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One evening, I was passing through the cold wilderness of South Canada.
Suddenly, I heard a growl and there before me was a white timber wolf caught in
a trap. I tried approaching the wolf but it backed away, furiously straining at
the steel jaw trap. On closer observation, I noticed that the wolf was a female
and her teats were full of milk. That could only mean one thing -- somewhere in
the wilderness were wolf pups anxiously waiting for their mother. I knew that
earning the wolf's trust was impossible, so I decided to look for the pups. The
search seemed fruitless at first but thankfully, it had been snowing and after
some time, I found paw marks in the snow. I followed the trail deeper into the
forest and finally came to a small cave. I could not hear anything, but I was
sure the pups were inside. It was too much of a risk to enter; the pack might be
inside. I decided to imitate the voice of a mother wolf calling out to its
young. My attempt was not in vain for soon, five little pups appeared. The pups
looked shy but when I extended my hands, they came towards me and started
sucking my fingers. Apparently, they were very hungry. Slowly, I picked them up
ad put them in my bag and headed to where their mother was trapped.
The mother wolf was not thrilled to see me. It stood erect and started
growling. Immediately, I released the pups and they rushed to their mother,
sucking its teats. After a while, I walked towards the wolf in the hope of
freeing it but every time I moved in its direction, the wolf would growl
menacingly. To my surprise, the wolf had actually marked its territory by
urinating. I could also sense its agitation and I knew it was hungry at the same
time. I decided to find some food for it.
By then, it was snowing heavily and so, I opened a can of chicken stew which
I extended to the wolf. It was hesitant at first but extreme hunger prompted it
to gobble the food up. This went on for two days. The wolf was till trapped and
I still did not win its confidence. Meanwhile, I played with the pups much to
the agitation of their mother.
On the third day, I awoke suddenly because the pups were sniffing at y face.
I looked at the mother wolf and saw its tail wag a little. had I won its trust ?
I slowly placed my hand on the wolf's injured leg. The wolf winced but did not
attack or threaten me. I inspected the steel jaw trap and realized that only
three toes were trapped. Using a fork, I applied pressure on the trap. The trap
sprang open and the wolf was free.
Whimpering, the wolf limped about while nursing its swollen toes. I knew my
presence was not further needed, so I took my bag and began to set off. Just
then, the wolf limped towards me and started licking my fingers. I was
shocked. Such a contact went against the
laws of nature. A few minutes later, the wolf gave a howl and left with her
pups. I did not know what that meant, but in the three days spent with the wolf
and her pups, I realized that despite the laws of nature, a bridge had been
created between our worlds. |
