The Wolf Girl

Ok, so I know any one who reads this will automatically assume I am making a Twilight reference, but we all know where assuming gets us. No, this is not a reference to Twilight. It is literally who I am. I am the wolf girl. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am. I am attending Utah State University in order to become a Wolf Biologist. I'm no expert by any means, but one day I will be.

You see, I have loved wolves for as long as I can remember, but nothing like the way I do now. I think maybe now I appreciate them more than I did as a little girl. I understand why they are important and why we need them in the ecosystem. No matter what stories I was told as a young girl, wolves never scared me. They seemed sacred to me. They are sacred to me, still.

We grow up hearing stories of how wolves are evil and how they can be interpreted as the devil. In my mind, how can something God created be evil. He created everything perfectly. Humans are the ones who screw everything up. If you read Native American Folklore, they believe that wolves are sacred spirits who have great wisdom. Mongolians believe similar things about them. Something tells me they are more on track than we are. We are natural men. We only care about ourselves and what we need to do to survive. We have no use for nature or beauty anymore. We believe we have dominion over everything, so we can destroy it. We are the evil in this world; not the wolves. I have a several stories that would prove that statement, but it would take forever for me to write them all down.

Every year, I go to Yellowstone for two weeks to watch wolves. This next summer is going to be hard for me since I won't be able to go. I have to stay in Utah to gain residency. Over the course of the past 5 years, I have learned so much about wolves and about myself. I learned that I wanted to be able to research the wolves I loved so much. I learned that I could be independent. I learned who I was and still am. You tell me wolves are evil, then I must be evil too. But you are wrong. I don't believe that I am evil. I believe I am a Daughter of God.

This past year, I was able to watch two different wolf packs in Yellowstone with my mom, one of my best friends, and several other people who love wolves. It was a remarkable experience that I will share later on. Right now I just wanted to explain why I am the wolf girl. Kayla had never been to Yellowstone before so I put it upon myself to take her. She needed to see this place. She needed to know how beautiful and pristine it really is. I thought of it as a chance to teach her and others about wolves. It was the perfect opportunity. She left loving wolves and Yellowstone almost as much as I do.

Wolves are families. We have a tendency to call them packs, but to really understand them, you have to realize that they are families. They are like us. They have a mother and a father who run the pack. Then they have the rest of the family and whatever other wolves they can bring into the pack. They are very territorial, but they are so loving when it comes to their family. The most tender moments I have experienced in my life are when I have been able to watch the wolves play with the pups. They take care of their own. I think we call them packs to avoid making them seem like humans. If they aren't anything like us, we have more justification in killing them.

My heart breaks as I hear news about wolves being killed for no reason. I can't help them, but I know that whatever we do to the animals of this earth will be brought back on our heads in the end. Yes, God gave us dominion over the animals, but he never told us to treat them terribly and to massacre them. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that animals were put here for us to use, but I think the way we go about doing it is wrong. We torture these animals for fur coats and meat. If we did the same thing to humans, it would be considered evil and hellish. I don't see why we can't all exist together. We did at one point.

Anyway, I need to go to bed so I am going to wrap things up. I just wanted to let you all know that I am an animal lover! I love them all, but wolves are my favorite. I can just picture myself holding a wolf in my arms after tranquilizing it and weighing it. I am going to be the next Doug Smith! Watch out world, here I come!