Wolf Pack

The "good" neighbor-The story of a transformation

On a recent plane trip I sat next to a very kind and wonderful lady. We started talking and as usual after about 45 seconds I mentioned our wild animal nations and my heart’s desire and life’s work for a healthy coexistence with them.

As it turned out she was on the same page as I and proceeded to tell me the very moving story of her “good neighbor”.

She lives in an area that is frequented by coyotes and bobcats, owls, hawks, and other wild ones that not only hunt rabbits and rodents but also take out the occasional cat who had escaped from the safety of the house.

One day, she recalls a neighbor came and rang her doorbell, imploring her to sign a petition for one of her other neighbors to stop killing the coyotes in the area by trapping and snaring them, then skinning them and hanging their fur in his back yard to dry. A vast majority of the neighbors were taking a stand against this “common” practice since there is no law to protect coyotes from such a fate. 

Not only were they against the killing of their wild neighbors but they explicitly stated in their petition that they had moved to the area to be with wild ones and to share their territory since they were aware of the fact that our animal nations had inhabited the area way before they ever did.

Enough people signed to make an impact and the petition was delivered to the coyote hunter. 

His response surprised them when they read his letter.

“I have always considered myself to be a good neighbor” it read “and find it shocking to learn that this is not the case in your eyes”. He had been in the area for 40 years and thought that he was doing his neighbors a favor by eradicating the local coyotes for the safety of his fellow human beings and their pets in favor of domestic animals. That was how he had been raised and up this point he had never questioned his stand on wildlife.

It took his neighbors’ letter to trigger a change of heart on his part.

Please never let us forget the power of We, the power of our collective heart and voice paired with education. Many of us are “only” perpetuating in good faith what they have learned from those that came before them. It takes our courage and voice to speak up without anger from an open heart and change what is outdated, outmoded and does not serve us anymore.

The time is NOW and We are IT.

 

Let's evolve together... Let's...

Our ability and willingness to work together for the Good of All Life on this Planet will amaze us...

When I look back on my life and see how we have treated our home, our precious Planet Earth, Her Creatures, Minerals, Plants and Each Other during just my short life span thus far I realize that this is not it. We are capable of so much more connection, compassion and love than that.

We come from the Creator, the One Life Source and we are all connected to each other. We have tapped mostly into our mind's potential and kept our heart shut and hence have created a nightmare of existence in a lot of areas of life on this planet.  But we are so much more than that, so much larger in our potential of creating a different Earth, a place where we care for each other and all Life Forms. Where we let go of duality and dividing everything into good and bad, useful and useless, black and white. Where we look up from the ground and really SEE what has been given to us and how we are all connected. Where we realize who we really are: not our job, our degrees, our status in society, our achievements, our fears, our cultural conditioning. We are so much more than that. We have been given a spirit and a heart. Not just a brain.

Let us wake up to the reality of interconnectedness instead of going into fear and letting that fear run us: fear of wolves, fear of not having enough, fear of our fellow human beings, fear of the unknown, fear of change...

We are all connected in the Web of Life. Whatever happens to One of Us happens to All of Us. Only together and with compassion, love and an open heart can we solve the problems of today's world. Our ability as humans to work together for the Good of All Life is endless and we have not even begun to tap into that potential. Instead, we have practiced division, separation and hierarchy. At least that has been my own experience during my life.

Now let us practice coming from our hearts, from compassion, connection and love. Everybody has the ability to do that. No exceptions. Everybody has a heart. And everybody can connect from that heart wisdom. That is the beauty of it all: it is our birthright and belongs to all of us, not just a select few.

The mouse is just as important to the ecosystem as the wolf. Everybody counts. Every act of love. We all count and we are all connected.

 

Family Visit

The day is unusually cloudy for New Mexico. Massive snow clouds are hanging in the air as soon as I come to the other side of the mountains. I am reminded that it is still winter here and I am excited about the prospect of visiting them. Three Mexican Gray Wolves have arrived at the Wildlife West Enhanced Zoo and I have not seen them yet.

I see the ravens first, the companion birds of the wolves. “Follow the ravens”, one of my Native American friends has told me, “and you will find the wolves.” Ravens feed on the dead carcasses left behind by the wolves, they depend on these large predators to provide them with a meal and in turn lead them to a possible kill.

Some of the snow on the ground has melted, but their generous enclosure still has snow in it. Wolf tracks in the snow are a wonderful sign to me. There are many more in the mud by the fence. As I approach slowly, I tell them who I am with inaudible words, sending them my love and excitement. Of course they know that I am close, their senses are much more developed than human senses, much more honed and sharper than those of a dog.

A shadow moves by quickly along the fence and disappears behind the junipers. The first one has come out to see who is there. Towards the back fence I discern two more figures, pacing along the fence line. Against the white snow their wonderful winter coat with its many shades of color ranging from grayish brown to blackish and reddish tones stands out. After a few minutes, the most curious one comes out to look at me from a distance. It is the male. He is looking straight in my direction, unafraid and completely present. He sits down and starts licking his paws with a grace and ease that catches me off guard. Soon the other two are leaving the cover of the trees and slowly come closer, looking at me. I keep sending them my good intentions, silently, like a prayer: “It is me. I have come to be around you, to learn from you and to honor your presence. I come in peace and with love and gratitude for your arrival.”

I love being around them. It makes me feel alive and well and present. I forget the impending snow and the cold air brushing against my cheeks. I forget my cold feet and the frozen fingers in my gloves. I just am. No thoughts are crossing my mind and no feelings are coming up except for that of immense peace. It radiates from my being. I am still inside. I am alert. I am alive. As alive as they are. Now the male that made contact with me before is getting closer to the front fence. He looks in my direction and then makes a little jump, looking back over his shoulder as if he is imploring me to come play with him. I laugh and he shakes his coat. What a beautiful creature.

All of a sudden, there is excitement going on behind the fence in front of me. Running and pacing and looking over their shoulders all three wolves appear. Have I missed anything? I hear voices as I strain to listen for a sound. People are approaching and they have a dog on a leash. It makes sense now why the wolves would behave differently.

The people with the dog look at the wolves for a minute or two. “It is interesting”, one of them says, “ I always thought that wolves would be so big and fearsome, but these guys are barely the size of a German Shepard dog.” He shrugs his shoulders and they move on. The dog is marking the wooden pillar in front of me before he turns around. He is leaving his mark for the wolves.

In real life, they would have chased him out of their territory. He would have never been able to get as close to them as he did. They once roamed from Phoenix all the way to Mexico City. Now we need to protect them and ensure the survival of their species by keeping them in enclosures, in captive breeding programs and in our hearts.

But they are still here on this earth, gracing us with their presence. As long as they are here, I will be ok. That much I know. I thank them, silently and walk away as slowly as I have come.

Mexican Gray Wolf: Photo: Elke Duerr, Fractals: Delf Lepidosiren

 

Season's Greetings...

 

Trailer-"Stories of Wolves"

Download Stories of Wolves-Trailer

Please click on the link above for a sneak preview of "Stories of Wolves-The Lobo returns" 

A heartfelt Thank You!

Thank you to everybody who has been instrumental in making 
"Stories of Wolves-The Lobo returns" happen, as a project, a film and a premiere event! We will keep going with our mission and appreciate your support in this. For the coexistence, health and thriving of All Of Life!

Wolf Awareness Week, October 2011

Our Mexican Gray Wolves are the most endangered land mammal in all of North America. There are currently only about 50 wolves left in the wild...

 Please watch this 20 second video about our wolves...

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Invitation

Introducing our brand new Web Of Life Foundation W.O.L.F. nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization

Web Of Life Foundation Website

Logo by: Stephanie Stevens

An incredible personal Journey...

The History of the Evolution of "Stories of Wolves"        It has been truly an amazing, albeit sometimes also very difficult and at times downright heartbreaking journey. It all started when I was a little girl in Germany and was missing the wolves who had been exterminated from my home country over a hundred years before my birth. Granted there were still lots of remnants of their existence like in the names of towns and villages like Wolfsburg and in the names of athletic teams. But no howling at night and no wolf tracks in the fresh snow of winter. I missed them without ever having known them.    I moved to New Mexico precisely to walk on the same earth as our wild animals and to enjoy the beauty of still relatively untouched wilderness. And I remember how I cried tears of joy when I saw my first real forest 23 years ago that did not just consist of trees useful to the building  industry planted in straight rows with no under growth.    A few years ago, in spite of being shy and introverted I was ready to act. I wanted to do something for the wolves here in in our backyard, in New Mexico and Arizona and pretty soon also in the wilds of  Mexico again. Aid in their recovery somehow. All I knew is that I love them and want them to stay here on this planet with us. And that was all that I needed to know. The rest followed.   I have since met incredibly openhearted people (thank you, danke, gracias, tack, merci, grazie...) as well as people driven by fear and misinformation who have closed off their hearts to the possibility of coexisting with our wild brothers and sisters. I have seen hatred towards the wolves and have heard death threats against the wolves. Cried tears of sorrow over the shooting of yet another wolf whom I had bonded with, heard howling at night under the stars in wolf country and have experienced magical visits from various wolf families. I will never seek them out, rather they come to me...    I have spent my savings to document the stories on film as they were told to me by people trusting me in the face of being disciplined by Western culture that does not value our personal connection to wildness and wild animals and deems our wild ones "useless varmint". What I learned from spending days and days with people is the encouraging fact that many of us have a connection to and an understanding of nature and wild animals and are willing to step out with our love, care and concern for the well-being of our plant and animal nations.    I learned how to edit which was the ultimate sacrifice for me since I do not like to spend months in front of a computer when I can be outside instead. But one day I resolved my inner struggle and I said to the wolves: I will do this for you. I have not regretted that decision one second... In fact, now I am one of those editors who cannot stop and goes on until the wee hours of the morning...   I have bonded even more with the Wolf Nation. And, in the words of a fellow filmmaker who said "You have no choice Elke. I can tell you have to do this" there is no alternative. He is right. I could not not do it... It is impossible now to ever go back to not being awake, aware, present and alive. That is the gift that the wolves have given me. In return, the film is my gift to them...