Where the Wild Things Are

That is my response when someone asks me where I live.

(This post has dead animals in it.  If you don't like seeing them, then you'll want to just skip this post, or close your eyes and scroll on by those 2 pictures.  Just thought I'd give that heads up.)

I wrote this on Sunday night:

I saw a wolf today.

I came home early from church with Jiles and Zoe.  All 3 of us weren't feeling well.  About 100 yards after turning onto our dirt road, I saw it.  It was chewing on the remains of an elk calf.  Grody.  I stopped about 25 feet from it.  It looked at me without a care in the world and then turned around and started walking away.  I was so wishing that I had my camera with me.  I had never seen one before, well alive and in the wild anyway.  I watched it trot across the snowy prairie.  The snow was reflecting the sun with the wolf right in the middle of it.  It was a beautiful sight.

After watching it in awe for a few minutes I booked it the mile and a half home, ran in and grabbed my camera, and booked it back to try and get some pictures of it.  It was getting too far away.  I zoomed all the way with my zoom lens, and then have cropped this picture to get even a better look at it:

He started howling, and another wolf, unseen, howled back.  It was chilling and amazing to be right there by them.  I got it on (shaky) video.  It was really hard to be quiet and still.  Zoe was asleep in the back seat, but Jiles wasn't.

This guy (or gal, whatever the case may be) was hanging around near the wolf:

That was Sunday.

Now here's the rest of the story:

On Monday we heard that our neighbor had killed one of the 2 wolves hanging around.  It wasn't the one I saw, it was the black and silver one.  Weston took every opportunity he could to go see if the lone wolf was anywhere near the herd.  He didn't see it. 

On Tuesday morning (yesterday) the kids were rushing to get out the door to school.  The bus was waiting at the bus stop at the end of the driveway, and Weston was waiting in the car to take them to the bus (our driveway is about 1/4 mile long).  Kate and Ezra rushed out, but Spencer, dear never-in-a-hurry Spencer, didn't have his socks or shoes or coat or backpack on.  I waved for Weston to go on without him.

Fifteen minutes later, Weston headed out the door a second time; this time with that dear Spencer, to take him all the way to school, 3 miles away.  

"I'd better take my gun, just in case," Weston grinned as he walked by the laundry room, where I was folding clothes, on his way out the back door.    

Ten minutes later, still folding clothes, I heard, "Mommy?!"  Spencer ran in.  "DADDY SHOT A WOLF!"

Weston was very grateful for Spencer's delay that morning.  Driving down the dirt road, on the other side of the fence line, was the wolf that I had seen gnawing on the elk remains.  I'm surprised that the bus hadn't scared the wolf off when it drove right passed it twice, coming down our lane and then going back out again, not that long before Weston got there.

The wolf had gone right through our cow herd to get to the elk carcass.  When that was polished off, he most likely would have started picking off the herd.

But Weston didn't give him the chance.  Cuz Mr.Weston got himself a wolf.

Weston's like a celebrity around here now.  He's gotten so many phone calls and visitors coming over to take a look at The Wolf.  

In general, ranchers do not like wolves.  Wolves like to eat elk, but they also eat cows.  Ranchers have a lot invested in their cattle.  It is their livelihood.  And when someone or something tries to mess with one's livelihood, one defends that livelihood, or should anyway.

Here's another predator Weston got last week with his bow and arrow (bow and arrow!) :  

That's a mighty big cat.  Pretty sure that it could do some damage.

I am not a fan of hunting for sport.  I tell my kids, "We do not kill for fun!"  I just don't agree with that killing for fun thing.  We try to teach our kids to have respect for animals.  Hunting for food is not killing for fun.  Weston tries to get an elk every Fall.  I like elk meat more than beef because it is really lean.  And more importantly, in my opinion, hunting to defend your livestock, yourself, your children, your chickens (as was the case with the bobcat last Fall) is not killing for fun.  

Anyway, I didn't mean to go there on that soap box.

Here's a fun little video of a compilation of pictures that were caught on Grandpa's game camera one night when he set it up in one of the pear trees in the Fall.  It's halfway between our house and Weston's parents' house.  We thought that we were the only ones that really used the path.   Lots of happy little creatures use it, too.