The Complete Works of Wolf Road

Chapter 4 Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest (2)
It is said that this is the place where wolves are most active, and wolf dung is often found there. At that time, I didn't think about anything, and I forgot that wolves would pose a danger to my safety.I set off with great interest.

Following the wolf's tracks, finally, behind a hillside, I found several fresh and dried wolf droppings.I have made careful observation and research on this.Wolf droppings are generally off-white in color and are similar in shape to dog droppings.

I have observed wolves eating food many times, and I still remember those scenes vividly.

When wolves eat their prey, they fully demonstrate their powerful survival instincts and cherish food.They almost ate up the whole body of the animal, and only those bones that could not be chewed were discarded by them, and those discarded bones had no meat on them, and even flies seldom visited them.

I put the wolf dung back in the container.In the laboratory, I was surprised to find that the main ingredients in wolf dung are hair fibers and some teeth of various animals, in addition to some animal bone calcium like lime powder.Wolves digest almost everything on their prey, except for some substances that are really not nutritious.As far as I know, no other animal has such a strong ability to digest and absorb as wolves.

It's all so amazing!We humans don't really understand wolves.Why can wolves survive in various harsh environments?Why are almost all animals included in the ranks of protected persons, but wolves have been stubbornly living outside people's protection?

I think this text in "Wolf Trail" should give us a satisfactory explanation.In a harsh environment, especially in the cold winter, the food available to wolves is very scarce, so food is particularly precious.If wolves do not have a strong digestive ability, they only eat the digestible part of their prey. In this case, wolves will definitely suffer from hunger.

Perhaps, there may be an evolutionary process.At the beginning, wolves did not have such a strong digestive ability, but the food they could get was pitifully small, and those wolves with weak digestive ability were starved to death, while the hungry wolves that survived would eat as much as possible of those wolves. Stuff they can't digest.

In this way, after a long period of "tempering", the wolf will have a strong stomach.This is the guarantee of their survival and the result of evolution in nature.If the wolf's food is abundant, the wolf will not eat things that cannot be digested; if it is easy for the wolf to catch the prey, the wolf will not cherish the food so much, "rare things are more expensive".It is this harsh living environment that makes wolves evolve so well.

3 Good at rising from failure

The wolf is the most outstanding practitioner of the belief that "failure is the mother of success".Failure is a state of mind, not a reality.

Failure and setbacks are actually an integral part of life.Failure and pain are the language God uses to communicate with every living being and point out their mistakes.Some animals and even people, when they hear these words from God, may become cowardly, causing them to run away from all possible threats.But other people or animals, when they hear these words from God, will become more humble in order to learn more wisdom.We should understand that the inflection point where we start to succeed usually comes after failure.

Wolves belong to the "other part" I just mentioned.Wolf is an excellent practitioner of "failure is the mother of success".These seem to be words spoken by intelligent humans, but do we humans live or work according to such truths?

Faced with such doubts, we become less confident, because even though we tell the truth, we believe the truth, but we rarely follow the truth.Wolf, here again become our teacher.

Wolves are perhaps the most efficient hunters.But their chances of losing a hunt are still high, about 90 percent.

This data is the average data calculated after observing many wolf packs.It is conceivable that those inexperienced young wolves, those aging wolves, have a higher probability of failure.

I don't know what it would be like if all human actions had only a 10% chance of success, that is, ten times the same action, only one would succeed.

However, this is something every wolf must face.They are starving, and after a few days in ambush in the grass, they may not even catch a sheep.Therefore, wolves are actually constantly starving.

Perhaps, it is this starvation state that prompts them to actively face failure and let them learn from failure.

In the face of failure, the wolves never flinch, give in, and they are not even a little depressed.They don't complain like human beings, after failure, they keep finding all kinds of excuses for themselves. All they have to do is to endure the failure silently, get ready to go again, and devote themselves to the task in front of them.They continue to use time-hardened hunting techniques, examine the reasons for their setbacks, and draw lessons from them, formulating new plans and blueprints, confident that success will eventually come.

A young wolf has to experience countless failures from following the mother wolf to prey on weak animals to becoming the main force of the wolf pack to ambush the livestock herd.But failure has no negative effect on it, it only becomes more alert and careful in hunger.Every hunt is an opportunity to hone the wolf's predation skills.

For wolves, failure is experience, and they will keep every failure firmly in their hearts to avoid making the same mistakes again.

After failing, they wait for the next opportunity.For wolves, it doesn't matter how many failures, as long as they can catch the prey, as long as they can survive, it is the greatest success.

In the face of setbacks and failures, or in the face of powerful enemies, wolves always show a stern and optimistic attitude. It is this attitude that makes wolves have infinite courage. Facing dangers, they are calm and fearless.

In the wilderness, wolves do not walk alone.As the long winter nights approach, each wolf races to the front of the pack as it hunts for food.In the cold moonlight, they jumped with their huge bodies and surpassed their companions. Their eyes were full of blue light, bursting out with wildness.

Photographer Karl Brendes once focused on wolves for a long time. In his opinion, wolves are a special animal and a symbol of wildness."The eyes of wolves are the most breathtaking things you can imagine. They have all the wildness of the northern hemisphere in their pupils," he said.

Wildness - a stern and optimistic attitude.Does this attitude have some inspiration for frantic and impetuous human beings?
An old man once told people the story of his own encounter with wolves.

When I was young, I lived in the countryside. The village was surrounded by grasslands, and in the distance were mountains covered with jungles. Wolves often came down from the mountains to sneak up on the sheep raised by farmers. Among them was a lone wolf with three legs, with a cunning temperament. Fierce and imposing.

One day, my father and I were walking on a path not far from home, and we came across this wolf on a narrow road.The two men, one wolf, stood at each end, facing each other.The wolf had no intention of backing down, nor did it plan to rush over, but just stared at us coldly.After a stalemate like this for a long time, the father's loud scolding made the wolf turn around and leave slowly.

When I grew up, I left the village and the environment where wolves lived.

However, I can never forget the look in the eyes of that lone wolf. I was infected by that calm demeanor, and even forgot my fear.

Whenever I encounter difficulties and face setbacks, I will think of the wolf's calm expression, and the courage it gave me has accompanied me all my life.

The sternness and optimism of the wolf show the fearless spirit of the wolf and its ability to rise from failure.

4 Learn More Survival Skills

The survival of the wolf does not depend only on the survival ability it has when it is born, but more often it survives by learning more hunting skills from every thing in nature and other animals.

When it comes to "learning", it seems to be unique to human beings, which is a vocabulary that belongs to us humans.Indeed, learning requires strong subjective initiative.Many people deny that animals have the ability to learn, and believe that all behaviors of animals are instinctive and have no subjective initiative.

Let's not discuss whether this view is right or wrong, whether it is arbitrary, let us take a look at some behaviors of wolves, maybe you will change your point of view.In fact, the learning ability that humans have, wolves play even better, and their learning is also an instinct, forced by the environment and a need for survival.

Maxwell Maltz, a wildlife enthusiast, once followed an expedition to the North Pole.There, he got up close and personal with seals, polar bears, walruses, arctic foxes and a variety of other animals that few others saw.Of course, what excites him the most is the wolves on the Arctic ice sheet.

Wolves are the second largest carnivore on the Arctic ice sheets, after polar bears.But polar bears generally hunt alone, which is much worse than wolves that act in groups.Therefore, the wolf is the king of beasts on the Arctic ice sheet.On the ice plains, wolves are the only animals that can hunt live reindeer and live musk oxen.

Maltz talked about that unforgettable experience.

At that time, I was fully committed to observing seals. I took a sled to observe everywhere every day, and I also went to observation stations in some countries to collect some interesting information.One day, when I got off the sled and was unloading equipment, I saw a group of golden wolves standing about 300 meters away from me.There were about [-] or [-] wolves in that pack. At that time, I was so frightened that I broke out in a cold sweat, my mind went blank, my whole body was stiff and I couldn't move.

At the time, I thought the wolves would attack me immediately.It is impossible to escape the attack of wolves at the speed of the sled, and I have no self-defense weapons by my side.At that time, I seemed to really see the face of death.But the strange thing is that the pack of wolves stood there with their heads held high and motionless, my eyes met those of the wolves. Dare to move rashly, and the wolf also stood there, motionless.Looking at the group of horrific wolves, I was like a thief, avoiding the eyes of the wolves, and slowly walked back to the sled, not daring to look at the wolves behind me, and drove desperately to the distance.After driving a few hundred meters, I dared to look back.

The wolves didn't catch up, they seemed to be standing still, because I could only see a few faint golden dots.It seems they have no intention of eating me. "Thank goodness", that was probably the only thought that came to my mind at the time.

After driving a few miles, I felt that I was out of danger, and found a nearby observation point to continue my work.At that time, I was writing a column observation diary for a magazine called "Earth Biology", and I also distributed pictures.The editor-in-chief of the column is a very experienced middle-aged lady, so I can't afford to be sloppy and falsified.So, even if there is danger, I will continue.

Not long after my observations began, something terrible happened.Oh, my God, I never dreamed that the pack of wolves appeared again more than 300 meters away from me, exactly the same as before.They are still motionless, looking at me from a distance, I seem to see their focused eyes, but I don't know if there is murderous intent in those eyes.I didn't dare to be careless anymore, stepped on the sled, and returned to the observation post where I was staying.In the future, I will not dare to act alone when I go out to observe.

After listening to Maltz's story, do you know what the wolves want to do?Maltz didn't understand either, so he took this question to ask Professor Wilkins, an expert in wolf research.The professor laughed out loud after listening to Maltz's narration.Professor said:

"Under normal circumstances, wolves rarely attack humans, unless it is absolutely necessary, because they know how powerful humans are, and humans are probably the only animals that make them feel a little scared. Besides, the pack of wolves must have held their heads high at that time." The head is watching you. If the wolf stands or walks with its head held high, you don’t have to be afraid at all. Even if the wolf walks through the herd with its head held high, the reindeer will continue to eat grass without panic. Before the wolf attacks, it usually lowers its head and eyes Staring at the front, the hair on the body will stand on end."

Those wolves were nothing but a bunch of curious children!For wolves, they will have a strong curiosity about all strange things.

Through careful observation, they can often learn a lot of useful things.They also learn some hunting techniques from other animals.

I see.Like children, wolves are full of curiosity about everything around them, and this curiosity is so pure.In careful observation, they learned a lot of knowledge.Children only learn actions and language from humans, but wolves not only learn experience, hunting skills, and survival wisdom from other wolves, but also learn from every creature in nature.Probably this kind of curiosity, this kind of learning ability is also an important reason for them to survive in an increasingly cruel natural environment!

5 Concentrate on hunting the target
Locking on the target and persevering are another valuable qualities of wolves.It is this quality that makes it possible for wolves to succeed in capturing prey and is one of the reasons for their survival.

The most important skill for the survival of wolves is to be able to concentrate all their energy on the hunting target. They only aim at the prey and will never give up until they reach their goal.For unattainable goals, they will never do meaningless behavior, whether it is a threatening growl or a meaningless run.

In the Mara River in Africa, the grass on both sides of the valley is soft and tender, and groups of antelopes are leisurely looking for food in the grass.A wolf was hiding in the grass far away, with its ears pricked up and spinning around in all directions. It was keenly aware of the existence of the antelope herd, and then quietly approached the herd.

Getting closer, getting closer, the antelope also noticed it, and began to run away in all directions.Like a [-]-meter athlete, the wolf broke out instantly, and rushed towards the herd of antelope like an arrow.Its eyes were fixed on a juvenile antelope, and it went straight to chase it.

In the process of chasing and fleeing, the wolf overtook the antelopes that stood watching one after another, but it did not turn around to chase these closer prey, but continued to pursue the juvenile antelope persistently. .

The antelope is tired, and the wolf is also tired. In this contest, the final competition is speed and endurance.Finally, the wolf's front paws touched the antelope's back, and the antelope tripped, and its sharp wolf teeth bit down on the antelope's neck.The antelope didn't move at all, and the wolf lay on the ground panting heavily.

All carnivorous animals know to hide themselves before attacking, and when choosing targets, they always focus on those old, young, sick, and lonely prey.However, people are quite puzzled. In the process of chasing, why don't the wolves chase the antelopes closest to them?
Like the moose, the antelope is also an extremely docile animal, but God has also given it some special skills. Once it starts running, its explosive power like a [-]-meter sprint can instantly leave the wolf behind.If you leave the tired sheep and chase an antelope standing beside you, waiting for work, you will not be able to catch any of them—the wisdom of the wolf is fully confirmed here.

Once the wolf's target is locked, the spirit of perseverance becomes the key to the success of its hunting.This spirit is also the most important survival rule for wolves.

(End of this chapter)