Replies

I took a retired women from Yugoslavia to the "Wolf Institute" around the corner from my house (in Westchester NY ;I kid you not). When she was a child she used to guard the sheep from wolves, and told me that every year the wolves would carry off a couple. I thought she'd enjopy getting out of the house.

The "Institute" is basically a ranch house set on 5 acres of exurb. In the backyard, instead of a lawn and patio, the people put up a double row of 12 ft high fence, some boulders and rescued 3 wolves who are their research subjects (er.....pets).

The householders bought one of those prefab sheds, put in a couple of benches and have a video playing on endless loop........ the video is 30 minutes of the most silly tripe telling us just how sweet & misunderstood Wolves are once you get to know them deep down inside. Meanwhile, just outside the shed, the real Wolves are howling enough to send shivers up one's spine.

The Yugoslav women I brought sat quietly through the entire show, walked out the door glanced over at the homeowner (excuse me "Chairperson of the wolf institute; a 501(3)C registered non-profit") cooing to her darling wolves; shook her babuska clad head muttering......... how can these Americans be so stupid and yet so rich ?

When I was a kid, my dad and I used to go to Western Bosnia every summer. We had a bunch of relatives there (in the mountain villages around Drvar and further up north in Banja Luka). In Banat, the only place you get to see a wolf is the "Biology" section at the library. So, one summer night in Bosnia, I went out to the yard to play with the pigeons my cousin was raising at the time... About 30 metres around the property, he had all the bushes cut down - if the wolves came out of the woods, he would have enough time to get the shotgun and blow their asses clean off. Well this one time, I was in the yard, and that's the first time I saw a wolf -- the bastard was about 20 metres (65') away. He was H U G E, black and had yellow eyes. He just stood there staring at me. Dude, I thought I was gonna shit my pants right there and then. I was so scared, I couldn't even move.

At that moment, I heard my cousin cocking the gun behind me. As soon as the wolf heard the sound - he turned around and ran away.

I had nightmares for a month after that, and hearing them howl every night didn't help, either.