The wolf is a noble animal that has been driven to near-extinction because of "Little Red Riding Hollywood" lies, myths and superstitions. Compare the wolf to the bear in fiction. Whereas the fat, stupid, clumsy bear is usually portrayed as a cute and cuddly "Teddy Bear" creature, the wolf is always a vicious killer. The truth is bears sometimes hunt, kill, and eat humans. Wolves avoid people completely and NEVER prey on humans.
Most people think of wolves as wild dogs. In fact, wolves are very different. Compared to dogs, wolves are 20 % more intelligent, larger, independent, graceful, curious, monogamous, and unpredictable. They have manes, long legs, and large feet. Whereas dogs are aggressive but useless predators, the wolf is timid and shy--but the very best predator. Packs of wolves routinely prey on animals very much larger than themselves. But wolves would not harm a small human child, they're just not interested. In fact, wolves have been credited in mythology, fiction and reality with adopting, nursing and raising human children. The most famous example being Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, both suckled by a she-wolf according to tradition. In Roman culture the wolf was sacred to the god Mars, and the cave of the she-wolf at the foot of the Palatine hill became a sacred place. The she-wolf of the Capitol was the emblem of Rome. Wolves were sacred to the Etruscans, the ancestors of Romulus and Remus, and they made many statues of wolves. Before the Romans, Both Zeus and Apollo were associated with the wolf by the Greeks. Zeus Lykaios or "Wolf Zeus" was the patron deity of Arcadia. Apollo was known as Lykegenes "of she-wolf descent" and the wolf was Apollo's sacred animal. Artemis was known as the "Wolf Goddess" and had a wolf on her shield.
There has been an international organized program, from the 1890's to the present, to exterminate and eliminate wolves. Hundreds of thousands of wolves have been hunted, trapped, poisoned, or dynamited in their dens. For decades the wolf has been classified as an ENDANGERED SPECIES and most sub-species of the wolf are already EXTINCT: the Great Plains Wolf, the Rocky Mountain Wolf (North and South), Newfoundland Wolf, Cascade Mountains Wolf , Kenai Peninsula Wolf, Banks Island Tundra Wolf , Mogollon Mountain Wolf, Texas Gray Wolf, Japanese Wolf, Hondo Japanese Wolf, Japanese Hokkaido Wolf , Japanese Honshu Wolf, Alaskan Wolf, Antarctic Wolf, Irish Wolf, and many others! The Mexican Wolf, Manitoba Wolf, Red Wolf, and others are virtually extinct in the wild.
Aerial hunting of the Arctic Wolf has now been legalized in Alaska in hopes that shooting the wolves will increase the population of caribou for hunters to kill. It usually takes the wolves a long time to die in agony. The wolf co-exists in a symbiotic relationship with other animals, and kills its prey quickly and mercifully for food, which weeds out the old and sick animals. Hunters kill the biggest, best, and healthiest animals for a stuffed trophy.
According to all leading wolf biologists, wolves are terrified of humans, probably because wolves have been persecuted for so long. There has never been a single person killed by a healthy wolf in the lower 48 states and even attacks are extremely rare. Wolves are very curious, but they avoid people at all costs. Even wolves in captivity shy away from people, and will not make eye contact. Unlike other predators, wolves make their presence known, communicate readily with other pack members, and signal that humans are to be avoided. The best way to prevent being attacked if you are confronted by a wolf is to NOT run away. Stand tall, act dominant and yell. NEVER hit a wolf or provoke a wolf. It's a form of suicide. Rabid wolves will attack people, but attacks from healthy ones are fabrications or extreme exaggerations. Sometimes wolves try to take the sleeping bags of campers, but are not interested in people. Wolves are large carnivores, not demons, and should be treated with the same respect due any potentially dangerous wild animal.
The only people supporting the extinction of wolves are the ignorant misinformed, livestock farmers, hunters, and the unethical academics and politicians who are on the payroll of the hunters and farmers. "The north woods of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are healthier ecosystems because of the presence of wolves,” said Steve Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2004.
October is Wolf Appreciation Month. And the third week of October every year is National Wolf Awareness Week, which dispels misconceptions about wolves and teaches about the important role these predators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. It became a national event in 1996, and 26 states have officially sanctioned it.
Lone Wolf is now spokeswolf for the Wolf Anti-Defamation League. It started with my song "Extinct Wolf Blues". Here is a free link to hear the song:
Following this introduction is "The Wolf in Fiction", a large collection of reviews of every major fiction book and movie about wolves. Reviews of all major non-fiction books about wolves are also included. The last section is a large collection of photos of wolves. You can click the photos to enlarge them. There are also links to 5 Wolf videos. Here is a short-cut link to the wolf photos: http://wolfanti-defamationleague.blogspot.com/2008/11/wolf-photos.html
Lone Wolf has written a non fiction book titled "The Wolf". Most of it comes from this internet entry, although it is much more organized. Here is a link to the book for sale on Amazon.com:
All chapters are now on the internet, and here are free links to them:
The Wolfhttp://thewolfgeneral.blogspot.com/
The Wolf Subspecies
http://wolfsubspecies.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-subspecies.html
The Hybrid Wolf:
http://thehybridwolf.blogspot.com/
The Wolf in Non Fiction Books
http://wolfinnonfictionbooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-in-non-fiction-books-this-is.html
The Wolf in Fiction Books
http://wolfinfictionbooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-in-fictional-books.html
The Wolf in Movies
http://wolfinmovies.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-in-movies-this-is-chapter-from.html
The Wolf in Music
http://wolfinmusic.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-in-music.html
The Wolf in Art
http://wolfinart.blogspot.ca/
The Wolf and Religion
http://wolfinreligion.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-and-religion.html
The Wolf: 5 Short Stories
http://wolf5shortstories.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-5-short-stories-she-wolf-by-saki-h.html
The Wolf: Quotes & Sayings
http://wolfquotesandsayings.blogspot.com/2011/10/wolf-quotes-sayings.html
The Wolf and Ravens:
http://wolfandravens.blogspot.com/
Wolf Diseases:
http://wolfdiseases.blogspot.com/
The Wolf Haters
http://wolfhaters.blogspot.com/2011/11/wolf-haters.html
__________________________________________
