The Wisdom of Wolves by Elli H Radinger

A story about living in the wild to observe, befriend and understand what we can learn from a family of Wolves

Hi, I’m Sue and I write about the beauty and ingenuity of Nature, and how we can deepen our connection for our optimum health and wellbeing. Discover more Nature-inspired content on Spiral Leaf, Twitter and my video Nature Channel.

This beautiful book, written by naturalist, Elli Radinger, draws on twenty five years' living in the wild to track, observe, befriend and learn from the Timber Wolves of Yellowstone National Park.

Elli gave up her profession as a lawyer to devote herself entirely to writing and to understanding the plight of wolves who have been perpetually endangered over the centuries through poaching, trapping, loss of natural habitat and government sponsored predator control programmes.

An inner calling

Elli felt driven to learn about these magnificent mammals who demonstrate high intelligence and, in fact, have no interest in hunting or killing human beings at all. Wolves are essential preditors at the top of the food chain who keep populations of large grazing animals in check which, in turn, prevents overgrazing and protects vegetation.

Elli started with an Ethology Internship at Wolf Park in Indiana which provided the foundation to become a Volunteer Assistant Biologist on the Yellowstone Wolf Project in the Lamar Valley to the north of Yellowstone National Park.

The Wisdom of Wolves tells the story of Elli’s experiences in a beautifully written series of insightful chapters on topics including the importance of family, leadership on the Alpha Principle, the strength of Women, the wisdom of old age, the art of communication, waiting for the right moment and planning for success.

The book shares a record of Elli’s experience, research and detailed findings observed over days and weeks, months and years. It demonstrates a vocation driven by a combined love for observing and writing about Nature, together with a fascination for the Wolves she came to love and respect as fellow beings in the ecosystem of life.

Reintroduction to the wild

It is interesting to read through the timeline of wolf reintroduction which began in 1982 announcing: Yellowstone is created as the world’s first National Park. Gray wolves are present on the landscape and have a dynamic influence on the health of the ecosystem.

They go on to say that the reintroduction of Wolves to the wild expanse of the park has rebalanced Elk and Deer populations, allowing the Willows and Aspen to return to the landscape. The end to overgrazing stabilised riverbanks and rivers recovered and flowed in new directions. Songbirds returned as did Beavers, Eagles, Foxes and Badgers.

It is heartening to know that as of January 2024, there are at least 124 Wolves in the park with ten packs noted. Wolves in Yellowstone sit at the core of a larger population connected throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In general, Wolf numbers have fluctuated between 83 and 123 Wolves since 2009.

Today, Yellowstone National Park is recognised as one of the best places in the world to observe wolves in the wild and it is encouraging to note in an article by Rewilding Europe - Living With The Wolves - that: The Wolf is making a European Recovery with Wolves absent from many parts of Europe for hundreds of years, Europeans are now learning to live with these iconic and ecologically important animals once again.

The wolf within us

With atmospheric and poignant, grey-scale photography of Wolves throughout, The Wisdom of Wolves tells the delightful and fascinating story of a family of Wolves in their natural habitat.

Observed patiently, meticulously and inceasingly openly, Elli documents the life of the Wolf and the Wolf pack in the Yellowstone National Park on a day-to-day basis.

By spending such a long period of time observing her Wolf family, Elli established a bond which she describes as being a loving relationship. Patiently learning about their way of life, family bonds, intelligence and personalities, Elli recognised the independent and strong She-Wolf in herself.

When hunting, She-Wolf always put hereself in the most difficult position. Her hunting technique was masterful. She ran close beside her prey, jumped up, turning her head, and bit the elk’s throat. She even managed to do that several times while swimming in a powerful stream.

Here, Elii cites Clarissa Pinkola Estes and her seminal book, Women Who Run With The Wolves, which states that in every woman a Wolf-woman slumbers, the guardian of the female primal instincts and intuitive knowledge of right and wrong.

The insight being that a woman can only be strong, healthy, creative, whole and happy when she gets back to the roots of her instinctive nature - the Wolf-woman - the wild, untamed primal woman within her, shaking off the the role of confirmist, obediency, compliance and submission.

[Photograph by Milo-Weiler - Unsplash]

The hunting of wolves

In terms of Men and Wolves, Elli dedicates a chapter to her lament relating to difficulties in the Wolf-Human relationship caused by the misrepresentation and demonisation of Wolves in children’s stories and other bad Wolf propagada which has resulted in an irrational fear that needs to be challenged so that we can live in peace with these wonderful creatures once again.

It breaks my heart to hear about Wolves being hunted down and killed for roaming into domesticated territory when their own wilderness - the place they call home - is being decreased and cut off from them. It means they have to roam further to find the food they need to feed their young, their sick and their eldely, and to thrive.

Isn’t it up to man to protect his own property (and his chickens) properly rather than make a Wolf - helping itself to food made easily available (an easy lunch) - an excuse to cull? Wolves are fine animals who raise their families and look after each other without any cause or reason to harm us - unless, of course, they are actively threatened or disturbed in some way.

Isn’t this what we learned at school about ALL wild animals? Show respect, keep your distance and NO SUDDEN MOVEMENTS!

The Wolf family

Watching the Wolves raised questions and brought answers about the meaning of life which Elli shares throughout the book.

There are many insights, wonderfully interwoven with stories about the Wolf family and how they consistently demonstrate exceptional wolf values that underpin every intelligent survival strategy, family-taught moral code and altruistic behaviour.

Elli structures her observations around human attributes and skills including leadership acumen, shared responsibility, social roles, age and health, type of relationship, moral coding and a diverse range of skills demonstrated through cognitive ability, forward planning, decision making, learning, training, role playing, hunting, parenting and survival.

The comparison of the Wolves’ behaviour to that of Human Beings is very interesting. Parenting is one such aspect where Wolves demonstrate how play and affectionate interactions are used to nurture and protect each other, and how they teach the young about boundaries, hidden dangers, companionship and other life skills that benefit the pack and hold the little ones in good stead to become healthy and independent members of a holistic family group.

Young wolves learn by observing their parents and imitating them, they do whatever they want to with their parents sometimes setting boundaries as part of their education. Every young Wolf can have their own experiences and learn what actions have consequences, and Wolf pups, like human children, need parents to show them the way.

[Photography by Yannick-Menard - Unsplash]

A symbiotic relationship

The Wisdom of Wolves is full of examples of Wolves working together, caring for each other and forming lasting bonds and symbiotic partnerships with other creatures.

The best of these are Ravens who are known as Wolf Birds because of their close relationship with Wolves. This is spported by the fact that Ravens are highly regarded for their social skills, a complicated communication system and excellent visual recognition.

Ravens direct Wolves to potetial food in exchange for first dibs on scraps that they otherwise would not be able to access with their beaks alone. Ravens call out to draw attention to the carcass so that larger, more tooled scavengers can open up the hide.

Ravens have also been known to adopt Wolf pups and play with them as they grow with some developing special bonds with individual Wolves within a pack.

[Photograph by kevin-mueller - Unsplash]

Learning from the Wolves

The Wisdom of Wolves shows how Wolves demonstrate quality values in the way they work together, communicate with each other and look after their own.

It is clear that they are indeed sentient animals with the capacity to experience positive and negative feelings such as pleasure, joy, pain and distress that matter to the individual.

As Elli says:

Wolves grieve. When a family member dies they go searching and are unsettled, sometimes aggressive, they howl dolefully for a long time. But eventually they pull themselves together, get up and get on with things. They follow the rhythm of life: they hunt, eat, reproduce and look after their families. They do what all living creatures do in nature: they celebrate the here and now.

Elli goes on to say that Wolves are therefore:

• Similar to us in many respects

• Living creatures with a personality, a soul, intelligence and emotions

• Moving perfectly in a world that is older and more mature than ours

• Using sensory functions that we lost long ago or never developed

• Trusting in voices that we never hear

• Entangled with us as fellow creatures on this wonderful Earth
  

And the best take-away from this magical book:

Wolves teach us to show affection to those we love, to celebrate life in every moment, to never give up and never stop playing.

I hope you enjoyed this overview and book recommendation which will be followed soon with insights and wisdom from the Woman Who Run With The Wolves.

Thank you for being here and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

BUY A BOOK!

The Wisdom of Wolves - How Wolves Can Teach Us To Be More Human by Elli H Radinger

Women Who Run With The Wolves - 30th Anniversary Edition by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

If you click on the above links (and links in this post) you can purchase recommendations from my affiliate bookshop in support of independent sellers and bookshops. Spiral Leaf may earn a small commission on purchases at no extra cost to you!