Cry of the Wolf

We, the wolves of Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding areas, have always been peaceful animals. We have tried to stay away from humans as much as possible, only crossing paths with them when Fate dictates we should. We hunt, live and breed near and in Yellowstone National Park. Our usual preys are elk, deer and moose. Humans’ livestock are not usually a part of our diet. We do not like to go so near to the humans but there are some reasons which force us to. The first reason is unruly adolescents testing their newly learned skills, (and their parents’ patience like any teenager of any species). Another reason is when our usual prey species have extremely low populations that cannot provide enough food for us to sustain our survival. The final reason is when we are forced to hunt livestock because we lack the further hunting skills we need to hunt our normal prey; skills we can only learn from our Matriarch. But when something or someone has taken our leader from us we are forced to do what we have to in order to survive. Most times, natural causes such as injury, sickness, or disease can take our leader away from us. However, the biggest reason we are forced into this life is neither by choice nor by natural causes. The biggest factor that forces us to live this lifestyle is humans. And then the humans blame us for doing what we need to do to survive. Yet humans don’t think about the consequences of their actions or who is hurt by them. All that matters is that they do what they need to do to make a living… to survive. How is that any different from us?
This is the story of my life in my pack. The story of the life I was forced to lead due to the intervention of humans. I hope by sharing my story, I can vindicate the name of my brethren and ancestors, by whatever name we have been called. But to properly tell my story, I should begin, not where my life changed, but where it began. My name is Mingan and this is the story about the meaning of the Cry of the Wolf…

**A portion of all proceeds to be donated to Wildlife Organizations, such as National Defenders of Wildlife, Wolf Mountain Santuary go to www.wolfmountain.com to see the wolves and the great work at the sanctuary ***