Canis lupus......one of the most magnificent creatures God created. Yet, most people will live their entire lives without the good fortune of seeing a wolf in the wild.
Wolves are powerful, proud, and intellegent hunters, but also have an intricate, well-organized social system.
However, as far back in history as can be recalled, the wolf has been associated with evil.
"now it turns out at last that grey wolf and timber wolf are near extinct,
Done out of being by the tales we tell told us by Nanny in the nursery;
Young sparks we were, to set such forest fires as blazed from story
into history and put such bounty on their wolvish heads."
-Howard Nemerov
In reality, though, only if rabid is the wolf the blood-thirsty, unpredictable creature it was long believed to be. And while wolves do kill other animals, predation is only
part of nature's food chain and the natural balance of things in the wild, and no different from human beings.
The only way to reverse the negative perception of the wolf is to really know the wolf. So, as you browse the pictures
of the wolves on this page, and other links, take notice of the wolf. Look into its wise eyes. Reach out to touch its luxurious fur. Imagine a lonely winter landscape blown over with thick,
drifting, white snow. Or, place yourself in the social atmosphere of a pack rearing a litter of mischievous pups during warmer months. Come to understand the importance of the wolf's continued
existance - as secretive as it may be to the majority of the world.
Let's keep the wolf in our hearts and in our world. Unafraid and informed, let us feel the magic of the wolf.
This poem captures the wolf's plight.
We are sending you to that Great God.
Tell Him that we who invented forgiveness do not forgive;
That we, who speak of trust cannot trust;
That we, who invoke faith would not believe.
I write as though you could read.
But I know you understand.
When you have left the forests and tundras
and no longer leave your sinewy trails within the snows,
Tell Him that you were made on a different day.
Your howls of bewilderment will echo
with the mountain winds.
And your songs will join those of the whales.
Tell Him for me,
"Forgive them Father for they know not what they do."