Values & Key Symbols
Richard Drapo, 7 May 1998, LL 351/Dr Patricia Keith, Values and Key Symbols ~~~~~~~~~ Hasley's woods, and pasteurs, the wolf, and my dog hold much value to me and are special symbols I cherish. Hasley's woods is a special place not only for its beauty but its many uses. The woods are owned by a dairy farmer, and in one section of the woods there is a cow graveyard, evident of the bleached white bones heaped in piles.When I was in kindergarten in 1968, I used to look out our window and see Hasley's big bright red barn with white trim surrounded by alfalfa fields standing like a majestic mountain. In the sky there was usually bleach white and fluffy clouds lingering over the barn and field. The scene still gives me much value.Likewise, the wolves stature and piercing, noble glare are environmental symbols of great meaning between a wolf and it's habitat. ~~~~~~~~~ Remember, when Dorthy of the "Wizard of Oz" finally gets to see the wizard (the wolf), and the wizards beautiful castle and fields (Hasley's woods). I always knew that woods held a special wizard of some kind. My dog, everyone of my four siblings called him their's, was a great companion, and not your ordinary dog that would make a mess any where he pleased. He was extremely clean in hygiene and activities. He was raised in a time when there were no leash laws, and raised in a time when leash laws came into effect. I remember the first time I was told by my mother to chain him up. When I did chain him up, he looked and acted very depressed, virtually pathetic and threw up or vomited things I never seen come out of an animal before. The scene was so pathetic, I vowed never to chain him up again, and I never did. I believe, I coerced my mother outside to witness the scene, so she wouldn't insist I tie him up. He died at age fourteen, origin of death unknown. My mother probably took him to be put to sleep since his sight was deteriorating. Though we were never told if she did or not, and nobody really ever pushed the issue, just one day he was gone. Life and death portrayed very uniquely and quickly when it comes to animals. ~~~~~~~~~ Richard Drapo, 5 May 1998, LL 351/Dr Patricia Keith, A Wilderness Experience Worth Remembering ~~~~~~~~~ Richard Nelson says that what makes a place special is the way it buries itself inside the heart. When I'm out in the wilderness or woods, woods being an eastern expression for deciduous trees, I feel that I can slowly loose myself in the environment. At the same time, I become an explorer trying to seek out the inhabitants that live in the woods. In a North eastern woods, I spot a curve in the trail that I am traveling on, and I find myself slowing up, listening and wondering what is around the corner. I feel like Nelson's deer watching from a secret place in the undergrowth. As I begin to walk again, I stop right at the bend, and gaze at the scenery that has been opened in front of me. I look for the animals. After, I continue to walk through the curve, and my thoughts evade me, but as quickly as they have left, I'm thinking new ones. My new thoughts arise from the new scenery that is unique to this particular area. I see a growth of oak trees, and scattered all around are acorns. Baby oak trees not quite hatched or taken root. I remind myself of those words I once read on a coffee cup, an oak tree was once a nut who stood it's ground. I admire this proverb for it's meaning about life. I gaze through the woods in all directions, and notice the white bark and all the shapes of the vibrant,flourescently glowing, green leafs on all the birch trees. ~~~~~~~~~ I begin to remember that day in 1977 when I was in the same woods with a friend and my older brothers black Lab, Terrier mix, named Elfie who we brought home to join our family in the late sixties. I was the one who picked him out of the litter, and the one who crawled under the strangers couch and pulled a yelping puppy from his hiding place. The whole time his mother sitting and witnessing the whole ordeal. She knew her pup was leaving her, and she had the noblest approval on her face, kind of like a beckoning to take care of him and that she approves.... and be gentle with her baby. ~~~~~~~~~ Suddenly, Elfie stops and emits a concerned low keyed rambling growl that seemed to linger for ten seconds. I take my gaze off the dog and slowly peer around me. And, there he is watching us standing broad side about fifty yards, a big beautiful, light colored, oddly marked wolf. I whisper to my friend to quit talking and to look. When he does he is startled and amazed. I speak to my dog telling him to stay. He was a dog raised in those days when there were no leash laws in our New York town. He proved himself a good fighter. His friends were other Labs, black and golden, and German Shepherds. ~~~~~~~~~ I bend down to his level, and tell him to stay again in a low whisper as he continues that low lingering growl. As I look again, for the wolf, he is gone. Suddenly, I stop remembering, and I pick up a few acorns from the ground, and try to crush the hulls. I can't, but do manage to pull the tops off and stick my thumb in one. I create a suction, and the top of the acorn sticks to my thumb. Afterwards, I decide that it is time to head home, but before I do, I look up through the trees and notice the very bright, and clear rays and beams of sunshine filtering their way through the vibrant, almost flourescent, green leaves, illuminating the white bark, tree branches, and coming to rest on the ground where their journey ends. I give thanks for being able to experience God's splendor at that particular moment. When I'm done giving thanks a soft summer breeze begins to whisper through the trees. Yes, it's time to head home. -R S DRAPO
posted by R S Drapo @ 11:45 AM
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January 15th 1997, Wolf Facts, Canis lupus (Gray wolf) The speciman in the picture is a good example of an Ontariowolf subspecies. ~~~~~~~~~ Make a cup of coffee or tea, sit down and lets me and you learn about a noble creature..."The Sentenal of the Woods" The Gray Wolf. I also propose that a subspecies be created, ie The Ontario Wolf with a range to cover the Great lakes region from Michigan, Minesota heading east to Sanborn New York. As I really believe that Pelage or fur and size is more robust in the Ontario wolf than your dry areas where the timber wolf has habitat. And perhaps give subspecies recognition to those wolves native to Alaska. ~~~~~~~~~ The Gray wolf has the widest original range and is the largest and the most highly social of all the wild dogs. The Gray wolf has high intelligence, and an intricate social structure. In America, around the north western US, Canadian border, the average weight is between 90 and 135 lbs. The highest record weight for this species is 197 lbs. This was a male killed in the foothills of Mt. Mckinley in Alaska; it is possible that this record has been broken. The wolf pelage color ranges from basic black to white and gray. The Gray wolf has been observed to run 28 mph over a distance of 200 yards. The wolf can trot 5 mph and cover a distance of 25 miles with out stopping (distances and mph can be greater). ~~~~~~~~~ Distribution ~~~~~~~~~ Before the europeans arrived on this continent wolves were practically spread all over North America. But, with their arrival, wolves lost their ground. Throughout the mid to late 1800's and even early 1900's, as the expanses of the western US were beginning to open, wolves were being shot in mass numbers. This was a big factor in why their numbers declined. About 250 years ago, enormous prairie wolves in large packs or numbers, estimated at about 100, used to follow the great bison and elk herds of that era. ~~~~~~~~~ Reintroductions of the Wolf ~~~~~~~~~ Today, wolf reintroductions are happening right here in our state of Idaho. In order for these reintroductions to be successful, the various agencies involved, have to work with numerous agricultural land owners and workers in the proper management of the wolves. ~~~~~~~~~ Management must also set aside appropriations for mishaps (usually low) that might happen due to territory or food requirements. Biologists can manage or accomplish this by limiting the size of the wolf packs, on acreages of habitat needed to sustain three or more wolf families that is proportional to the available food sources for that portion of land under consideration. ~~~~~~~~~ Subsequently, these wolves are a different breed from the wolves of yesteryear, due mainly to the fact that the original Idaho Gray wolf species, genetic variations, are a lot different from todays breeds (different in DNA structure). Remember, almost all the original Idaho wolves that lived in Idaho have been depleted by man, and along with it the original gene pool influenced by Idaho's environment. Not only are todays reintroduced wolves genetically different (not totally different that it would warrant another wolf species) from those of the past, but they also have to be a lot smarter too in order to survive and live in their new environments. ~~~~~~~~~ Nevertheless, the Gray wolf and our agricultural endeavors must coincide in order for the Gray wolf to successfully adapt once again to the land that once sustained it in great numbers. Perhaps once again, the Gray wolves, Canis lupus, can be the sentinels of America's great forests. I am reminded of this from a picture of a Gray wolf, standing in white snow, at the edge of a Michigan woodland, peering like a sentinel at the camera at the moment the photographer snapped the picture. The wolf is the sentinel of the American frontier, and seeing one in the wild, without spooking him, convinced me of this. - R.S. Drapo
