Dave, I think that nasty rumor about wild wolves being extinct in the UK may be right up there with that lousy gossip about what wolves tried to do to The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood!
Don't take my word for it, check out the Looney Tunes that tell the
real stories!
Or how about those ridiculous werewolf stories?
"Werewolves and the Big Bad Wolf helped induce generations of people to believe that the wolf was a snarling, lurking beast hiding in the forest waiting for someone to drop by for lunch.
Between 1520 and 1630, over 30 000 supposedly proven cases of werewolves were documented. Most of these people received harsh treatment from their persecutors.
The "Werewolves" may have suffered from a psychological disorder, called lcanthropy, or be under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, or even have had rabies. Sometimes people who were up to no good skulked around in wolf skins, trying to scare the populous for their own devious reasons, this may have helped fuel the werewolf legend.
The interest in the myth of werewolves has been kept alive by tales like Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. More recently by movies. The first Werewolf movie was titled "The Werewolf" and was made in 1913. Since then we have crowded into picture theatres to be terrified
by movies like "The Howling" and "An American Werewolf in London" and lots more."
(Excerpts from "Wolfweb" and "Wolves in Alaska")
Often what people actually saw were not werewolves
but real wolves, who are more human-like than most animals, and sometimes more human-like than animal-like:
Actually this wolf is probably just being playful
not menacing. Perhaps people have sometimes been envious of the wolf as well as fearful.
After all more people are attacked, and killed, by lions, tigers or bears, than by wolves. The chant doesn't go "Lions and Tigers and Bears
and Wolves Oh My!"
It's those lions, those predators, we've really got to watch out for. And as Mike says, we do:
Also, as Rick indicates, the wolf is a very nurturing creature, as indicated by stories like these:
"No aspect of folk narratives attests as eloquently to the affectionate bond humans have felt with the wolf as does the extensive lore about humans and deities who have been nursed by wolves. The Romulus and Remus legend is one of the most famous examples. It is found in numerous ancient versions. There is an Irish legend about a king who was suckled by a wolf, and the well-known character, Mowgle, of Kipling's Jungle Books, was raised in the same manner. Kipling heard legends about wolves nursing human children during his childhood in India. In fact, his father had a post at the University of Bombay and wrote a book entitled Man and Beast in India which included remarks about these legends." (Wolf Song Alaska)
There are other stories of children being raised by wolves, there were several cases recorded between 1843 and 1933 in India. In 1920 a Doctor Singh brought back two girls to his orphanage who had lived with wolves. The oldest girl was eight and they walked on all fours at their time of rescue. They fed entirly on raw meat, and they lapped their water crouched on all fours. When they felt threatened, they hunched their backs, bared their teeth and growled." (Wolfweb)
Unlike the stories of "Big Bad Werewolves" the stories above (from Wolfweb) are true. Not even among apes are there as many well-documented cases
of raising humans as among the wolves.
For as James indicates, the wolfpack is very much
a family unit, intimately bound together for nurture, support, feeding, sheltering, protection,
etc.
Perhaps this is why people sometimes get the "wolf
envy" indicated in so much wolflore!
The kind of envy other animals like lions seem to have when they share territory with wolves. Envy of the wolfpack as a family, hunting & protective
unit that even they cannot penetrate.
And as Lyin Cub found out, any lion perps who try it here get this:
Wolves are as Mike & James say family oriented, social, noble & respectful, as well as courageous and loyal.
Not blundering idiots like in these stories:
"Folktales about the wolf which have international distribution reveal interesting patterns. In some cultures, such as in Russia, the wolf is often depicted as foolish rather than fierce, while the same tales in Germany and Skandinavia have the bear as the dupe. In one tale the wolf is the dog's guest at a party. The dog, wishing the wolf ill, gets him drunk so that the wolf sings at the top of his lungs, thus revealing his hiding place to hunters who kill him. To one who has had the experience of hearing a wolf "sing" it will come as no surprise that the distinctive howl of the wolf is one of the most remarked upon, almost hypnotic and magical qualities of the animal and could be, therefore, a major motif in a folktale. Other foolish wolf stories with international distribution tell of the fox who tricks the oafish and gluttonous wolf into a cellar where the wolf overeats so that he cannot escape his hunters through the opening by which he entered: then there is the story of the wolves who climb on top of one another to see what is on the other side of a wall: the lowest wolf runs away, causing all on top of him to land in a heap."
"Certainly this is not the cunning, rapacious wolf from whom the woodsman saved Little Red Riding Hood. But this is a widely distributed option for the character of the wolf in international folktales. That the wolf is depicted as a fool is not surprising, for what is feared is often belittled, and one way to negate fear is to attribute to that which is feared the exact opposite characteristics of those which it possesses. Thus, the wolf becomes a fool rather than an intelligent creature. However, intelligence is certainly characteristic of the wolf in other widespread folk narratives and folklore." (Wolf Song Alaska)
Yes my friends we are so much like wolves. Feared
& ridiculed when we should be given healthy space & respect. Our territorial boundaries invaded by lyin (lion) perps (predators) who seriously underestimate us to their own detriment. Belittled
by those to whom we try to tell our story, who should be trying to help us.
But also like the wolf, we are more & more respected & supported by many. More & more health care workers, politicians, lawyers, law makers & law enforcers, are listening to us & learning from us. Learning what survivors we are & maybe how to better survive themselves!
To paraphrase an old song:
"I am wolf, hear me howl!"
AAHHWWWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Intruiging how so much of the new acknowledgement of us wolf survivors is taking place in Minnesota the only one of the lower 48 continental states of the USA with a significant wolf population. Also, interestingly enuf, the site of the International Conference in September!
What a gathering of the wolfpack that's gonna be!
I hope I can make it! I hope you all can!
"The wolf has coexisted with mankind for thousands of years and as each culture experienced the wolf, the folklore of that people reflected their feelings about the animal. Today in most of Europe and North America the wolf is a singularly sinister creature-one associated with mystery, power, danger, and sheer evil. But the wolf has not always been seen negatively. Groups who were primarily hunters or whose life style emphasized living intimately with nature viewed the wolf as a positive symbol. There is good evidence that when humans were hunters, they lived in peaceful and respectful coexistence with wolves. Only when man began to farm and raise animals did the wolf become his adversary, a threat to his very life (and livestock). The farmer or herdsman had to contend with the wolf as a predator, not fellow hunter, and he fully realized that the animal was as skilled and intelligent a hunter as he once had been. In many ways, the wolf's living patterns are more like those of humans than those of most other animals, and this may well account for his power as a cultural symbol. After all, man cannot domesticate the wolf as he has the dog, and so the farmer and the shepherd have had a good reason to be concerned."
No we cannot be domesticated! We cannot be tamed by our past perps or present predators. We cannot
be silenced by those who don't want the
"uncomfortable chore" of hearing about our abuse and helping us do something to put a stop to it once and for all. We cannot give in to those who find it easier to see us as the evil & troublemakers than the lions who abused us & who could abuse others.
As the size of our survivor wolfpack increases & our communal howl grows louder, we and our territory are & will be increasingly respected & protected. We can & will live at peace in & with the rest of the world. We will stand tall.
Dave: The wolf is still alive & well--even in England; for you are there!
James: What can I say brother wolf? You peed that circle around us last year to mark the territory against Lyin Cubs, and showed us the way.
You are the wolf!
Mike: You are amazing as well brother wolf. Thank you for helping revive this symbol among us. BTW I read in an article that wolves don't howl at the moon becuz it would be useless. I agree with you, I think it's fun. Wolves do howl sometimes just for the fun of it. Heck I may go out and howl
at the moon tonight! Anybody care to join me?
Rick: Brother, I love your empowering story of how
you like a wolf stared & snarled down your father & would not let him hurt Little Cub Rick! Good point about each of us protecting the little cub inside of us. What an example of what survivor wolves do when dealing with perp lions.
Yeah my new mascot avatar icon was the closest thing I could find to a wolf. Maybe that can be remedied? Meanwhile it's pretty cool enuf.
Like wolves in general, I am really quite docile & have an aversion to fighting if it can be avoided.
However, I have even more of an aversion to perps
invading our territory, and when that happens...
Sometimes a picture says even more than a thousand words!
Victor
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