The wolf has gotten a bad rap over the years. The real problem is that humans are encroaching on the wolves territory. This puts the animals right in the backyards of some. This may very well put pets and livestock in danger of being eaten by them. It isn’t the wolf’s fault that opportunity presents itself so well. If someone put Thanksgiving dinner within your reach, how could anyone expect you to not eat any? Even literature has demonized these wild canines. Little Red Riding Hood. The Three Little Pigs. Sayings like, ‘the big, bad wolf’ or ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ indicate the general disdain for these beautiful animals.

The wolf was once one of the most widely distributed animals, living throughout the northern hemisphere. However, from the Middle Ages until about 1970, bounties on wolves drove them nearly to extinction. Today, it is now extinct in much of ‘Western Europe, in Mexico and much of the United States. In modern times, the gray wolf occurs mostly in wilderness and remote areas, particularly in Canada, Alaska and northern United States, Europe, and Asia’-Wikipedia. It has responded well to recolonization into some of the areas in which they had become extinct and their numbers are such now that they are listed as Least Concern.

Some have made pets of wolves, raising the animal from the time it was a puppy (before its eyes open). They tend, however, to be loyal and docile only with its owner. It retains its wild wolf nature and can remain skittish and a little more unpredictable around others. Attempts to tame a wolf after 3-4 weeks of age have met with little success. Also, wolves are only trainable to a certain degree and certainly not to the degree that domestic dogs are trainable. They do learn commands, but they are unreliable, usually responding only when they want to. If they are tired or distracted by other wildlife, they will just plain ignore what is being asked of them.