12x18
Ink on canvas paper
SOLD
$800 Our wolf problem never goes away. Forty years ago local ranchers used strychnine just like in the early days in Montana. Around Fort Nelson the government shot them from planes and choppers several winters in a row. Yellowstone National Park needed wolves for re-stocking and guess where they came. My backyard.

I'm walking on thin ice here...my cowboy buddies want me to hate wolves but I keep an open mind...they even hate rodent eating coyotes. When they read this account, I may lose a few friends.

One end of the valley, wolf pups yipping and kiyyying. The other end, mom with her low, mournful groan, calling them back. This goes on for half an hour then...in the large meadow in front of me, out come charging six wolf pups.They stop in the clearing and wrestle around, having fun, playing...for several minutes.I am amazed to see this. Now, secret wildlife moments are common on the T.V. screen and getting extraordinary glimpses into wild animal life is becoming normal.

Suddenly, they decide to head home to mom and there is only one easy trail out of the meadow...and I'm standing on it, dead-center, not moving, a hundred yards away. Here they come, all about the size of a medium German shepherd, wide open. I'm not afraid of wolves, so I don't move. Twenty yards away, they wise-up and dive into the bush. What a rush...for them and me.

So I did several wolf paintings after that experience, showing them in a kinder light. This sketch is the only one that I was able to get a photo of to show you.