Hidden by a Call

Cheetahs are awesome. They’re not the biggest cat and they can only reach their 70mph top speed for a few seconds, which means that the other big cats they share their home with could easily overpower them. And they aren’t the toughest cats, either. But, their survival lies in their spots and their call. Cheetahs chirp and squak like a bird. and, if you’re a predator, lying in the grass and you sound like a bird, nothing is going to pay you any mind.

Cheetah cubs have a bit of a chirp that literally sounds exactly like a bird. That means, while mom’s off fending off a threat, the cub can keep chirping away, without worrying about being tracked down. Because, with their camoflague fur, and the little chirp, most predators won’t bother investigating as most won’t bother with birds.

Grown cheetahs gave more of a squak. So, when mom calls to her cubs, it sounds more like a momma bird calling to her chicks.

it’s another cool piece of God’s design.

Moving Off the Menu

So, everyone knows that carabou, water buffalo and other land animals migrate. The question is why? Well, food is one reason. The carabou tend to strip the land bare as they move. I mean, when you have 1 million plus mouths to feed, you need to keep moving just to find all the food for everyone.

Another reason because a lot of those migratory animals have predators that hunt them. And, if they were to stay in one spot, it wouldn’t take long for the heard to dwindle. If a heard is unable to move, it tends to cause what is called “over-predation.” When a predator attacks, they go into trance of sorts where they can actually keep killing if pray items are in the area, even more than they’ll ever eat. This is what happened to cattle ranchers in America. Settlers came to this new land and didn’t think to study the predators before they built their tiny ranches. They came in, and put a large number of cattle in a small space and prevented them from moving very far. And, when the wolves came around, they had a free buffet.

Naturally, grazing animals migrate to prevent this over-predation. Some predators will follow the herds. Wolves are known to do this, but they only follow them to the edge of their territories. But, a wolf pack’s territory can extend up to 600 square miles.  But, even with such a large range, a single pack might only take maybe a dozen animals out of the million or two in the herd. If they heard didn’t migrate, a wolf pack could easily kill a couple hundred…maybe even a few thousand individuals, but only eat maybe two in a month.

Over-predation can apply to sea-life as well. Sometimes, when fishermen cast their nets, sea otters and sea lions will kill a lot of the fish, even after they’ve eaten their fill. Naturally, over-predation is EXTREMELY rare. It only spikes with human intervention. However, even with humans helping it out, over-predation is still pretty rare.

Social Howling

Did you know that a lone wolf usually won’t howl? Howling is a social experience, and usually when you hear a wolf howl, there’s more than one wolf around. A lot of times, a pack will howl before and/or after a hunt. Howling after a hunt usually comes after a successful hunt. Sort of like praying for a successful hunt and singing a song when they come home with food.  And sometimes, wolves will howl just to howl. Again, it’s like singing a song. Singing can be done alone, but it’s always better with more than one person or wolf.

This Social Howling has been passed to down to dogs. Not all dogs howl, but when they do, they howl when they know there are other people around. When they howl at something outside, it’s like their calling their pack, their owner to see what they see.

Barking is also a social experience for Wolves. In fact, a lone wolf won’t use very many audible communications. Why? Well, there’s no one to talk to. Only when interacting with other wolves, will an lone wolf speak up. The same thing happens with people. A lot of those quiet people just don’t have a lot of people to talk to.

Wolf Traits

I’ve been noticing that some of a wolf’s more dominate traits can be easily past on to wolf hybrids. These are traits which you can look for to see how much of a wolf your dog is.

1. The mane. A wolf’s thick mane appears to be the most dominate trait under the pack behavior all dogs share. The mane is usually a different color than the rest of the fur or has different colors in it. This, however, isn’t true with Melanistic (black) and and anti-Melanistic (white) wolves.

2. 180 degree eye movement. Wild wolves can rotate their eyes 180 degrees in all directions. This is so wolves can drink water on the run and essentially watch keep an eye on their surroundings without much work. With a turn of the head, this wide range of eye rotation gives the wolf a nearly 360 degree field of vision.

3. Seasonal colors. Wolves, like foxes, change their color depending on the season. Example: in the winter, a wolf could be all white, but in the summer it could have some black spots in it’s fur.

4. Excessive seasonal shedding. This generally comes with the changing colors, but not always. All dogs shed, but wolves and wolfdogs shed even more. You have to keep in mind that, in the wild, wolf needs to change it’s colors and coats as abruptly as the seasons, and thus the rate at which they shed their summer and winter coats can be just as dramatic. This might be as dominate a trait as the mane, so be warned and, if the dog shows a mane, as about he shedding.

5. Size. It is a common thing for a hybrid to be much bigger than both it’s parents. A wolf can grow to nearly six foot long and around 4 feet tall. That means a wolfdog can easily be over six foot long and probably reach around 5 feet tall. If you have neighbors complaining of a monster dog, you might check it out and see if it’s really just a wolfdog.

6. Howling. A lot of dogs howl, but a wolf’s howl is the loudest. However, don’t expect this to be a prominent feature, as lone wolves tend to keep quiet.

7. Bite Pressure. A normal dog’s bite pressure is barely about 100psi…a small bite from a wolf is above 400psi. A wolf’s full bite pressure is arround 1500psi, making it one of the strongest. So, if your dog can bite through solid bone or steel without much trouble, then you might have a hybrid.

Just some tips if you’re looking for a wolf dog. Now, when the dog is a pup, there’s probably no way to tell until they’re a little older. A wolf pup a couple months old can be as big as a small dog…like a Pomeranian. But, the easiest way to tell if it has wolf genes is the mane. If you see a coyote with a wolf mane, you know you have wolves in the area. (trust me, it looks odd)

But, a wolf dog is probably going to have the wildness and fierceness of a wolf, and it ISN’T a good idea to get one unless you’ve done some research on wolves and have a great respect for them. You also have to remember a wolf dog WILL be stronger than you. I don’t care if you lift weights and can bench press it, it WILL be pulling you along on walks if you don’t teach it that you’re the alpha. Also, a thing to remember: Wolves have a high pain tolerance and low abuse tolerance whereas a dog has a low pain tolerance and high abuse tolerance. This means, if you kick your wolf dog around, there’s a good chance it’ll turn around and bite that leg off.

Anyways, that’s it.

Going to the Wolves

As many of you know, I will be moving to Spokane some time in September. While this is sad news in that I will be away from me friends in Vancouver, it does mean I will closer to the wolves. As such, a new camera (preferably a Canon) has jumped to the top of my list. (If anyone lives in the Vancouver/Portland area and wants to buy a set of lightly used tools for $500 let me know, because I am selling mine.) Granted Spokane will mean the hunt for a job and venturing out on my own, but I am sure I will make some time to go hunting for some sweet wolf photos. I really would not mind becoming a wolf photographer. I am also going to look into going back to school in Spokane to possibly become a wolf behaviorist, or possibly I will just get a nice plot of land somewhere and kind of live amongst them and gain my knowledge that way.

But anyways, expect to see any wolf photos and pictures of Spokane in general, to be posted here on World is Wild.

Also, be watching for Wolf Week coming July 27th.

J7T

This is the trailer for a prequel of sorts to A Wolf of Legend (Journey). It is entitled When the Wolves Died. It follows the journey of a wolf that lived back in the 1800s who saw great evil and the slaughtering of the wolves and of the natives and even other settlers. This story is quite graphic and is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

A Special Clip that includes the Introduction plus the first two chapters will debut during Wolf Week in July, so be watching for that.

Definition

I am living a season of life where this word is the foundation of my search.  So many people my age are going through the same thing.  What is it that defines you?  What are you?  Do you define yourself by your friends?  By what you own?  By what you wear?  How is it that this is the most important thing about you, and yet we feel so confused and scared of what defines us?

 

You see, the only thing that can define us is the affirmation of God.  It is what we long for.  You remember being a kid and creating something so amazing that you just had to show Mom and Dad?  They would come and look at what you made.  Sometimes they’d praise the work you did, others they would be disappointed because it was creatively destructive.  But isn’t that what we’re trying to do with our lives?  Don’t we live in such a way that we are asking anybody to come and look what we did?  We’re searching for affirmation that our lives mean something.  

 

It doesn’t matter whether you have faith in God or not.  We are wired this way.  We want to know that our lives have meaning.  We need to know that we are living out our purpose.  What I believe is that until we can surrender our lives that we are creatively destroying to God, that we can’t define our lives in such a way that generations will recall.  Our definition must come from God.  He must be molding our lives and we must remain moldable.

 

For a long time I have wanted to have something to offer.  I have longed to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.  I wanted to get out and be somebody.  I don’t want to be overlooked.  Often times I feel like I’m not doing enough.  I feel like if I’m not the one in charge or the one who is needed that I don’t matter and that God doesn’t use me.  That’s wrong.  I’ve thought that if I can’t evangelize, that I must not be a strong Christian.  There’s something wrong with me.  

 

I’m beginning to learn just what my life means to God.  It is a beautiful, wild, and scary thing.  It is strong, it is passionate, and it is full of life and freedom as only God can give.  I want to live in that.  I’m am trying to take the steps to walk in that relationship with God.  I keep messing up.  I keep losing sight of God in the midst of stress, in the midst of the storm.  I feel like Peter saying “if it is you, Lord, then tell me to come out to you!” And Jesus replying “Come.” I get out of the boat and start walking towards Him, then I look away for only a second and sink.  It takes faith that sometimes I just don’t have.  I doubt.  We all do.  And if you don’t, what is it that you see?

 

I think that we need to realize our definition in life doesn’t come from what we do or who we are.  We need to know that what we’re building and what we’re working toward is something only God can create.  God will define our lives if we let Him.  When we let him do that, we won’t always see the results, and maybe we never will.  But it is that definition that we are longing for.  That definition will fulfill our lives.  That definition is what gives us a purpose.  We need to stop trying to build our own lives.  We need to realize that we just can’t mark the world like God can. 

Look at Jesus.  Jesus was the son of God and he is still the most controversial, most well known figure in the history of the world.  Abraham, allowed his life to be molded and marked by God.  God defined his life as being Man of God and he is the father of nations.  David surrendered his life to God at a very young age.  God defined David’s life as that of a leader, of a warrior, of a man who passionately followed HIm.  We know David as a man after God’s own heart.  David was also blessed as he ruled over the nation of Israel and that time is known as the golden age of Israel.

 

We are defined by God, and that definition leads to actions that we take.  That definition leads to the choices we make and how we live our lives.  If you’re thinking to yourself “Well, I don’t know how God is going to define my life” or that maybe you just don’t know if you’ll be able to find what God’s definition is, I’d encourage you to go beyond just praying or looking through the Bible.  Start talking with a mentor, a pastor, a group of friends, or find a lifegroup and let them know what you’re looking for.  Sometimes we must let other people carry us before the feet of God because we’re too scared or weak,  or we just can’t get there period.  

Washington Week Promo

Available on lhcfishers.com beginning May 26th!

I figured I’d better post on here eventually since it is a rare event when I do.

Hot Fire

Alright, since jamba is posting WA Week updates on his blog, i figured I can contribute here with Hot fire photos. check it out:

notice the pink and white coloration. that mean it is a SUPER HOT fire. From the information I have gathered, based on the color and the fact we melted thick Sobe bottles, my guess is our fire was between 2500º and 2600º F. Cool huh? Remember, do not start fires in a steady wind with high gusts.

Wolf Week Teaser

I