounty on cubs because there wasn't enough fur for a decent pelt but they destroyed them anyway. They employed cruel traps in the woods and chartered planes to go ariel hunting over the tundra. Even today ranchers destroy wolves despite the law against it. This is mankind's legacy, wolves hunted to the brink of extinction, at least 1 breed of wolf is gone for good.

Although these stories of terror abound, a healthy wolf has never been known to attack a human. In fact wolves by their very nature avoid humans and any places they dwell. Wolves are nothing like how ranchers portray them. They are friendly, highly intelligent, loyal and very social creatures. Much like humans they also have a strong sense of family and relations within the pack are close knit and complex.

Wolves live by an intricate hierarchical structure. Each wolf has their place within this system and leading the pack is the "alpha" male and female. Because the survival of the pack depends upon each wolf doing his or her part, wolves do not fight amongst each other for the most part. The "alphas" are established early on when the pack is formed and there is little reason to question their authority because quite simply, they are the strongest of the pack. The only reason an "alpha" loses their position is when they can no longer lead the pack in hunts or defense. This is usually through sickness, injury or advanced age, in which case the next strongest takes the lead. They are the perfect blend of socialism and democracy. Much like socialism, the needs of the "citizens" are cared for while at the same time they provide the democratic freedom to replace their leaders when they can no longer do their duty.

The "alpha" male and female mate for life and all members of the pack help to care for the pups. If the parents are unable to care for the cubs another member will adopt them. Wolves make very tolerant parents and the entire pack takes responsibility for them, serving as babysitters, teachers and friends for the cubs. This shows that wolves have a great respect for family.

Wolves are however predators, but despite the ranchers claims, wolves generally only prey upon the sick, young and old. They prey consistently upon deer and can travel up to as much as 10 miles in search of prey. When they eat they leave nothing behind, it is in their nature to waste nothing because they never know when their next meal will come. The only time a wolf will ever prey upon domesticated cattle is when they have no other choice. This is usually when food is scarce during a particularly harsh winter. Otherwise they go out of their way to avoid human settlements.

Wolves are also an important part of any ecosystem. For example, when wolves were removed from Yellowstone National Park, many other species suffered.

Without the wolves, deer populations within the park exceeded the available food sources and entire fields were defoliated. Worse still, the deer that were weak or carried disease passed on their sickness to other animals since there were no wolves to cull the herds.

Coyotes, who aren't capable of taking large game on their own depend on wolves to supplement their diet of rodents. Without that extra food many coyotes did not survive and as a result could not perform their job of keeping rodent populations at a supportable level. Without a predator like the wolf, natures delicate balance is broken.

Each animal plays an important part in every ecosystem. Just like spiders released into a garden will keep insects from destroying crops, or bees carry pollen to grow new flowers, wolves provide a service.

The Native Americans honored wolves as one of their most important and respected totems. The wolves taught them important lessons. The virtues of balance between democracy and autocracy for the health and safety of all, honoring your family, children and elders, living in harmony with nature, strength, confidence and surety in leadership, wasting nothing, a strong community to help share the burdens and most importantly, listening to your inner-self because it is the one place that speaks truth.

Despite the recent victory for the Yellowstone wolves they are still very much in danger. The Defenders of Wildlife and other preservation groups still have an uphill battle to preserve these magnificent creatures. Being that most of them are non-profit institutions they depend on people like us to help them fight their war.

It is indeed a war. Every year more species lose their native habitats to building as progress forces cities to expand ever further into virgin lands. Deforestation certainly doesn't help the matter. In places like the Amazon rain forest, biologists have speculated that we have driven some species into extinction before we even had the opportunity to discover them.

The wolves however are in our own backyard, we don't have to fly halfway around the world to see them, but we can no more save them then we can help save the rain forests if we don't voice our opinions and donate funds to the various preservation groups.