Wolves

Hero/heroes of mine are wolves. Wolves are misunderstood animals when in fact they are really fascinating canines just trying to survive and make it in their world. The aspects of a wolf's characteristics are a lot like humans, they are very social animals and their lifestyle of the hunt, their ability to adapt to their surroundings, their loyalty towards their pack, and when they howl their songs "of the younger world in the days when songs were sad."

The scientific name for wolf is Canis lupus, wolves are considered the ancient ancestor of the canine family, domesticated by our ancestors and branched off into different types of canines known today. The scientific name for wolf is Canis lupus. The wolves' population has dramatically declined during these last few centuries. Once almost everywhere in North America, Europe and Asia have died down, eliminating many species of wolves. Thanks to wolf rehabilitation programs wolves are making a comeback.

Wolves aspects are similar to us humans and this is what I find inspirational about them, just as the Indians did as they believed that they could learn from animals, such as hunting skills, where food is most promising, family, working together, etc. The pack is a very important thing to wolves. Without a pack they will have less chance of surviving and the respect and caring they give to each other is a lot like human families. There is the Dad (Alpha Male), the Mother (Alpha Female), then the kids (Betas) and there usually is a Beta that dominates the rest of the Betas, kind of like a big brother or big sister.

I have always been into wolves since I was a kid. I would look at books and watch documentaries about wolves, watching how they took care of each other, their loyalty to one another as a family, their amazing hunting skills, and teamwork in their harsh habitats to survive. They have influenced my art skills and in a way I look at life directed towards my family. There are some families that give up on each other or don't care about one another; one of the most important things to me in life is family and loyalty to loved ones. The world is in such disarray and I think if people started looking at the aspects of animals such as wolves they could learn and improve themselves, but it's not that easy and the world doesn't think like I do.

The wolf is a misunderstood and very interesting animal. That they strive to survive with their family is more than enough to say they're not soulless beasts who are after farm animals; they are just trying to survive like us. They have been an impact on our ancestors' lives, and in our lives as well. People don't look at wolves as companions anymore because of the branches of domesticated canines, but are looked at as monsters or pests, when actually we are destroying their homes for our own reasons. Even though they are being ground down to extinction they still go on living and that aspect is what inspires me to move on and live life to the fullest, as they do with their families.