Apex Predator - Dec 2 2023

 

Apex Predator

Dec 2 2023

Unnervingly close.

Wolves, howling in the darkness

as we walked the trail.

Oddly, the dogs seemed oblivious.

As if their cousin, canis lupus

was too distant to recognize.

Which really shouldn’t surprise me;

my happy-go-lucky girls

are lovers, not fighters

and know only play.

We've bred the wolf out them;

they'd be easy pickings

for a roving pack.

I can see them scurrying behind my legs

as if their omnipotent protector

could save anyone.

If, on the other hand

I met Australopithecus

or Neanderthal

would I feel any fellowship?

Would we stand, gazing eye to eye

and see our shared humanity?

Would we extend a hand,

reaching across the millennia

to tentatively touch?

I felt an animal spirit rise

hearing them,

a stirring thrill of wildness

and threat.

Howled back, and heard silence fall.

Because they know

that man, the apex predator

means danger

not prey.

We're afraid of them, as well,

but also romanticize.

While they have no illusions

about our kind

and never come hear;

having learned the hard way

only fear.

On reflection, they may have been coyotes — a far less charismatic animal!\

Actually, I'm also not sure the wolves around here are any longer wary of people, going out of their way to avoid us. From stories I've heard, they've become comfortable around humans, more brazen. And not only unafraid of dogs, but antagonistic, seeing them as territorial threats.

So if not nearly the evil wolves of fairy tales, still very much worth keeping well away from.