In Praise of Wolves

by R. D. Lawrence

  Those individuals who are prepared to meet all of the above requirements and who might decide to keep one wolf of each sex should be aware that under normal circumstances the pair will breed annually and produce from two to as many as twelve pups per litter. Thus, after the original pair reaches sexual maturity at twenty-two months (it has been known for captive wolves to breed during their first year of life, although this is unusual), they will at least double or triple their numbers. Now hierarchical behaviour is intensified and the humans involved become less important to the wolves. And if the pups are left for their parents to raise, these will never become tame enough to be handled. In such cases, it means that if any of them needs to be treated for illness or injury, they will most likely have to be tranquilized by means of a dartgun, a dangerous procedure for the animal in question and one that causes a great deal of stress in the other wolves, who see the darting as a form of attack on the pack as a whole, for, of course, they do not know that only one animal has been selected for the treatment. Beyond these things the increase in numbers will naturally demand the supply of more food and, most probably, an expansion of the enclosure, both of which can add up to a great deal of money on a continuing basis.

  Fortunately, it is possible today to prevent mating without separating the male and female. One way is to perform a vasectomy on the male when he is about eighteen months old. This procedure is irreversible in most cases, so if the two wolves are to be allowed to breed at some point in the future, vasectomy is clearly not recommended. A less radical option is now available in the form of birth-control pills or foods that prevent the female from going into estrus. If food is used, both wolves (or all, if more than two are involved) will probably ingest it. This will not affect the males in any way, but it is possible that the target female(s) may not get enough of it and will go into heat in any event. The pill, in my opinion, is the easiest to administer and the surest because, a week or two before estrus is due to start, one simply stuffs a pill inside a cube of raw meat or a ball, of hamburger and gives this to the female, a daily treatment that must be continued until about mid-March. Both of these birth-control substances are now available from veterinarians for use on domestic dogs as well as on wolves. To date I am not aware of any harmful side effects, although experiments of some twenty years ago did cause kidney failure in test subjects.

  Wolves, like human beings, are individualistic, and for this reason it is not possible to forecast the future behaviour of captive animals. Some may die of old age (between seventeen and twenty years) while remaining friendly at all times to all persons. Others may be friendly to their human companions and to those individuals whom they have known for some time; yet others may show aggression toward strangers, in which case they will probably howl-bark, may even growl, and, more rarely, may snap at a hand or leg. None of these things mean that captive wolves who have been given reason to attack an individual do so with the intent to kill; such behaviour would be extremely rare in wolves that are properly cared for and live in spacious surroundings. But wolves that have been improperly cared for, badly treated by their handlers, or kept chained up, should be considered potentially dangerous, especially to small children.

  First-time visitors should never be allowed to get close to captive wolves, no matter how settled and friendly these may be, unless such persons have had previous contact with the species and understand their ways. A great many people, although curious to see and approach wolves, are yet inherently afraid of the animals. This creates a contradiction in the minds of the wolves. They immediately detect the fear by the odour and by appraising the behaviour of the human who is approaching them, but such an individual, apprehensive though he or she may be, dares to advance because the wolves are safely housed behind a high fence. Now, when wolves, and indeed all other animals, recognize fear in another being, they expect such an individual to seek to escape. If the intruder continues to advance toward them, they view such behaviour as threatening and they become confused, at which point they themselves become apprehensive. But because they cannot escape, and because they believe their territory is being invaded, they will most probably react aggressively. Under those circumstances, it would be folly for a visitor to seek to pat the wolves. It would be madness to allow such a person to enter the enclosure.

  In some instances, a visitor may not be afraid of the wolves and may have been accepted by them, but if a person should be foolhardy enough to try to take a liberty with a wolf, he or she may well be bitten in consequence. On the other hand, by allowing the animal to make the first advances and by behaving gently toward it, a firm and lasting friendship will probably result, because wolves have a long, long memory, especially if they like or dislike a person. In the latter context, I have often been asked why a wolf, or any other animal, should dislike a person on sight, the question usually voiced in surprise and prompted by a subconscious belief that all animals should be only too glad to accept human attention. When I reply to such an egotistical question, I am careful to point out that animals are like people in that respect and, for whatever reasons, may immediately dislike a person (or may just as instantly become very attached to him or her). I am quite sure that all of us have had personal experiences of this phenomenon with others of our kind on a number of occasions. I call it “chemistry”; it is more popularly called “vibes.” It happens with animals as readily as it happens with humans.

  To socialize wolves to humans properly, it is necessary to take the pups from the den within the first two weeks of life and to hand-raise them much as very young dogs would be reared. Proper diet is essential, and it should be noted that wolves, like dogs, are subject to cataracts in both eyes. In cases of severe inbreeding, this condition may be inherited and there is nothing much that can be done to cure it. In others, however, it manifests itself because the mother’s-milk substitute being used is deficient in lactose, a particular kind of sugar found in the milk of mammals. Studies done by U.S. veterinary scientists between 1978 and 1981 show that wolf pups raised on commercial milk formulas developed cataracts, while control groups of wolf cubs raised on the same formula that also contained added lactose did not suffer from the condition. These results appear to be conclusive. Thus, those who would raise very young wolf or dog pups would be wise to add to the commercial milk substitute 15 grams of lactose to every 100 grams of formula (half an ounce equals 14.2 grams; four ounces equals 113.4 grams) in order to safeguard the vision of their charges. Then, too, wolf pups should be allowance to eat some solid food at three weeks of age, but commercial puppy food is not recommended; it goes right through them and usually causes diarrhea. Raw beef (hamburger), raw beef bones with particles of meat adhering to them, or raw chicken bits and bones will ensure healthy pups. Naturally, the older they get, the more raw meat and the less formula they will require. Healthy pups are obviously more relaxed and settled than sickly ones. This means that cubs raised on a proper diet will develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults that will be less likely to become aggressive or irritable. Many people erroneously believe that captive wild animals are less aggressive toward humans than wild ones. The opposite is actually true. This is particularly the case with wolves, who, in the wild, avoid humans at all times. Similarly, semi-socialized wolves, like Jim’s pack, will not approach strangers, fearing them. Conversely, wolves that have become fully imprinted on humans will readily approach visitors and may occasionally react aggressively, usually toward men. The fact that wolves almost always appear to feel comfortable in the presence of women, even total strangers, is in itself intriguing. It demonstrates that the animals can identify the sex of a visitor even before he or she has reached the enclosure. Such identification is made possible by the wolf’s keen sense of smell, which can quickly distinguish the differences that exist in the scents of the male and female hormones, no matter how faint or how well disguised these may be. In addition, I am quite certain that wolves are able to recognize a difference in the ways that men and women mo
ve, a conclusion I formed after devoting a great deal of study to this characteristic, which is demonstrable in all mammals. During this research I noted that the gait and general carriage of most members of my own sex almost invariably reveal the more aggressive tendencies latent in males of all species; females, conversely, move more sedately and usually more rhythmically and at a somewhat slower pace.

  From the foregoing, it should be clear that it is not a good practice to allow first-time visitors to enter a captive-wolf enclosure, no matter how well adjusted or how friendly the animals may be toward their handlers and toward those people whom they know well.

  During the early 1960s, George Wilson kept a pack of four wolves in St. Louis, Missouri, all the members of which were well adjusted and friendly toward visitors. The leader was Homer, a large, companionable animal who was George’s special friend. His mate, the Alpha female, was named Cappy, and their subordinates were Lobo and Cuddles. Although unusual in such a small pack both females produced pups in 1964, but tragedies followed. First, a storm flooded Cappy’s den and when George put both litters in an outbuilding while he sought to resettle the wolves, Cappy killed all the pups that had been born to Cuddles. Afterwards, the two females fought so constantly that they had to be separated until they had settled down once more and could be reunited with the pack.

  Many people went to see and play with the wolves, including large numbers of children, but in June 1965, a nine-year-old girl was bitten, her injuries requiring twenty stitches. A lawsuit followed and George was ordered by the court to get rid of his wolves. As might be expected, the case garnered a great deal of negative, anti-wolf publicity within and without the community. Many of George’s neighbours, including a number of the children who had become friends with the wolves, testified on behalf of the animals; other neighbours were fearful and asked the court to have the animals removed from the city, testifying that before the child was bitten, one of the wolves had escaped from the enclosure, causing an armed, unofficial posse to roam the streets, intending to shoot the wolf on sight. (George foiled them by recapturing the wolf without any difficulty.)

  After the judge had listened to all the evidence presented for and against the wolves, he issued a court order requiring them to be disposed of. George sent the wolves to the Bronx Zoo, in New York, but he kept his special friend, Homer, and left Missouri, going to the Upper Peninsula rather than give up the wolf. Although Homer had to be kept in the Marquette zoo, George could still take his friend for walks along the shore of Lake Superior; the big wolf was completely free to roam at will, but he never strayed far from his human companions. Then George had a near fatal car accident. While he was in the hospital in serious condition, Homer was parasitized by heartworms and died, aged seven years.

  George still mourns his wolf companion, but he knows today that wolves as pets are not a trouble-free proposition and he actively discourages those who seek his advice about keeping wolves.

  Bob and Beth Duman, who live in lower Michigan and who both have degrees in biology, had many good experiences with their female wolf, Nahani, but in the end they were forced to put her in a zoo after she attacked Bob and injured his shoulder. Before that moment, however, Nahani, though a lone wolf, had been a model of good behaviour, so much so that Beth lectured to schoolchildren accompanied by the wolf. After each lecture, the youngsters were lined up, and Beth led Nahani down the line, allowing the pupils to pet her. In this way, over the years, Beth and Nahani related to nearly eighty thousand American children with but two extremely minor and controlled incidents occurring when the wolf uttered “a little growl during each occasion.” Indeed, Nahani’s low growls were hardly noticed by anyone but Beth, who immediately pulled her away and secured her on a short lead. Later, curious about the animal’s rare behaviour, Beth spoke to the teachers of both children and learned that in each instance the child in question was also disliked by its classmates and was, to quote one teacher, “low in the class pecking order.” Something about those two youngsters had an effect on Nahani, who, with the extreme sensitivity of her kind, detected it at once and voiced her displeasure. She did not, however, seek to bite.

  The relationship between Nahani and the Dumans continued close and trouble-free until 1976, when a Michigan child was mauled by a tame lion. The resulting outcry caused Michigan authorities to ban the keeping of all wild animals by private owners, and the Dumans were ordered to keep their wolf in close confinement. The lectures with Nahani came to an abrupt end and the wolf was forced to spend her time alone in her large enclosure when the Dumans were not present. This change and the occasionally prolonged absence of the Dumans – and, no doubt, the sudden cessation of those school-trip-outings had their effect on Nahani. One day, while the Dumans were socializing with her in the enclosure, and as Bob was crouching over the wolf, petting her, she reared up suddenly, without any kind of warning, and clamped her jaws on his shoulder, holding on until Beth came to the rescue and separated the two. Bob was injured by the teeth and, as in all cases of wolf-bite, badly bruised. Regretting the need to do so, the Dumans decided that Nahani should go to a wolf sanctuary, where she lives today with a mate.

  Talking about the wolf in late December of 1984, Beth told me that when she visits Nahani, the wolf is always glad to see her, rushing up to the fence and behaving in her usual friendly way. But more recently, and although Nahani was actually greeting Beth and showing every sign of affection, she backed away and growled at Beth when the male wolf approached; her action was perhaps prompted by jealousy, as though Beth were another female wolf who just might woo away Nahani’s rightful mate.

  I know of a number of other examples that support the thesis that wolves do not make good pets. This does not mean that these animals are vicious, as some people all too readily might suppose. It simply means that wolves are wild beings and that, in most cases, they have needs that are going unanswered. Stress results from such fulfilment, as it does among humans, and sooner or later a crisis point is reached; trouble follows. The real problem is that humans do not yet know enough about wolves, even though these animals have been intensively studied now for more than forty years. This means that there are no “wolf experts.” Instead, there are some people who know a good deal about wolves, but there is no one person who knows all about them.

  Wolves are individuals. This means that a wolf may well settle down in contentment under captive conditions, never causing any trouble for its human companions. The problem is nobody knows which wolves are going to grow up to behave quietly and peacefully, and which are not.

  Beth Duman is of the opinion that as wolves grow older they are more likely to challenge their human partners, although during the first two or three years they may have shown no signs of aggression. I agree with this view only partially. I believe Beth’s conclusion is valid when only one wolf is kept in captivity and when more than one are kept in small enclosures under poor conditions. It is also valid when those who obtain wolves do not understand them and their ways. But, as Jim’s pack has amply demonstrated, when wolves are properly housed and cared for by people who treat them well, understand their hierarchy, and do not seek to impose their own will on the animals, they remain tractable. Still and all, wolves like Jim’s are not pets.

  The problem of maintaining a steady state,

  therefore, is to counteract or to relieve stress.

  To do so requires, first, ability to recognize stress,

  and second, ability to react to stress in a self-preserving fashion.

  Thus, if a system is able to recognize a stimulus and can carry

  out an appropriate response to that stimulus, it exercises control.

  Paul B. Weisz, Elements of Biology

  8

  After visiting Isle Royale during the early and middle 1960s, I had maintained an interest in developments between wolves and moose on the island, although news reached me in snippets and at irregular intervals until Sharon and I too
k our first trip to the Upper Peninsula in 1983; then, during our second evening with George, he showed us, via videocassette, an interview with Dr. Rolf Peterson, the biologist who has been heading wolf-moose studies on the island since 1975. What Rolf had to say about the biology of both species interested me greatly, so I asked George if it would be possible to meet him.

  If memory serves me, George phoned Peterson that evening and it was arranged that he would see us at Michigan Technological University, in Houghton, where he teaches biology. Our interview was to take place the next day, and since Sharon was going to accompany me, I thought it might be well to give her the biological background of the 210-square-mile island that has become perhaps the most important research locale in the world.

  The primitive forests that were encountered by the first European settlers in those areas bordering Lake Superior that were to become Michigan and Ontario were principally composed of great tracts of white pine and equally large forests of white spruce and balsam fir. These are habitats more suited to woodland caribou than to moose or deer, both of which depend in winter on the twigs and buds of woody plants, which are mostly out of reach in virgin trees of evergreens because the crowding of trees causes the green growth to push upward, reaching for the light, and the lower branches on the trunks of such large, straight trees die and become tinder-dry.

  When massive logging operations were set up and the primal trees were cut down, second-growth vegetation began to colonize the land. This included birches, poplars, small balsams, shrubs, and a variety of other plants and trees. The man-altered habitat slowly produced the kind of food reserves suitable for moose and deer. The caribou, conversely, were wiped out in the regions concerned,many of them killed by hunters, but perhaps the majority dying of starvation, or moving out of the region when their native foods disappeared, for although woodland caribou do some browsing, they depend largely on foliage, grasses, and herbs, and on lichens (Cladonia rangiferina and Cladonia alpestris).