TRANSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

I'm Marty Stouffer. Most of us have seen a Whitetailed Deer. They live in every area of the country, sometimes even in people's backyards. We see them as lovely and graceful. And we hate to see them for what they really area, a prey species, a meal on the hoof for hungry predators.

But, the reason deer are sleek and swift is because they spend their whole life on the alert or on the run.

One of the deer's many predators is the Wolf, a creature of legends, myths, and fairy tales. Most people think of it as a savage natural born killer. And, they think of wolves and deer as mortal enemies. The truth is, although they each depend partially on instinct, both wolves and deer must learn their respective roles as predator and prey. When young, they learn vital survival skills through imitation and plan. Their education starts at birth for "THE WOLF AND THE WHITETAIL".

TRANSITION TO TITLE

In the wilderness, the seasons are everything. From Summer to Fall, from Winter to Spring, the lives of the wild animals are bound to the year long rhythm of life and death. For the survivors of Winter's harsh test, Spring is a time of renewal.

TIMBER WOLF/DEER

It is a time of birth for the Timber Wolf, a predator, and for its prey, the Whitetail deer. The pup will mature into a strong, resourceful hunter. The fawn will become swift and elusive.

Yet, before these wild babies take their ultimate places in nature's plan, they will spend a year or more, growing and learning, the pups with their parents and pack, and the fawns with their mother and herd.

WOLF PUPPIES

The puppies were born in mid May and spent a month in the den with their mother. I came upon them, wide eyed and alert, as they were taking their first look at the outside world. Mother wolf is one of the most loving and devoted in the wilderness, but from now on, she's going to find it hard to keep her eye on her very curious pups.

As they enter the outside world, they also enter a period of intense socialization in which they will form lasting ties with each other and with their aunts and uncles, members of the extended family, or pack.

Throughout spring the life of the pack revolves around raising the newcomers. And raising wolf pups involves endless hours of very important play. Only one litter is born to the pack each spring. On that litter is lavished all the affection and attention of the adults, even though the babies were born to the Alpha male and Alpha female. This pack I observed had seven members. Well organized and disciplined, the pack is ruled by a social dominance order. At the top are the leaders, Alpha male and Alpha female. Down the social ladder, each member of the pack has a certain rank.

That rank is supported and defined by gestures and postures, submissive and dominant, what we could call "body language." By using body language, each wolf establishes and defends its position in the pack. At an early age, play helps to decide their places.

WHITETAIL DEER GIVING BIRTH/FAWNS

Birth, the everyday miracle.

To witness the birth of a wild animal is rare. I was very fortunate to find this Whitetail doe just as her time had come. Often, a wild mother seeks shelter in a burrow or den, shielding herself from hungry predators. But, the Whitetail doe gives birth when she is ready, regardless of where she is. The newborn tries out its wobbly legs, with some encouragement from mother. Learning to stand immediately after birth is an important lesson for a hunted animal. The fawn will thrive on its mother's rich milk, 3 to 4 times higher in butterfat and protein than cow's milk. A doe's first birth is single, but after that twins are the rule. Both fawns will have control over their unsteady legs in about an hour. But, mainly, for the first few critical days, the fawns lie still and flat on the forest floor, safe guarded by their camouflage coats and relative lack of odor. When danger threatens, they freeze. As soon as they are dry and have had their first meal, she leads them away to a safer, more secluded spot.

By late spring, childhood, with all its endeavors, and hurdles, has begun. After a reassuring nudge from mother, the youngster tries again. The rocks are a good obstacle course for the fawn. And, although it can now out run a human, more practice is needed before it can escape a wolf.

Ears, like radar antennae, scan the air for the slightest sound. The doe depends on her sensitive hearing to locate her fawns and to detect predators. The young whitetails, too, learn to use their eyes, ears, and nose and to keep walking, always putting more distance between predators and themselves. When lying down, they also try to keep their nose to the prevailing wind. Only the most alert are still alive now at age 2 weeks.

WOLF PUP

A young wolf will put anything and everything into its mouth, both a terrific game for and an important lesson for later. Some day it will have to carry meat for miles to feed its own pups.

WOLF HOWLING

The howl has several meanings. Its main purpose is to assemble the widely scattered pack for the hunt. And, as the pack gathers near the den site, a great group ceremony takes place. Even after a short separation, the pack members greet one another with enthusiasm. The subordinates surround and nuzzle the Alpha male. This submissive gesture says they are hungry. Yet, no matter how hungry the pack is, they won't begin the hunt until the leader is ready. The pups are too young to join except in spirit. An aunt baby-sits while mother goes off to hunt.

Deer are in the area. The wolves are excited and expectant as they try to catch scent of the prey.

WOLVES CHASE YEARLING

Their excitement grows. They've scented the quarry. Healthy adults can run faster than wolves, but this yearling may find it hard to escape. It tries its mother's first lesson, concealment. But the wolves are too close and too many. It must flee. The yearling was able to escape. About 10 deer get away for every 1 that is caught.

The hunt must continue. This deer tries to stand its ground. Its defense tactic confuses the wolf. Wolves are cursorial or running animals and need a moving target.

For a moment it looks as if the tables are turned. But, as the pack closes in, the deer must change its defense plan. Again, running seems to be the only solution. Killing, for the wolves, is as natural and inevitable as the passage of the sun across the sky.

MOTHER FEEDING PUPS FIRST MEAT

Mother has brought back meat in her stomach and now regurgitates it for their first taste of solid food. The purpose of regurgitation? It allows an animal to travel far, for the wolves, as many as 15 to 20 miles in a single hunt, and bring back fresh food for the young. Nearly every part of the whitetail is used. Its skin and bones make entertaining-and educational toys. By playing with all parts of the deer, the pups become familiar with the smell, taste, and feel of future prey.

When the pups aren't eating, they're playing. If lucky, they may catch a mouse. But wolves are not "born killers." Instead, they are born with certain behavior patterns, running, jumping, stalking, that allow them through observation and experience to learn to survive.

WOLF PUP AND FAWN MEETING EACH OTHER

One day this young deer and this young wolf will be mortal enemies. But, for the moment, both youngsters are still innocent and curious, unschooled in the roles of predator and prey. Because it is a predator, the pup is naturally more playful than the deer. Wolves must search for their elusive meals, so they never stop investigating and exploring. The fawn is also inquisitive, but in a more contained way. It doesn't know what to make of this furry and energetic creature. However, the fawn doesn't run-its defense reactions are, for the most part, learned. By seeing adult deer run, the fawn, too, will know to run.

Try as it may, the young wolf cannot interest its new acquaintance in a game of hide and seek. Someday, perhaps they will meet again. But, now, no matter how far they roam, there is no place like home, and mother.

For the rest of the summer, the wild babies will run and play, venturing further and further from their homes and parents. They will discover the ways of the wilderness and master vital survival skills. And next winter, the young wolves and the young deer will be ready to take their ultimate places in nature's plan.

Summer has been good for the wolf pups and they, too, have grown strong. Perhaps, by looking at the social structure of the wolf pack, we can find some insight into our behavior.

Because, 10,000 years ago, we were also group hunters. In fact, some anthropologists believe the social life of wolves to be identical to the life of early humans. There is a dominance order in which commands are given and tasks carried out. Different generations of the same family live together. Many individuals cooperate in the hunting of large prey. And, for a prolonged period, the young are dependent on adults to teach them the laws of their society.

WOLVES HOWLING

They provide us with a good example of harmonious communal life. Even the howl may say something. Electro analysis has shown it to be similar to the human voice. Often the wolves raise their voices in unison for no other apparent reason than sheer joy. The "rally" call is a spontaneous expression of good feeling. The howling and greeting ceremony now includes the pups. They have found their places in the pack's social order and act accordingly with displays of dominance and submission. Bonds between all members of the pack are firm. These lifetime bonds are severed when a human kills a wolf. And, if the leader is killed, a state of chaos and confusion results. It may take the rest of the pack several years to recover.

To get solid food, the pups still beg. Now, at the end of summer, the adolescents have had many hours of make believe hunting. The day of their first real hunt draws near.

BUCK IN VELVET

The fawn is curious about the strange growths on the buck's head. He's in "velvet." Velvet is a kind of modified skin, a nourishing tissue that feeds and protects the growing antlers. When new, antlers are one of the fastest growing forms of animal tissue known. A young deer starts to grow them when he enters his second spring. He will shed them in winter. When growth has stopped for the year, the velvet dries and peels, revealing hard antlers. Right before mating season, the males' blood runs hot. Even the smaller spike buck feels the instinctual call and challenges an older buck to fight. But it's not for the championship. The spike buck won't enter the mating contest in earnest until next fall.

COURTING BEHAVIOR OF WHITETAIL/MATING

The male and female Whitetail group together for the autumn mating season. The bucks are in their prime, coats sleek, eyes clear, necks swollen, antlers polished and shining, and are very attracted to the females' heavy musk odor.

Drawn together in an ancient instinctual embrace, the male and female complete the grand circle of life. In 6 to 7 months, the does will again give birth to their fawns. With the mating season over, each animal begins its preparation for the harshest test of all, Winter. It is the time when the drama of predator and prey is made vivid. The hungry and the hunted, both play out their roles on the stark, snow swept stage. For all, food is scarce.

TRANSITION TO WINTER

For the deer, availability of food is the biggest factor determining herd size. The wolves adjust to the number of deer. The young, although not yet full grown, now look like adults. All have thick winter coats underlined with cold proof wool.

BUCK HOLDING OFF WOLVES

In deep snow, wolves have the advantage over deer. But, because the deer have "yarded," the snow is trampled down and they find escape easier. One buck stays behind, strong and unafraid. This is probably one of the many confrontations the buck has had with wolves.

For deer, each day is a matter of how to eat without being eaten. But, contrary to what many people think, a single wolf cannot kill a healthy deer. He graduated long ago from the school of survival. As a gesture of victory, the buck polishes the weapons that have just served him so well.

The rest of the pack, including the juveniles, reaches the deer yard and fans out in different directions. The wolves find a deer that was unable to escape with the herd, one that is weak and unhealthy. I thought it was dying of malnutrition. Predators in balance with their prey help keep the herd in top condition, like a gardener pulling weeds. The young wolves watch, and learn. The deer, young and old, also witness the scene. The stamped forefoot, a warning signal, comes too late for the sick one.

The final lesson for the young wolves and for the young deer. For both, it is the end of the age of innocence.

PUPS AT KILL

It's a familiar smell, first introduced months ago back at the den. The youngsters now know that deer are food and that killing means eating. From now on, they will accompany the adults on the hunt. The wolf drags the carcass to hide it in a safe, temporary spot. People finding wolf killed carcasses often think that wolves are wanton killers. In truth, the wolf has hidden the carcass until it can gather the pack to come and feed.

In the wilderness, death is as natural as life. Unlike humans, animals are not burdened with the knowledge that they, too, will someday die. The Wolf and the Whitetail, both are halves of one whole. The wolves, by killing the weak and diseased, allow the strong and healthy to prosper. The deer feed the wolves and the wolves keep the deer strong. And, as long as there are wolves and whitetail, as long as their babies can grow to take their ultimate places in nature's plan, the primitive struggle will never end.


CONCLUSION

In Alaska and Canada, the Wolf still roams in fairly stable numbers. But in the lower 48 states, it only thrives in small areas of Michigan and Minnesota. There might be a pitiful few left in Montana and Wyoming. We should protect our remaining wolves in the last few places where they still survive. And, we should try to reintroduce them into selected areas, like our national parks, where they were killed off in the past. That was before we realized the important balance that exists between predator and prey. Between species like "THE WOLF AND THE WHITETAIL".

I'm Marty Stouffer. Until next time, enjoy our WILD AMERICA!