The Call of the Wild

I read Jack London's "The Call of the Wild" many years ago, as a young boy.  I have always loved dogs and have long been fascinated by their near cousins, the wolves.  In that story, a dog joins a pack of wolves in the Yukon during the gold rush era, responding to his call of the wild after a torturous life among people.  It was perhaps the first time I've considered wolves as something other than the "Big Bad Wolf" of fairy tales.  I've imagined the wolves howling in the night and wondered what it would be like to really experience it.  Recently that came true for me....and it raised the hair on the back of my neck and brought tears to my eyes.

It was a quiet early morning, with the sun slowly breaking out across the still waters of the lake and pushing away the morning gloam.  The moon hung in the still-darkened southwestern sky and the reflection shimmered on the waters.  There was no breeze, and the lake was like a mirror. 

We stood outside, bundled against the cold and clutching our coffees.  The eerie howl had drifted through the open window and beckoned us out onto the porch.  Once outside we were greeted by a distant cacaphony of yips, barks...and then the long mournful howl that seemed to stretch out forever.  It seemed to reach out from behind the trees on the far shore and wove like tendrils across the waters of the lake.  The howl seemed to penetrate through flesh and reach straight into my heart. 

I was awestruck by this primordial sound.  The howl of a wolf has quickened our fantasies of evil, been a harbinger of woe throughout and even before written history.  It made me realize how distant many of us are to the natural world around us, and how inured we've become to that "Call of the Wild". No, I'm not advocating a return to nature as a permanent way of life, but it is good to be reminded of our place in nature and appreciate how easy it is for us to get lost in the sounds of civilization, with all of the attendent trappings of technology.  This ancient sound touched something deep inside me. 

The "House on Offutt Lake", as I've grown to call this retreat and sanctuary from daily life, is located not far from Wolf Haven, near the town of Tenino, Washington.  Wolf Haven International is a non-profit dedicated to the conservation and protection of wolves and their habitat.  As part of that mission, WHI also provides sanctuary for displaced and captive-born wolves.   Here is a link to their website: http://www.wolfhaven.org/. 

I have visited Wolf Haven some years ago.  There's a saying that once one has looked into the eyes of a wolf, one is never the same.  (The photo I included was taken at Wolf Haven in 2009)