On the heels of our son’s farm school where we discussed the impact humans have on Mama Earth,
it’s intriguing to see what happens when you reintroduce wolves to a place where they’ve been hunted out of existence. It’s not what you would expect.
This video gives me a smidgen of hope, something I need these days as we hear increasingly dire predictions about the future of our planet.
Jilanne Hoffmann 
Reblogged this on wildwoodlifestyle and commented:
Just plain cool… Not just because they’re wolves.
Predictably I sobbed all the way through that. Wolves are creatures who make my heart sing and race, and coupled with the facts which are related George Monbiot’s ecstatic barely contained excitement narration was all too much. British stiff upperlippishness and a mild ‘ hmm, that’s interesting’ response didn’t stand a chance. What a wonderful way to start the day. And that’s without mentioning the absolute shivery yearning gorgeousness of the howls. Thanks Jilanne. You don’t blog post that often but they are corkers worth waiting for!
Thank you, LF! Yes, I, too, sob each time I see this. The narration, the footage, it all gets to me. I showed this during library time at my son’s school, and it generated some interesting discussions. The adults were all sniffling. The kids kept wanting to hear the howls.
PS Jilanne, did you know that unless you have a picture in a post (video doesn’t count), that when someone ‘likes a post’ it will not appear in their own ‘posts I like ‘ widget. So the only site that can direct other interested parties (non-followers) to YOUR site is…this one! (okay, you might pick up stuff from those wanting to see posts about wolves of yellowstone and doing a WordPress search on that.
I’ve watched this weepily again. The cats don’t like it much though. Those wonderful howls raising atavistic responses in them too, I guess.. They leave the room, I do the swimmy eyed stuff. Ah well, there’s no accounting for tastes
Thanks for the tip, LF! Perhaps I should go back and insert a photo of a wolf.
Poor kitties. They must think you are torturing them on purpose. I think you should compensate them for their pain and show them some mouse videos.
Fascinating, Jilanne – thanks for posting that! It ties in with Monbiot’s book Feral, which is a plea for the re-wilding of parts of the UK, which has become so tame and suffers a similar kind of degradation due to sheep all over the country and deer specifically in the Highlands. A really inspiring read – I know we joke about book recommendations, but I really do recommend that one.
Now you’re coming over here and recommending books! Is there no place that I am safe from your and LF’s influence? How can I resist?
Seriously, though, I am all for doing a bit of re-wilding all over this fabulous planet. Would you like me to ship you some wolves? 😀
What species have gone missing in the UK?
😆 Sorry!
Yes, please! Oh, almost everything – Britain must be one of the tamest countries in the world. Partly because we’re an island so even when our neighbours re-wild, they don’t get over here. As far as I know, we have no top predators now except for a few eagles, and I mean few. Even they were more or less extinct a few decades back and have been the subject of huge controversy since they became protected. And all for sheep…
Oh dear, sheep eat grass so close to the ground there’s nothing left. Poor eagles. I guess humans are the only real predators remaining there.
Ha! Yes! And you’ll be aware that even loads of them were driven out of the country to make way for sheep too… (beginning to wonder if there’s an evil sheep mastermind behind it all actually… a really baa-a-a-d one…)
From what I’ve seen of the cartoon claymation, Shaun the Sheep, he could be the evil baa-a-a-d one.
😆
That was remarkable.
It reminds me of a story I heard from a cattle rancher I interviewed some years ago. His father decided to take part in a government program to get rid of prairie dogs on his grazing land. (His calves would sometimes step into prairie dog holes and break their legs.) The government-supplied poison worked wonders; in a matter of months all the prairie dogs were wiped out. What no one recognized, however, was that their pesky burrows aerate the soil. With the prairie dogs gone, the volume and quality of the vegetation necessary for the cattle’s survival declined precipitously. So that cattle rancher’s father — the same guy who took part in the prairie dog eradication program — spent good money to bring the prairie dogs back.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the only time nature doesn’t work is when we try to “fix” something.
Oh Mike, you are soooooo right. I’ll tell that prairie dog story to the kids at school. They’ll love it! Thanks!
Oh, good. Please do!
I remember the first time I saw this video I just kept watching it over and over. It’s so beautiful. I love being reminded that we are all connected, that everything affects the other. I recently read the book 3 Among the Wolves which was an interesting read if you haven’t read it yet.
Hi Letizia, I was just introduced to this video via my mother-in-law who’s always on the lookout for interesting bits of info to share with our son (and us). I had not heard of it, and I’m so glad I know about it now. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I hit the “play” button. I’ll take a look at the book you recommend. I’m also going to check out the book, Feral, recommended by Fiction Fan above.
Very interesting. I know little about these animals so it was nice to have my eyes opened a bit.
The only thing I’d ever known about them came from the book by Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf, that was made into a film. His claims about the wolves and his time with them, while disputed by many, was considered a highly entertaining work. So my “knowledge” before this film, was probably most inaccurate.
What a wonderful post! 😀
Glad you liked it, Erik. Please feel free to share it with your friends. My son’s class loved discussing how ecosystems are affected by seemingly minor changes.
Sobbing and howling as I watched this delightful video, Jilanne. It reminded me of the time at Arctic Circle Hot Springs when we were awakened in the middle of the night by a chorus of wolves howling in a circle around our cabin. We slipped on our parkas, stepped outside and shimmering above us was a massive 360 degree green and pink aurora borealis. To this day, we believe the wolves woke us up so we wouldn’t miss it. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, how amazing! An experience never to be forgotten. Those are what we live for—and maybe for a little love along the way, too. 😀 Those wolves were very thoughtful to include you in their party.
Is there anything more mournful than the howl of a wolf? They are pretty amazing creatures. It’s great to see their role defended and a great reminder of how it’s all about balance. Thanks, Jill!
You should let Chloe listen. 😀
She does seem to notice animal sounds on the TV, although she seems to wonder why she can’t smell them. She does regularly howl back at police sirens and if we happen to be in the middle of the crosswalk, there is no stopping her from sitting down and howling. Luckily it entertains everyone enough that people stuck in their cars waiting for us don’t get too riled.
Oh yes, let her commune with her relatives. 😀
It’s sure to be entertaining for those human types.
How fun, Jilanne. I had posted that same YouTube video on my blog some time ago. It, too, gave me hope. I’m kinda fanatical about wolves (in a good way), and anything that represents them in a positive light makes me soar with glee.
Yeah, I’m always the slow one to catch on to anything. It must have been before I started following your blog, so that means it’s been awhile! Slow me. I think wolves are a good thing to be crazy about. Any animal with such a beautiful singing voice should be heard.
Haha, actually, it wasn’t that long ago. I posted the video on my blog in April 2014. 🙂 I’m pretty sure it’s relatively new, so you’re not really all that slow.
Or, maybe you and I are slow together. 😉
OK, then I have no excuse but an inability to keep track of everyone’s blogs I’m following. Some I receive individually. Some weekly. Some come packaged with others. Others arrive individually. Some seem to turn themselves off without my knowledge. I can’t keep track of what’s going on. Sometimes I’ll think to myself, “i haven’t seen so-and-so’s blog for awhile. Maybe they’re taking a break. But when I investigate, I find that they’ve been blogging away and I haven’t been receiving any notices. WordPress is frustrating that way.
Anyway, let’s hear it for the wolves!!! 😀 And I now also know that you’ll be taking a break for the summer. So I won’t expect to read anything from you until the fall. Have fun!