Three Among the Wolves: A Couple and Their Dog Live a Year With Wolves in the Wild by Helen Thayer

Author:Helen Thayer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Non-Fiction, Adventure
ISBN: 9781570613982
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Published: 2004-04-06T07:00:00+00:00

A favorite game is to race full speed through the stream, dousing playmates along the way.

We were delighted to see that the wolves didn’t mind Charlie’s occasional interaction with the pups. They apparently sensed that their offspring were safe with him.

As the pups grew, their eyesight improved. They would stare across to where they thought Charlie should be, then make a beeline for him. One afternoon he took them to the stream to join him in a drink. But instead of lapping the water they tried to nuzzle Charlie, apparently assuming that he would provide them with water from his mouth, the same way the adults regurgitated meat for them. Charlie, no doubt puzzled, ignored their odd behavior and kept on lapping until they got the hint. The pups enjoyed playing in the water, leaping at the ripples that flowed by, although they made no attempt to explore farther downstream among the willows, where the grizzly had emerged weeks before.

Most of the time Charlie was content to watch the pups’ antics from a distance. After they lost their baby habits, he no longer invited them to play. When they approached his boundary, he informed them with a soft but authoritative growl that he preferred that they observe his property rights. They were quick to learn his limits and stay back. We were also concerned that if they spent too much time in Charlie’s territory, our relationship with their family might be impaired, so we often shooed them back home. By the time the pups moved to the rendezvous site, they were staying in their own territory exclusively. All the wolves respected Charlie’s scent marks. After we caught the adults snooping around the tent, they crossed the invisible line only sporadically, usually just to run across a corner to inspect the tiny movement of a lemming, which of course demanded instant attention.

As we became more familiar with the wolves, we also grew more adept at recognizing their various facial expressions. The wolves’ normal expression was relaxed, except when they submitted to a higher-ranking wolf. Then they groveled, held their heads low, flattened their ears, and turned their lips downward. At times they offered an apologetic paw from a turned-away body. When angry they pulled their lips back into a snarl and wrinkled their muzzles, displaying long white fangs. At playtime they smiled, with lips pulled back and slightly turned up at the corners.

Differences were often settled with snarls or sharp nips on shoulders or rumps. Occasionally, a wolf of a higher rank pinned and stood over a subservient member after some transgression, such as an attempt to eat out of turn. The teens and pups, although often disciplined for misbehavior, were never injured. We never observed a serious adult fight that ended in injury. Even pack scapegoat Omega, although sometimes picked on and cowed, was never harmed.

One evening after watching from our usual lookout ridge above the junction, we took a shortcut to where the wolves appeared headed for a hunt. But we chose the wrong route and were soon left far behind.

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