Archive for January, 2009

Since my previous article was about wolf, I think I will add another one here.  It’s from a movie “Never Cry Wolf”. If you like wolves as I do, you probably enjoy this film. 

As I mentioned that people expressed distrust and fear of wolves.  They even create several idioms such as “throw someone to the wolf” to mean to put someone in a situation where there is nothing to protect them.  I wonder if there is an idiom “wolf out”. If not, I’d to be the first one to use it.  Wolves have been painted into a bad image for too long; it’s time for people to wolf out of the wolf topic. How about that?

The following passage is excerpted from a book, Vocabulary for College Students. The Canadian government was concerned that wolves were damaging the ecology of the Arctic by eating so many caribou that the animal was disappearing; therefore, officials sent Farley Mowat to see what effect hungry northern wolves were having on caribou herds. In his book Never Cry Wolf, his description of a year living close to wolves contradicts the traditional image of the “big, bad wolf.” From the beginning Mowat’s encounters with wolves surprised him. Weaponless, he found himself at their mercy three times.  Although they could have killed him, they simply walked away. Even when he went into their territory, they did not attack him. The implication was clear; the senseless viciousness of the wolf was large in the human imagination.

Fascinated, Mowat was determined to observe the wolves at close range. He defined his own territory, lived in a tent, and watched them through a telescope. Mowat’s wolf family consisted of a couple, “Georgie” and “Angeline,” their wolf pups, and “Uncle Albert”, a single male. They were affectionate and caring. The entire wolf den was organized around feeding the pups. Each afternoon, George and Uncle Albert went off to hunt, returning the next morning; however, Angeline, apparently conscious of her responsibilities as a mother, stayed home to watch her youngsters.

During family play, sometimes a pup’s lively nipping and licking wore Angeline out, but the good-natured Uncle Albert was always ready to take her place. Mowat gives a graphic description of wolf games of ‘tag,’ with Uncle Albert playing “it.” Uncle Albert was also an effective, if unwilling, babysitter. All three adults carefully instructed the puppies in hunting.

At first, wolf calls disturbed Mowat. The animals would come together and vociferate in high-pitched howls for several minutes, sending chills of fear down Mowat’s spine. Gradually, he began to realize that wolves could communicate different messages.  After listening to howls, one day, Ooteck, Mowat’s Eskimo companion, became greatly excited and rushed off. A few hours later, he returned with a host of visitors. How had Ooteck known where to find them? He had gotten the information from the wolves’ howls. Another time, Ooteck claimed that two wolf packs, separated by many miles, announced the presence of caribou herds to each other.

As he continued to watch the wolves, Mowat began to wonder what they ate. For most of the year, the caribou were far away. How did the den support itself during this time? One day he watched Angeline trap twenty-three mice in one afternoon. Could it be that the great beast of the north could support itself by eating the lowly mouse?

To test the ability of the large animal to live on mice, Mowat used himself as a subject. For several months, he ate only mice, developing several recipes! He reported that this diet did not affect his health, and he remained as vigorous as ever. He drew the inference that wolves could also live on a diet of mice.

Did wolves ever hunt caribou? Mowat found that the wolves hunted a few, mainly weak or old, caribou. By removing the animals that wolves find it hard to survive, the wolves actually strengthened the caribou heard. But if wolves were not killing the caribou, who was? Mowat decided that most were hunted by human beings.

Mowat’s experienced with Arctic wolves was a prologue to efforts that aroused the public’s conscience about the treatment of the animals. Soon after he returned from the wolf, he began work on a manuscript to make people more aware of wolves. The resulting book, Never Cry Wolf, played an important part in saving the northern wolf, which, he estimated, numbered fewer than 3,000. Mowat invoked the aid of wildlife organizations to preserving and increasing the wolf population. He urged the government to revoke edicts that gave rewards for dead wolves. In response to the pleas of Mowat and other wildlife advocates, people are now taking steps to protect this valuable animal.  

*** orignially from Wolf Organization **** 

Have I ever mentioned that wolves are my favorite wild animals? I started to support Wolf Organization several years ago. To my chagrin, my information has been shared with other wildlife organizations.  As you can imagine that I have been drained with the letters asking for my support. Some of them call asking me to commit to a monthly support. That is too pushy so they will never get a penny from me. Even though I burst out loud that I no longer have a job or stable income, they still persist claiming that even $5 or $10 helps. “What part of having no income don’t you understand?” Of course, I didn’t say it; that would have been too mean, right? I wish I could just chew their heads off but I’m a nice girl. The funny thing about these organizations is that they always send me the petitions to sign and they attack on every president, whether it’s a democrat or a republication. Somehow they find the cause to take the actions against a governor of a certain state or the President. My advocacy toward Wolf organization is to be a part of a decent program to education people about wolves.

Centuries of folklore and tradition have expressed distrust and fear of wolves. We speak of starvation as “having (or keeping) the wolf at the door.” It is the wolf who tricks the folklore figure Little Red Riding Hood. Finally, an evil person who appears to be innocent is called a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” These creatures have no good reputation among human beings.

Hunting Logan, the wolf:

Several months ago I watched a discovery channel about a wolf named Logan and a Mexican hunter. I was mesmerized by a story which was claimed to be a true one.  Sometimes in 18^th century, the farmers in CA were fed up with Logan that preyed on their livestock and the domestic animals so they decided to hire a famous wolf-hunter from Mexico. The hunter had been following or tracking Logan for many years; however, his effort was in vain. Many tricks and methods to catch Logan had been tried, but Logan was always one step ahead of him. That was a humiliation for the hunter. Finally, he put up the traps along with the baits. The very next morning, he found his pile of meat (his bait) on the ground. Logan didn’t fall for the tricks; he was smarter than that. A lone-wolf with no mate like him enjoyed playing a mouse and cat with the hunter. Soon after, he had found himself a white female wolf; she became his downfall. Being pregnant, she needed extra food to feed herself. Realizing that Logan was no longer alone, the hunter continued on with his hunting skills. He set a little over hundred animal traps with the poisonous baits. She became the prey herself. Not being to help his mate, Logan was frustrated. He kept coming back to the same spot she was trapped but couldn’t sense her. The hunter, on the other hand, came up with the new trick. He dragged her body to the area where he had put the traps, hoping Logan would fall for it this time. Logan sniffed his way through until he reached a cabin. Now the end is a bit fussy to me. I can’t remember whether he stepped on the trap or he stood there letting the hunter shoot at him. The bottom line is that Logan was killed by the Mexican hunter. He buried Logan and the white female wolf together. The hunter wrote a diary telling a story about his experience with Logan.  As a wolf lover, I found this documentary extremely touchy.   

I trust everyone had a nice Christmas and New Year. What is my new year resolution? Good question without an interesting answer. I will have to think about it before making any commitment to myself.