nubbsgalore:
jim and jamie dutcher (previously featured) lived...
jim and jamie dutcher (previously featured) lived for six years with a pack of wolves in the idaho wilderness of yellowstone. a constant but unobtrusive presence, they earned the trust of the wolves, and came to know them as complex, highly intelligent animals with distinct individual personalities.
they also saw the wolves to be caring, playful and above all devoted to family. "only a select few other species exhibit these same traits so clearly," they note. "they are capable of not only emotion but also real compassion."
they add, “it is an animal that cares for its sick and desperately needs to be part of something bigger than itself - the pack. the bond a wolf has to its pack is certainly as strong as the bond a human being has to his or her family.”
the dutchers also recount wolf behavior rarely documented: grief at the death of a pack mate; excitement over the birth of pups; and the shared role of raising young pack members.
