Wolf Spirit

The wolf approached me from behind as I sat on the ground with my cameras. He reached over my shoulder, bringing his face next to mine. I closed my eyes and he gently licked my neck.

Something shifted within me at that moment. A wild part of me was freed and I felt myself trust my own wildness, just as I trusted the wolf.

I was attending a program on wolves and was photographing them and their interactions with people. The crowd was thinning out and I was on the ground getting some really great shots of their faces. While focusing on one wolf, the other wolf became interested in me. The handler told me the wolf had been trying to reach me but I was just out of reach of his restraint. When he was able to touch me, it was evident he wanted to connect. I put my cameras aside and stroked him, while verbalizing my appreciation for his spirit.

When he reached for my neck, I surrendered in total trust. It was more than an internal shift–it was a leap toward my own nature.

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Human fear nearly wiped out the wild wolf population in our country. How sad that we project our fear onto innocents. Innocent?, you ask. There has never been any confirmed attack and killing of a human by a healthy wolf. Tales of terror have been programmed into our psyches, but wolves are almost exactly the opposite of what we’ve been told. They are social, friendly, and highly intelligent. They have a tremendous sense of family and have a strong ‘wolf’ code the family groups live by. Wolves use body language to communicate and learn at an early age to read movements, glances, and other gestures and assign great meaning to them. Wild wolves avoid humans through their sense of smell that is said to be 100 times greater than our olfactory ability. Ted Andrew’s says, “Many believe that the true test of America’s sincerity about protecting the environment will revolve around whether or not the wolf remains protected and is allowed to be reintroduced into areas of the country where it has heretofore been eliminated. The wolf is the true spirit of the free and unspoiled wilderness.”