Wolf Moon. What better name for the January full moon that now shines from the frigid night sky and casts shadows on the snowy landscape?
After all, this is the heart of the culling season, when the survival skills of all wild creatures are put to the test, and a wolf is the epitome of power, endurance and cunning. We humans, ill equipped by nature to thrive in the cold and the dark, have long feared these predators and, unfortunately, have launched campaigns to banish them from the planet; even efforts to reintroduce wolves in wilderness areas have been met with resistance.
Those of us who respect the vital role that predators play in natural ecosystems know that humans, driven by fear, ignorance and personal interests, have a long history of disrupting the fragile balance of those ecosystems; the wolf has become the unwitting symbol of our misguided policies.
After all, this is the heart of the culling season, when the survival skills of all wild creatures are put to the test, and a wolf is the epitome of power, endurance and cunning. We humans, ill equipped by nature to thrive in the cold and the dark, have long feared these predators and, unfortunately, have launched campaigns to banish them from the planet; even efforts to reintroduce wolves in wilderness areas have been met with resistance.
Those of us who respect the vital role that predators play in natural ecosystems know that humans, driven by fear, ignorance and personal interests, have a long history of disrupting the fragile balance of those ecosystems; the wolf has become the unwitting symbol of our misguided policies.
