The special enclosure provided a rare view of a mother and young wolf pup
This is an excerpt from a special three part article that Bill Leeming wrote after visiting with a wild captive wolf pack in the upper peninsula of Michigan, U.S.A..
It was Friday evening, May 24th and unusually cold for being so late in the month. The sun was beginning to set when I began to howl. I howled three times, with each attempt lasting about 12 to 15 seconds. These were met with silence except for the odd raven cawing somewhere in the distance. I was directing my howls towards a massive, heavily wooded and high-fenced enclosure, of about 30 acres in size. From somewhere inside this area I was sure I was being watched by several pairs of eyes. I was peering into the forest home of a wild pack of captive timber wolves. I was about to try again when I suddenly heard and counted four distinctly different howls. As a result, I knew that all but one of the adults was answering.
As the sun set I stayed at the fence and howled, occasionally announcing my presence, and every now and then, I would hear some scuffling or a twig snap in the dark. The wolves may have been quite close although I couldn't tell because I purposely chose not to use a flashlight. I was concerned that the light may startle them. However, it was even colder now and I was tired from the long drive to the upper state of Michigan so I headed for bed.
Saturday was spent entirely with the wolves, but with me on one side of the fence and them on the other. Tomorrow, I would be entering the compound, so today I knew it would be important to get to know them as best I could. I spent many hours up close to the fence, speaking to them, howling, and feeding them the occasional raw chicken leg.
Shawano, a big, white timber wolf weighing about 95 lbs (about 58 kilograms), the eldest of the group, was the only one who would venture close enough to eat from my hand. I felt that we had achieved at least a modicum of understanding in the short time I had been there. I was reasonably confident that he wouldn't become aggressive.
Again that afternoon and into the night we howled back and forth and I began to notice the alpha (senior) male was beginning to relax somewhat in my presence.
On Sunday morning, I awoke early (around 6 a.m.) and headed back to the enclosure but no wolves were to be seen so I returned to the log cabin in which my wife and I were staying. The cabin windows allowed a good, wide view of the enclosure, so as I made myself coffee I was constantly glancing out the window for signs of activity. Suddenly, movement caught my eye. The alpha female was strolling towards me in full view with something hanging out of each side of her mouth. At first I thought it was food, but as she came closer, I realized that it was a very young, fuzzy wolf pup. I had a clear view of a newly dug den, and as my wife and I watched, the she-wolf disappeared into it with her pup held gently in her jaws.
"Wow", I said out loud, "what an incredible observation"! The chances of seeing that are pretty darn slim to nil! There is something to be said for being at the right place at the right time.
I spent Sunday afternoon watching the wolves as they watched me. They clearly appeared to be more relaxed; even Cheska, the alpha male, came and lay down on a pile of fresh earth and sand at the mouth of the new den, which was only about 10 meters from where I was sitting. The fact that they were calmer in my presence was a good thing because later that afternoon I would be entering the enclosure with nothing separating us.
At about 5:00 pm that afternoon I went into the enclosure with some pieces of chicken and a video camera. The first wolves to greet me were Shawano and his mate, Bridgette. Despite previous experience with wolves, I had never had the opportunity to be literally mingling and interacting with relatively wild wolves. So, as not to appear aggressive or threatening, I hunkered down so that I was at eye level with them and began feeding them a bit more chicken.
(NOTE: this pack was fed almost exclusively road-killed white-tailed deer but this was also supplemented with raw chicken). My personal observation was that the pack appeared in excellent shape.
The crushing power of wolf jaws is something to be respected. I was quickly reminded of this as they consumed whole chicken legs, snapping the bones without effort and downing the food in one gulp. (NOTE: the digestive tracts of wolves easily enable them to break down chicken bones whereas if domestic dogs ingest these types of bones it could easily kill them, or at the very least cause them serious digestive problems; Sharp shards of chicken bone can pierce the stomach or intestinal wall of domestic dogs because they do not process food as rapidly as a wolf.
Shawano growled at me a little as he took a leg of chicken I was offering. I sensed some aggression in him, but I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was his way of saying, "we haven't yet accepted you as much as you might think"!
Next came the alpha male, Cheska, but his mate was nowhere to be seen. I assumed she was nursing their pup in the den. Cheska was a magnificent timber wolf in his prime, and quite wild. I was a little apprehensive about entering his territory, but my curiosity got the better of me. How would he react to me, especially with his mate and new-born denning only a few yards away?
I took a chance and kneeled at the entrance to the den. Cheska began circling in front of me and moving closer, but showed no aggressive behaviour. This was it: if Cheska was planning to attack to assert his dominance it would likely be now. I waited for something to happen, but nothing did.
Staying in a kneeling position, I began to film the opening of the new den, along with Cheska, who was only about four metres away. My wife Lin threw food over the fence, close to where I was, so that I could get close-ups as Cheska moved in towards me to snatch up the food. I also threw some of the remaining chicken I had brought about two meters out in front of me, but he seemed nervous about coming any closer. I chose to be patient and allow him time to muster the courage to approach the food. I remained still and continued filming as he paced, undecidedly. The film footage I managed to get was, and remains to be to this day, amazing.
Gradually Cheska came towards me and began eating only a few feet away. As he ate, I spoke quietly to him in an attempt to try and reinforce a relaxed mood. I'm not really sure if it helped. His yellowish eyes barely left me, almost as if he expected me to lunge at him. It was an interesting situation to say the least. He distrusted me and I was nervous of him. Under the circumstances I was truly astonished that Cheska, the alpha male, in his own territory no less, and guarding a newly dug den which housed his mate and offspring, was allowing me this incredible, up close and personal visit into his world, without the slightest hint of aggression. Talk about patience!
After a short time I moved away from the den opening and chose a comfortable spot to sit and survey things. I stayed in the enclosure a while longer quietly watching Cheska. Occasionally, as I glanced around I would catch glimpses of the other wolves in the pack far off, either in amongst the trees or up on a rock ledge, looking towards me. I realized at that moment that if the forest had been even in semi-bloom, I would never have seen these other pack members. However spring was late this particular year therefore little ground cover or foliage was present.
So far, it was apparent that Cheska was anything but aggressive. Instead, he appeared nervously guarded, (which was completely understandable), a little frightened, and maybe a little confused about who I was and what my intentions might be. Then, without warning, he just laid down, put his nose between his paws and in a relaxed manner directly met my gaze without any intent of a challenge. He and I stayed that way for a while, both caught in the moment and at peace with each other. Every so often he would glance over at me and we would stare at each other with a sort of passive indifference. He would then look away and calmly close his eyes. I will never forget it.
At that moment I had an overwhelming feeling of shame and guilt wash over me for the way mankind, supposedly the most intelligent species on earth, has so foolishly and cruelly treated this mammal. Had these wolves wanted to, they could have easily ripped my throat out, although not once was there ever the slightest hint that this was the intention. However, there was a justifiable and palpable suspicion of me, the human being in their presence. Without a doubt mankind is well deserving of this suspicion, especially in the eyes of a wolf.
Considering the atrocities that this animal has been subjected to by us over several centuries,...who can blame them!!
Bill Leeming is a naturalist and wildlife columnist. He has extensively studied and observed wolves in captivity and in the wild.