Tag Archives: Fishing wolves

Observations of a Wolf

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Observations9729

Wolves are a lot like you and me. When they’re out of regular wolf stuff to do, like running down a buffalo, or snarling at somebody who gets too close at the wrong time, or they’re out of sorts because their kid didn’t make the honor roll, but they’re not at that point where they have to go bite something, they find a quiet place to sit and think and  watch what other folks are doing.

That’s what Rodin is doing at the moment. He’s part of the Fishing Wolves* pack at the Wolf refuge in West Yellowstone and he’s already caught his rainbow for the day and got to eat the entire thing without having to share it with the alpha male. That’s a stroke of luck he hadn’t counted on because the alpha usually takes it away from him before he gets a chance to do much more than hold it in his mouth for a moment.

HIs stomach full and his work done for the moment, he gets to go to his favorite place, the high grass in the boulder field and watch what every one else is doing. The alpha is picking on another young wolf today, running him through his paces, teaching him who the bull duck in the pond is, or in this case who the alpha male is in the wolf pack. That cute young grey is looking at him again. He has to play it cool though so the alpha doesn’t notice. Since they’re in an enclosure it’s not like they can sneak away or anything and right now the thought of the beating he’ll get if he returns her interest doesn’t make him feel very amorous.

Stellar jays have been squawking over something, hopping from the lower branches to the ground and back up again, agitated enough it’s causing the pine cones to fall off the branches and rattle around on the ground. It’s drawing in the magpies who’ll make short work of running them off. Whatever it is it’s outside of the fence so it doesn’t affect him.

It’s a perfect day in the neighborhood. The sun’s out but because it’s mid-September it’s not too hot and the wind is just enough to move the grass back and forth a little. It feels good rubbing up against his side. If nobody notices he might just lay down for a nap, something he doesn’t get a chance to do very often. Maybe he’ll dream of running over the long rolling hills up in the Lamar or setting off with the young grey to find their own territory. After all, the skies the limit when you’re dreaming.

* http://www.bigshotsnow.com/2013/05/05/

Animal Portraits: White Wolf

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Upon Further Consideration0612

Our Animal Portrait today will be of a White Wolf.

This is one of the members of the White Wolf pack at a wolf sanctuary in West Yellowstone Montana. Actually it is a white phase of the Grey wolves (Canis lupus), also known as the timber wolf, true wolf or western wolf and are found throughout the west but mainly in the northern Rockies from Colorado to Montana and along the U.S. and Canadian border. These are a captive pack and due to trauma early in their lives they have been unable to be returned to the wild. They are kept in a large enclosure that replicates the habitat they would have occupied had things worked out differently.

They have been featured on the blog previously under a post titled http://www.bigshotsnow.com/fishing-wolves/  which shows their unusual behavior where they have developed their hunting skills on their own, so they are able to locate or hunt for Rainbow trout. The fish are introduced into a stream that runs through the enclosure and the wolves spend hours hunting and ultimately catching these trout. While not a totally satisfactory replacement for life in the wild it introduces some much need focus and activity that mimics what their behavior would have been had they been able to live out their lives in the wild, and reduces the boredom so often seen exhibited by captive animals. Obviously their prey would have been different but their hunting instincts are true to their nature.

The purpose of the Animal Portraits posts are to showcase animals in a portrait format that exhibits their characteristics and personality traits. Rather than just show them in a static pose. Each Animal Portrait attempts to capture an aspect of their personalities that may not often be seen.

Here we see one of the pack in a calculating pose where his thoughts may be something on the order of ” I see you. I know you. You have been my friend. So upon further consideration I have decided not to bite you or take away your fish, which you have caught fairly and is the second one you have caught today, while I personally have caught none so far, but I reserve judgment on whether I might do so at a later date.”

Other posts that have featured Animal Portraits are

http://www.bigshotsnow.com/animal-portraits/ Escalante Coyote

http://www.bigshotsnow.com/50-shades-of-grey/ Harbor Seal

http://www.bigshotsnow.com/animal-portraits-dazma-the-amur-leopard/ Amur Leopard

Enjoy.