By Gary R. Dobson

Barry Lopez theorizes that hungry wolves certainly did not help their cause by being observed feeding on the bodies of vanquished soldiers and victims of The Black Plague. These natural acts (as they would be for any animals suffering from starvation) by ravenous wolves were regarded as proof that the species was demonic. The Roman Catholic Church certainly echoed and spearheaded this belief.

During this era, as was true until the present-day, the Church was a symbol of profound authority, surpassed only by the crown. In its efforts to gain as much influence over society as possible, the Church invoked numerous measures to show that it had the answers to all of life’s problems and must be regarded as the seat of salvation. It absolutely knew who the devil was and jumped on any opportunity to prove it. The wolf provided an excellent opportunity.

In an effort to usurp control over society, the Church determined that an all-out campaign to cleanse the wolf from the planet would cement its position as protectorate of the people and their souls. The demonic, sinister wolf, surmised the church leaders, must be a son/daughter of Satan bent on the destruction of civilization. In her exceptional book, The World of the Wolf, Candace Savage writes, “…the wolf had been equated with Satan---the wolf in Christ’s fold”.

The killing, however, of some livestock by a few of the devils wasn’t going to be enough of a crime to justify the eradication of the species. Hunters could take care of that problem. Something huge would have to dreamed up if the church was going to show just how righteous and glorified it was in marshalling society to destroy the wolf.

The solution to the problem of the wolf was born in the vivid imagination of The Roman Catholic Church. Drawing on its would-be infinite wisdom, the Church determined that the souls of highwaymen and other criminals, after being convicted and killed for their crimes, would return in the bodies of wolves (thus the introduction of werewolves). Lopez writes, “During the years of the Inquisition, the Church sought to…maintain secular control by flushing out werewolves in the community and putting them to death. In so doing, it deepened the fears about the wolf, in whatever form”.

The “werewolf craze” spawned a cottage industry for writers of the era during which hundreds of ridiculous and obnoxious accounts of werewolves were published. A great many of the tales originated in Germany, but the remainder of Eurasia also contributed to the wealth of material.

As if the stories of werewolves weren’t enough to terrify the public, folktales such as Little Red Riding Hood, detailing the exploits of supposed non-werewolves, also served to tighten the ring of revulsion encircling society’s view of the wolf.

The continuing attacks on livestock by any wolf-like creatures provided on-going fodder for society’s hatred of the species. Finally, attacks on humans provoked an imagination-rich public to demand the end of the wolf in Eurasia. Today’s scientists and conservationists believe that wolf-dog hybrids of the era were responsible for attacks on humans. If this information had been provided in The Middle Ages, I suspect the scientists would have been regarded as blasphemers. Certainly the Church would have denounced their findings or simply stated that every wolf-like creature must be destroyed.

In a frenzy of epic proportions, medieval society began the task of destroying the wolf populations (and of course, in the process, werewolves) in Europe. Savage writes, “Wolves were to be killed, brutally if possible...”. Savage continues, “Once people decided that wolves were monstrous, they launched an assault on the entire species”.

In short order, the Church, various fiction writers, society’s collective imagination, and a host of irrational fears and lies had won the day. The magnificent God’s creature that is the wolf was eradicated from Eurasia. Frankenstein in wolf’s clothing was dead. Now it was time to rid North America of the devil.

Immigrants, in the 1600s-1800s, arriving in North America brought with them dreams of prosperity and freedom from religious persecution. They also brought their hatred of the wolf and the belief that this new land must also be free from the offspring of Satan. Richard Thiel, in his book The Timber Wolf in Wisconsin, writes, “Wolves were feared…by immigrant settlers who brought with them Old World traditions steeped in lurid tales of wolf attacks”.

Within a short while of arriving on these shores, immigrants set about cleansing the land of the despised wolf. They would come extremely close to duplicating the success of their mission accomplished back home.

Of course, wolves had long enjoyed the freedom to live their lives on the Great Plains, in the forests, and other areas of America before the European immigrants arrived. Throughout the centuries, they had enjoyed the company of Native Americans who revered the wolf as a brother in the hunt, similar to the manner in which early man had bonded with Canis lupus. The Indians regarded the wolf as a sacred animal. Thiel writes, “…the wolf ascribed to its followers certain mystic and real powers, and thus held significance in the Indians’ spiritual, cultural, and functional relations within their tribes”.

Apparently the Native Americans had not heard of werewolves, Little Red Riding Hood, or attacks by wolves on humans. They had also not been exposed to the ravings of the Church. The Indians, however, were quickly introduced to the hatred of the wolf that consumed the immigrants. The Native Americans also were about to discover one other item they had in common with the wolf. The Indians would soon learn that they too were about to be regarded as devils.

Within a short time of their arrival in North America, the immigrants began decimating the bison herds. When the game began to thin out, the settlers established farms and ranches. McIntyre writes, “By the early 1800s, the bison had vanished from the Great Plains, an occurrence that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years earlier. To survive, many wolves began targeting the cattle and sheep that had replaced the bison”. The wolf, once again, was destined to pay for its crimes against humanity.

The immigrants had long believed wolves were vicious killers that enjoyed disposing of their prey in extremely cruel ways. Watching a wolf attack its victim isn’t a very pretty sight, but that is the way of the animal world. McIntyre writes, “A wolf earns its living by killing large prey with its sole weapon, its teeth. A wolf’s priority is to reach its prey and make the kill…. To do that, it bites into whatever part of the prey it can reach…. There are no moral components to the process, there is no ethically right or wrong way for the wolf to make its kill”.

The immigrants could have learned a thing or two about ethics from the wolf. As the settlers began ridding North America of the species, they used terrifying methods of torture against their foes. McIntyre describes how “wolfers” would sever the rear tendons of wolves and then toss the animals into pits of dogs. Our less than humane forefathers would also throw dynamite into dens of wolf pups. Settlers would also “wrap wire around the penises of captive male wolves, making it impossible for them to urinate. Later they killed the animals, carefully cut out the full bladders, and used the urine as scent to attract other wolves to traps”.

The settlers must have believed that their livelihood would be adversely affected by the wolf, but why was it necessary to torture the species? Why did the humans act in a manner that was so repugnant and violent? This was a despicable way for people to treat one of God’s creatures. It is obvious that the propaganda of storytellers and the Church had constituted a very successful campaign. The distorted images and lies regarding the wolf had been successfully branded into the souls of our forefathers. The wolf was a wretched victim of prejudice.

Tragically, the Indians became brothers in a realm of suffering with the wolf, fostered on their bodies by the hands of the white man. McIntyre provides one of the most moving soliloquies, regarding the plight of the Indians and wolves, that I’ve ever read: “The European newcomer…drove the wolf and the Native Americans from ancestral homelands, disrupted their lives, and upset their balance. Life was never the same”.

In time, the Indian tribes would be decimated. The government, however, of this country would care for the few that remained. It wasn’t very good care, but the people were finally allowed to live in peace. I believe that life on the reservation was a terrible existence, but at least the Indians could feed themselves by growing food. Once the bison and other game had been decimated, the Native Americans had to become farmers. The wolf, on the other hand, was forced to continue raiding ranches and farms in order to survive. The price of food for the wolf was about to soar into the stratosphere.

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