I received a pamphlet the other day asking me to send money to help "save the Wolves".
I have always had a soft spot for Wolves, I always thought that they served a very important purpose (both ecologically and socially), but I am afraid that it is much too late to think about saving them.
Oh, the number of species Canis Lupus living in the wild might someday rebound, and the social hierarchy of these animals might to some degree be restored. In a few places they have continued to survive, and even thrive over the past several decades, in spite of the continuing and often unchecked expansion of the human population. But I'm afraid that the Wolf, the large
W real Wolf, became extinct in the western world with the advent of electric light and telephone lines.
We no longer sit by ourselves or with our families on dark nights, huddled around stoves or cook fires with only home made music and the old stories to keep us company.
Today, if a member of species Canis Lupus is spotted near a persons home, either they shoot it or they call an expert who traps or kills the animal, and the "harrowing confrontation" makes the six o'clock news.
We still have a few wolves, but we don't have Wolves anymore.
We no longer have that connection with the past, we no longer worry that there might be something out there just beyond the ring of firelight that is stronger, faster, more cunning, more ruthless and more dangerous than we are. We no longer walk softly when we are in wild places for fear of disturbing something greater than ourselves. Anymore we have so few really wild places left that most people need never worry if they are disturbed.
We no longer need the caution that once unified us, that made us strong, made us think, kept us humble. We no longer have the old stories around the fire to keep the young ones close to the group, searching for eyes in the dark and traveling with others. We no longer have the other stories, told in whispers after the children have been put to bed, to keep the grown-ups wary and help them to put aside their differences. We no longer have a focus for the deep rooted primal fear that has kept our species alive for hundreds of thousands of years, so we focus it on ourselves.
We are the worlds alpha predator, the most dangerous and destructive creatures on earth. We have only ourselves to fear, and with good reason.
The Wolf in our midst, the Wolf in sheeps clothing, the Wolfman, having the Wolf by the ears, the Wolf at the door; relics of a bygone era.
Who's afraid of the big bad Wolf?
We aren't.
We killed him.
What does that tell you about us?
