National Geographic: White Wolf Page #4

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There must be a calf

in there somewhere.

Yeah, there is a calf,

right in the middle there.

That's why they're so interested.

A standing circle of musk oxen

present a formidable defense.

But it's part of the nature

of wolves to attack and

kill animals larger than themselves.

It's a skill that Mech and

Brandenburg are eager to document.

Yeah, that male, that male wolf

is heading away.

Looks like they've lost interest, huh?

He's going right by them.

Yeah, they're probably going back

to the den.

That's very defensible position

those musk oxen are in.

Maybe if there were more wolves.

This is a usual situation if

they don't make a kill.

The difficulties of filming a hunt

begin to present Brandenburg

with as much of a challenge as the

wolves face in their quest for food.

In the perpetual light of summer,

the Arctic can become

surprisingly warm.

On these July days,

huddling is no longer vital

for the comfort of the pups,

now two months old.

As summer races on,

the heart of Ellesmere's tundra

blossoms briefly.

Long-tailed jaegers raise

their chicks among the

dwarf willow and mosses.

Wolves often pass close to the nest

on the ground but rarely

take advantage of the easy prey.

They jaegers, nevertheless,

are wary of both wolves and people.

The wolves appear

surprisingly indifferent

to these aggressive summer visitors.

They seem unwilling to

compromise their dignity

in battle with the jaegers.

They'll save their energy for

catching a young musk ox.

Both the jaegers and the wolves have

an eye on the human visitors,

who've stopped for lunch.

As we lay there watching the wolves

they'd often come up and check us out.

Of course, it was tempting to give

them a little bit of our lunch

and they welcomed any tidbit

that they could find.

This helped develop a rapport between

them and us that was very

useful to our being able to

observe them close up.

It's a remarkable moment

an encounter between bird,

wolf, and man.

Still, the boldness of the wolves

created some anxiety.

Camping out right in the wolves back

yard created a situation

where I had the feeling at any time

the wolves could have gone

in and really torn the camp apart.

Because if they see something

within their territory

that's like a toy, a plaything

they grab it and run around,

tease each other with it.

And, of course, they seem to have a

little more confidence.

And I think at times they felt

we were intruding

and they could do pretty much

what they wanted.

At times it pays to "speak wolf".

Every day, Jim Brandenburg is

listening as well as watching,

trying to anticipate the moment

when the pack will set off to

track down a musk ox herd.

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