Wolf’s Howl

By Wendell J. Ashton

Never in my memory do I recall hearing the howl of a timber wolf. But I do remember the chilling feeling of listening to a coyote howl on a cold winter night.

When I was a tot, our yellow brick home was on the fringe of our city near the foothills of the rugged Rockies. At night I slept in a little crib enclosed by metal rods about three inches apart and four feet tall. They were to keep me from rolling out of bed.

But on those nights when I heard the coyotes howl with the wintry winds, the metal rods were a comforting feeling. In addition to the walls of our home, they were added protection. Coyote howls make the heart beat quicker, the night seem more eerie.

But I knew that a coyote howl was not as bad as a wolf’s. After all, a coyote was less formidable than his cousin, the timber wolf.

Through the ages men as well as boys have feared and hated the wolf. No less than three score of the early Greek and Roman writers wrote about the wolf, often as a ferocious, evil animal. As far back as ancient Greece a bounty was paid for the wolf’s pelt. Today the dog collar is the outgrowth of a protection against wolf attacks on the dog’s throat.

Through the centuries man has battled the wolf with pits and pens and poisons, with rifles and traps, both wooden and steel.

One poet described the wolf’s howl as the “song of blood.”

Then the other day the American Museum of Natural History in New York proclaimed a Wolf Day. A tame gray wolf named Jethro was there, frolicking with pretty girls and posing, sheeplike, for news photographers. An album of wolf calls, taped by Canadian and United States naturalists, was played in the museum auditorium. There was even a review of the howls by the eminent music critic of the New York Times, Harold C. Schonberg.

A Canadian government wildlife official, C. H. D. Clarke, pointed out that the late Jim Curran of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, had a standing reward for anyone who had ever been bitten by a wolf in Ontario. The reward was never claimed.

An authority on wolf calls, John B. Theberge, assistant professor of ecology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, concludes that the howl of the wolf is not to frighten people. The howl is to communicate with other wolves in the pack. Each wolf howl is different in sound. A wolf howls at the death of its pups, and its howl is often an expression of loneliness.

After reading about Wolf Day, I have studied further on the lobo. The wolf is a devoted family animal. He takes a mate for life and is loyal to his companion and pups. There are usually between three and eight young ones, and parental affection continues until the pups are fully matured, and often much longer. Relatives of a wolf return to a trap after one of the family has been caught. One female returned for sixteen nights to a trap that had caught her mate; finally she herself was trapped. A wolf is patient with its young but will not tolerate disobedience. The wolf is peaceful with other wolves and seldom quarrels.

A wolf walks little. He trots. While the coyote carries his tail low, the wolf carries his high.

Stanley P. Young, who spent forty-four years with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, much of the time pursuing and studying the wolf, wrote:

“My regard, respect, yes even affection, for the most intelligent of all North American Predators, the wolf (Canis lupus), had its beginning half a century ago.” (The Last of the Loners [New York: The Macmillan Co., 1970], p. 305.)

As I learn more of the wolf, I am convinced that the wolf’s howl is like so much in life. We often fear things and people because we do not know them.

Jacob apparently feared going into Egypt to meet his long-lost son, Joseph. At Beersheba the Lord spoke to Jacob: “I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation.” (Gen. 46:3.) To Abraham, before Isaac was born, the Lord had said: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield.” (Gen. 15:1.)

Perhaps one of the reasons the Lord has given us this great line is because he would have us put aside fear: “The glory of God is intelligence.” (D&C 93:36.)

Fear someone? Learn more about him. Fear cancer? Learn more about it. Then fight it. Fear death? Learn more of eternity.

Art by Don Young