The Sisters in a Season of the Gun
COLORADO WOLF STORIES XI
Note: This continuing story is a work of informed speculation. It tells the imagined experiences of a family of gray wolves, who represent the 10 actual wolves captured in Oregon and released in Colorado in December 2023 as directed by a state voter initiative.
Trotting along a leafy path in the shining forest, the sister wolves travel with effortless grace. They move across the landscape like shadows cast by flying birds, like tall grass in the wind, like water flowing to the sea.
They are the sum of all things in motion.
Long legs and legendary endurance empower these predators to run down prey with explosive bursts of speed or exhaust them in unrelenting pursuit. For a gray wolf, a journey of 50 miles is just another day’s walk in the woods.
Such evolutionary gifts allowed their ancestors to keep pace with vast herds of bison that once darkened the North American plains. Now, those same qualities serve these wolves along a narrow deer trail in the Rocky Mountains, as their legs scissor rhythmically back-and-forth beneath them.
At 6-months old, the growing pups are taking full advantage of their increasing independence, setting out on this exploration under a golden skylight of October aspen. The fall forest is rich with sensations, and in every sense of the term, the sisters are following their nose.
Though almost identical in appearance, the siblings have one notable distinction. Like all wolf pups, each was born with blue eyes. As the weeks passed, one sister’s eyes have turned amber yellow in keeping with most maturing wolves. The eyes of her younger littermate—younger by only a few minutes—have turned from blue to a rare and striking pale green.
Amber-Eyes is in the lead on this outing, a position she has confidently assumed in the pup’s general hierarchy. Green-Eyes is more than content to follow her sisters’ lead. Just where they are headed is of little concern to her free-wheeling spirit. She prefers to focus on the exciting world they are passing through; everything she smells, hears, and sees.
As they follow the faint trail, Green-Eyes glances behind over her shoulder in hopes she’ll see their brother racing to join them, but he is not there.
Little Wolf remains back at the rendezvous site, happily absorbed in a game he’s playing with a captured vole, a catch-and-release-and-catch-again activity that is great fun if you’re not the vole. Mother Wolf, Big Gray, and Black Wolf are there at the rendezvous as well, sleeping soundly after an unproductive hunt during the night.
With the coming of fall, this forest which has been the sisters’ home all their short lives, is transforming into a very different place. For weeks now it seems that a new door has opened each day, revealing something remarkable in the multitude of ways that the season changes.
What the sisters noticed first was a shift in sunlight, and a welcome cooling of the air. Leaves began illuminating. Even with their limited color vision, the wolf pups could perceive many trees turning a brighter shade of yellow, their leaves then dropping to the ground. Birds began flying south in large formations, and elk bulls shattered the calm of early evening with high-pitched bugling.
One of the most impactful changes for the wolf family has come from the behavior of a fellow predator. Black bears are now engaged in constant voracious feeding as they prepare for hibernation. Though bears generally avoid encounters with wolves, lately they have to be repeatedly chased away from scavenging the family’s kills.
Another aspect of the season that’s particularly notable this dewy morning is the earthy smell of botanical rot and decay.
And then there are the gunshots.
Elk and deer hunting seasons continue. Every day for weeks now brings the frightening sounds of rifle fire, which the adult wolves know can cause an instant, startling death. The wolf pups have been schooled by example in this matter, and the lesson is simple: Avoid the upright creatures like never before, and at the sound of a gunshot, run very fast in the other direction.
The sisters continue their exploration. They pause at a stream to drink long and deeply, then come upon an area of flattened vegetation where mule deer have recently bedded down. As they investigate its scents with keen interest, there is the distant “pop” of a rifle being fired. The sisters simultaneously look up and tilt their ears in that direction.
Fortunately, the sound came from far away and seems to pose no immediate threat. Amber-Eyes releases a held breath, and Green-Eyes quiets her heart.
At the rendezvous, the sound of the rifle shot brings the slumbering adults to immediate attention. Black Wolf comes to his feet and whines. Big Gray sniffs at the air and huffs. He has heard such distant pops before, and though they are always a matter of concern, he senses no danger nearby. The coal-black female rises to check on Little Wolf, who greets his mother with happy tail wagging and eager licks. The game with the vole is over, and to the victor have gone the spoils.
Mother Wolf notes that the sister pups are still away. She gives her mate a questioning look, then raises her head and sends up a long beseeching howl.
Amber hears the distant call and recognizes the message. Their exploration is over; it’s time to come home. She looks to see if her sister understands as well, but Greenie has been distracted and is now happily rolling in the grass where the deer have left their scent.
CRACK! There is an ear-splitting sound of nearby gunfire, then immediately another shot. The wolves flinch. Green-Eyes leaps to her feet. The shots came from just ahead of them, much closer and much more concerning than the previous distant pop.
For a moment, the sisters are frozen in place. Then, from the direction of the gunshots comes the sound of crashing through the brush, branches cracking and snapping. They hear pounding hooves and catch the musky scent of fear. Suddenly bursting through the oak shrubs and aspen saplings in a shower of leaves comes a huge mule deer buck with a great rack of antlers, followed by a half-dozen other panicking deer. They are fleeing the gunshots, and heading directly toward the two wide-eyed wolves.
The sisters turn and bolt. There is just one clear route through the thick vegetation in this narrow canyon, and both the wolves and deer are on it, racing as fast as they can in the same direction—though with the wolves in front and the deer behind them, it is a very different procession than usual.
But the uncommon order doesn’t last long. These mule deer have also been gifted with fleetness of foot. They quickly overtake the two canines, who must hurl themselves aside to avoid the heedless stampede.
Then the canyon opens up and the deer veer off, disappearing into the forest.
The panting wolves gather themselves amid the dust and settling leaves. Amber-Eyes glances back in the direction of the gunshots and sniffs. No sign yet of the upright creatures, but she knows they should not linger here. She regards her sister and licks her face. Greenie is rattled but uninjured, and she nuzzles her sister affectionately in return.
Amber sends up a reassuring howl in the direction of the rendezvous, and almost instantly hears the relieved reply. She then sets off briskly in that direction.
In dodging the fleeing deer the wolf siblings have also dodged a bullet, and so once again they are on the move, with big sister in the lead, and little sister close behind.
Very close behind.
Great story. You immediately brought me in with your description of the wolves movement.
Another great story, Clint, and educational.