Title and Description

Terry Spear--USA Today Bestselling Author of Urban Fantasy Romance, Medieval Highland Romances, and Paranormal Young Adult Romance

Monday, October 13, 2014

Wolf Awareness Week 2014 is October 12 – 18, 2014

I interrupt the post on the apple farm to mention this is Wolf Awareness Week.
Wolves, like most other animals, are an important part of our ecosystem. And without them, we totally screw up the environment. Sure, it’s really the deer that ate all the trees and the forests couldn’t renew, and without forests, the riverbanks eroded. And without forests, all the creatures big and small that lived there, no longer live there because they need the trees for a home. The beavers, and birds, and hawks, and rodents. All of them were lost. All for the killing off of all the wolves. When they added 4 wolves to the region, they killed off a few deer. They didn’t kill off all! Just a few to feed off of, but what happened was it changed the deers’ behavior and they quit coming to the areas around the rivers where the wolves caught them. And the trees began to regenerate because the deer weren’t eating them down. And the riverbanks began to stabilize and it changed the course of the rivers. The vegetation brought back the rodents, that brought back the hawks and eagles. And the beavers returned to build damns that provided refuge for the fish.
So it’s not just that wolves are a predator and we need to kill all predators, but that they are part of a valuable ecosystem that helps other wildlife–flora and fauna–to survive.
It reminds me of Texas and how scientists thought putting a certain tree along riverbanks would keep the soil from eroding, and guess what? Those trees actually are huge water sucks and they pulled all the water from the creeks and vast amounts of water from rivers when we have a lot of drought. So sometimes scientists get it right. But sometimes, they don’t. And sometimes scientists aren’t even involved in the exercise and animals or plants are killed wholesale for a variety of reasons and really cause us some trouble down the road. But who cares about that because we won’t live long enough to feel the repercussions. Right?
So whether we like wolves or snakes or sharks or spiders–all of these creatures have a place in our ecosystem. Can you imagine what earth would be like if we managed to kill off everything but us?
You know what would happen then!
I took some pictures of several of the animals at the Wildlife Science Center in Minnesota and wanted to show you the difference between some similar species. Can you tell which is which?
1. Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Grey Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or  Northern Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Or Mexican Gray Wolf?
1. what do you think this is?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Northern Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Or Mexican Gray Wolf?
2. And this one?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or North American Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Mexican Gray Wolf?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Northern Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Or Mexican Gray Wolf?


3. Or this one?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Grey Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Northern Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Mexican Gray Wolf?
4. How about this one?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Grey Wolf?
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Northern Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Or Mexican Gray Wolf?

5. How about this one?
 (640x454)
Red Wolf? Coyote? Or Northern Gray Wolf? Or Coyote Wolf Mix? Mexican Gray Wolf?
6. Or finally, this one?
And a bonus:
4 wolves, International Wolf Center
4 wolves, International Wolf Center
7. 2 of the wolves are litter mates, as are the other 2. Can you tell which belongs to which kind of wolf? Two are Northern gray wolves and two are Great Plains wolves. Their habitat and food sources determine their build.
Here’s another couple of pictures of them.
4 wolves, Luna looking at me (640x240)
Aidan, Luna, Boltz picking on Danali (640x376) (2)
I apologize for the photos at the science center not being any clearer. Do-gooders thought that releasing 3 female Mexican gray wolves into the wild was the best thing for them. But the problem is that these wolves are socialized and people bring them food to eat. So they’re not hunters in the wild and don’t know how to hunt in the wild. They were completely at risk. So when they were able to return them to the center, they put tons more fencing on, to keep it from happening again.
A Highland Wolf Christmas 
A Highland Wolf Christmas
Heart of the Wolf #15 | 07/10/2014
It’s going to take a lot of mistletoe…
Guthrie MacNeill, financial advisor for his clan and werewolf pack, is at his wit’s end when the pack leader’s mate hires a gorgeous party planner to bring holiday cheer to the castle. Guthrie’s wildly attracted to Calla, except he can’t reconcile the fact that his job is to save the clan’s money, and hers seems to be to spend it.

Sourcebooks Holiday Hop + iPad Mini Giveaway: A Highland Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

We had tremendous storms last night and so today, it’s clearing and my workmen are coming back to do some more projects. The storm a couple of weeks ago took out some of the roofs off some buildings in Waco. Saturday’s storm, not sure. Last night was really bad again and it had me up and unplugging computers and stuff. Electricity went out 5 times. Another storm system coming in on Monday next week. But we’ve so needed the rain, I can’t complain and the temps are dropping, and I’m thrilled!
Happy Wolf Awareness Week!
Have a super great Monday!!! 
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
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Wilde & Woolly Bears

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