The Complete Works of Wolf Road

Chapter 3 Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest (1)
A wolf can't change the environment, so he tries his best to change himself.In the wolf family, there is often a wolf with the lowest status, which is the weakest in the wolf pack. In all aspects of the family, it is always placed in the last position, but if it can survive, it can often become An excellent wolf has a relatively high probability of becoming a wolf in the end.

Because of this tenacious ability to survive, it has undergone greater tempering and accumulated more perfect survival skills.

1 Be the strong man who dominates the environment

For the harsh living environment, wolves have amazing adaptability.The ability of wolves to control changes in the environment is the best among all kinds of animals in the world, which may be the main reason for their strong adaptability.

Among the many animals, wolves are the most able to adapt to the external environment. Because wolves have a strong ability to adapt to the external environment, they can find themselves and the survival method of the population no matter what kind of environment they are in. Therefore, wolves can survive on the earth. In every corner of the world, it can be said that wolves are the strong ones who dominate the environment.Only by dominating the environment can one avoid being dominated by the environment. Once one is dominated by the environment, survival will be in crisis.

In the Arctic, in the severe winter and raging snowstorms, wolves can curl up in a ball in the open air, covering their faces with their tails and sleeping peacefully.Wolves also have an amazing sense of smell, allowing them to accurately determine the direction and location of prey from kilometers away.

Once, we happened to observe the scene of wolves rounding up gazelle.At that time, the gazelle was gnawing the pasture leisurely and moving slowly. Some of the satiated gazelles were lying on the grass, and some were drinking water by the nearby lake.The group of gazelles hadn't noticed the danger yet, and fell into the siege of wolves unknowingly.The semicircle formed by five or six wolves is shrinking step by step.Suddenly, an older realgar sheep seemed to have discovered something, and ran away, struggling to get out of the encirclement.

It seemed that the wolves had been prepared for this sudden situation, and neither chased nor changed their formation.They seem to know that there are more gazelles by the lake, so they can't lose the big because of small things.Sure enough, when the wolves approached the lake, every member of the wolves suddenly swooped towards the gazelle almost at the same moment.This is like a charge in war, orderly, consistent and swift.

The sheep didn't know what happened at this time, and fled around in shock.Some of the sheep ran to the depths of the grassland to escape for their lives, while others ran to the center of the lake. Their fate can be imagined. They either sank to the bottom of the lake or fell into the mouth of wolves. It was very tragic.

With the evolution of the earth, especially the excessive exploitation of animal and plant resources by humans and the destruction of the natural environment, the living environment and prey objects of wolves have been greatly changed.But whether it is roe deer in the woods, gazelle on the grassland, ferocious bison, or huge moose, wolves can patiently find their weaknesses and finally capture the prey they need.

In the vast coniferous forests of North America, we used all modern tools and monitoring equipment to track the passage of a pack of wolves hunting moose.After a wolf smelled the scent of the moose, other wolves soon gathered together, and they automatically formed a single formation to chase the moose on the soft snow.

The leading wolf is the pioneer, leading the members behind to move forward quickly, and when tired, other members will take its place.In this way, the wolves are constantly changing, chasing the prey quickly, not allowing the prey a moment to breathe.After they set their goals, they are very patient. They can follow the goal closely without eating or drinking for several days, even if they feel a little tired, they will not give up the goal lightly.

After several days of dogged pursuit by the wolf, the moose was exhausted and finally exhausted.Then the wolves began to attack.

The first wolf rushed over, bit its throat, and held on tightly; the second rushed up and bit its thigh, followed by the third, and the fourth... The largest deer on land was beaten by a wolf smaller than itself. Ended its life and became food for wolves.

On the prairie, an important reason why wolves become the real masters of nature is that prairie wolves are particularly good at long-distance raids.On the vast prairie, whether it is the hunter or the hunted, if there is no super running ability, it is very difficult to survive on the prairie.It may be because of this ability that the prairie wolf has greatly improved its combat effectiveness and become the most powerful "military force" on the grassland. It can even drive tigers, leopards, bears and other larger beasts out of the grassland.

The survival rules of animals are the same as that of human beings. If they want to survive, they must first adapt to the living environment.If the living environment is very bad, if you want to change it, only by constantly adapting and changing the environment can you reproduce in an increasingly harsh living environment.

There are very few wild animals in today's grasslands. In the cold grasslands of Russia and Mongolia, the harsh natural environment makes it difficult for many animals to survive for a long time, including those seemingly mighty and tenacious tigers, lions, cheetahs, and bears.They have all entered these grasslands and tried to survive on the grasslands for a long time, but they all failed.On the one hand, they cannot adapt to the harsh natural environment, and on the other hand, they cannot adapt to the more brutal survival war.In grasslands where food resources are scarce, they eventually starve to extinction.

In such a cruel environment, some large carnivores were ruthlessly eliminated by nature because they could not find food, and the rest were species with very tenacious survival ability, and wolves were one of them.The reason why wolves can survive in such a harsh environment is because wolves have a strong ability to survive. It is this kind of environment that also creates wolves—promoting the improvement of wolves, making them temper themselves in adversity. It has improved its own wisdom and skills, making it more adaptable.This forms a virtuous circle.

It is said that a forest park in a certain country bred hundreds of sika deer. Although the environment is quiet, the water and grass are abundant, and there are no natural enemies, after a few years, the deer herd not only did not develop, but became weaker and the number decreased greatly.Later, the manager of the park bought a few wolves and put them in the park.Facing predation by wolves, the sika deer can only run away desperately.The slowest deer will be eaten by wolves.In this way, after being eliminated and chased by the wolves, the deer's physique has been greatly enhanced, and the number has also increased to a certain extent.

Wolves have no natural enemies in nature. Even if there are some large carnivores that can kill them, that kind of situation will rarely happen because of the unity of wolves.If wolves have natural enemies, that natural enemy is human beings—terrible human beings. "wisdom"

Human beings can come up with various ways to deal with wolves that they think are very "evil" instead of relying on their hands. These means and methods are beyond the reach of wolves, and the only way for wolves is to avoid them cautiously.

It is the wolves who are constantly fighting against "intelligent" humans, so that they can evolve better and better adapt to the environment.Therefore, compared with other animals, wolves have "genius-like IQ".It is this "genius-like IQ" that guarantees the survival of the wolves. They apply the wisdom they have learned from humans to hunting activities to minimize the survival crisis, thereby ensuring the benign survival of the wolves. environment.

Let's look at another thrilling picture of Markov telling us about humans and wolves.

In a cold winter, while hunting, Markov met a wolf.This is a silver-gray wolf with piercing eyes and smooth fur. It is nearly two meters long and very strong.It's a pity that Markov's shotgun didn't aim, and only hit the wolf's right hind leg, but the wolf limped away dragging its injured leg, and the wolf was covered with blood.So Markov mounted his horse and went after the wounded wolf.In the process of chasing, Markov saw that the speed of the fleeing wolf in front was not very fast, and he was getting closer and closer to the injured wolf.

This situation was caused because the injured leg of the wolf became an obstacle to its progress. The wolf jumped forward a few times desperately, and the distance between Markov and Markov was slightly widened.Taking advantage of this opportunity, the wolf turned around and bit his own injured right hind leg, snapping that leg in a few bites.When Markov saw this scene, he was stunned, and a kind of awe was born in his heart.The action of the wolf shortened the distance between him and the wolf.His horse also remained motionless, watching the wolf quietly, watching the wolf run away with only three legs left.

In order to survive, the wolf has shown this unmatched strength and spirit of giving up the small and seeking the big, which is really awe-inspiring.

The North American buffalo herd disappeared, which succumbed to the rifle in the hands of the hunter; the large herds of antelope, which could not bear the dogs and bullets, had almost disappeared; the salmon population was also drastically reduced.The ancient inhabitants of the Butland region disappeared like snow in the new environment, but the wolves that lived here remained alive.On the flat hills, their singing can still be heard at night.

I once saw such a picture: when eight wolves were chasing and killing more than a dozen horses, they chased and beat them all the way, biting the horses tightly, without giving the horses a chance to breathe. More than 8 hours.During the long chase, an old horse among the horses began to slow down and slowly fell behind. The wolves surrounded the horse and killed it.

Not only is the wolf able to take advantage of the environment and go with the flow, it can also respond to adverse circumstances with a positive attitude.The wolves that have survived and continued to run on the grassland are all descendants of hungry wolves.It turned out that those "noble" wolves who had no worries about food and clothing were beaten to the ground by the hungry wolves who had fled famine.

It is this kind of environment that makes the wolves who are the strongest, the smartest, the most able to eat and fight, and remember the taste of hunger when they are full, survive, while the weak wolves are ruthlessly eliminated.This is the dialectic of wolf survival.

2 Survive in desperate situation

On the earth, wolves have survived for more than 100 million years. They have experienced human hunting, poisoning, trapping, and humans even use powerful weapons to shoot them from airplanes.Humans have also destroyed the habitats of many wolves, and many biological groups that wolves depend on for their livelihoods, such as American bison, elk and American caribou, have also been ruthlessly destroyed by humans.It is in this "desperate situation" that wolves seek to survive.They dare to fight against the sky and humans. It is their fighting spirit that enables them to survive in desperation.

A wolf's life is full of hardships.In the wild, a wolf can live for about 13 years, but most wolves only live about 9 years or so.However, wolves captured and raised by humans usually live longer than 15 years.Obviously, the life of wolves in the wild is extremely difficult, and there are dangers hidden everywhere.

Living in the wild, wolves not only have to fight desperately with humans and other animals in order to survive.At the same time, wolves must often compete with their own kind for food and territory, because wolves can only live and hunt in their own territory, and the size of the territory varies greatly according to the number of their prey objects.This situation depends on the amount of prey in the area.Where prey is densely distributed, wolves don't have to travel far to get a good meal.In wilder habitats with fewer prey, wolves sometimes have to travel far to hunt food.

In the world of wolves, "survival of the fittest" is their most important survival rule. Just as the weakest American moose is captured by wolves, the weakest wolf will also disappear.The survival of wolves mainly depends on the way of defeating and eating their opponents, otherwise they will starve to death.Hunting is dangerous. When a wolf captures its prey, it often encounters the desperate resistance of the prey. Some large prey sometimes hurt the life of the wolf.Studies have shown that the success rate of wolves hunting is only 7% to 10%.

Once the hunt is successful, wolves must also be on the lookout for attacks from other animals that want something for nothing.These animals also often attack and kill wolf cubs.Finally, wolves have to fight against humans, and humans are undoubtedly the biggest threat to the safe survival of wolves.

It is in this dangerous environment that wolves can overcome their opponents and become one of the highest units of the food chain on land.Difficulties are generally the soil that produces strong people, and it is this environment that makes wolves strong.

There is also a strict hierarchy in the wolf pack.There is the alpha wolf who ranks higher, and the lowest in the pack, the Omega wolf, who is the smallest guy in the pack.This poor little creature is often abused and ostracized by other members of the pack, and is placed last in all activities.Especially when it comes to eating, it is often the last one in the queue. Only when the other wolves are full, will it have a share of the leftover food, so it is often hungry.

However, this little one has the magical power to turn things around.After a period of hard training in this environment, when it has a certain ability to survive, it will leave the wolf pack and become the well-known "lone wolf".

These "lone wolves" will eventually join other groups, or find a partner, and start to run their own group. The spirit of perseverance in life has made them experience greater tempering and accumulate more perfect skills. Their wisdom It is also unmatched by other wolves, which makes it often a very good alpha wolf.

The wolves who survived the desperate situation are the truly brave and wise wolves.They are stronger-willed, more experienced, more witty, and more skilled.The reason why they often become alpha wolves and leaders of an organization is because this "desperate situation" has tempered them.

The digestion and absorption ability of wolves is quite strong. In the study of all animals in the animal kingdom, no carnivore with such a strong digestion ability has been found.A good and strong digestion ability is one of the factors to ensure the long life of wolves and their healthy and long-term existence in nature.

Professor Jim Goodwin is a well-known expert on wolf science, currently a professor at Harvard University, and an important contributor to "Animal World" magazine.He lived on the Eurasian prairie for 3 years. He has observed and studied wolves at close range for many times. With profound theoretical knowledge, many of his works are used by many universities as teaching materials for graduate students.

In his book "The Track of the Wolf", he used a long page to introduce the excrement of wolves.From wolf dung, we can see how great the digestion and absorption capacity of wolves is.Next, let me quote one of the most exciting paragraphs, so that you can have a more comprehensive understanding and grasp of the digestion and absorption capabilities of wolves.

It is not easy to find wolf droppings on the Eurasian steppe.Since herdsmen have hunted and killed wolves for a long time, wolves have become highly vigilant.They don't defecate anywhere, only where they think it's safest.However, such a place must be very hidden and difficult to be found.It's been a long time since I first became interested in wolf droppings and found fresh wolf droppings myself.After the guidance of the herdsmen, I walked to the deepest part of the grassland alone.

(End of this chapter)