Wraith

This is my first post here on Nature Break, and I think you guys might find it interesting!

So, it starts when I was seven and I heard something loud in the back yard. Being seven and very curious at the time, I was actually stupid enough to run downstairs and just bolt out the back door.

Facing me in the middle of the lawn was a huge, shaggy, black male wolf with a white female running off into the woods in my backyard. 

I used to always like to give my cat milk because that's how I always saw it on cartoons, so like I saw in cartoons I went inside and got a steak and threw it at the wolf. He sniffed it, and much to me seven year-old fascination, he began to rip off the wrappings and eat the steak. I named him Wraith because that's what he was like, a ghost.

This started to be a regular thing, at least monthly I'd see my wolf. He'd slide out of the shadows of my backyard like a ghost, his eyes sometimes gleaming. I was never afraid of his teeth.

A few years later, when I was ten, I was watching a show about monkeys, and in this show they said that in this national park, visitors are discouraged to feed the monkeys. The reason was that they would start to see humans as a source of food and attack if you don't have food. I applied this to my wolf, but me being me, I did the exact thing that was probably the worse thing to do.

The next few nights, I sat outside at night with no food, waiting for my wolf to appear. It took about a week of falling asleep outside before, finally, I heard his heavy footfall on the deck.

It was the first time he'd actually trust me to come onto the deck.Usually I'd have to sit on the edge of the deck and he'd stand or sit a few feet away. He came close to me and sniffed, licking me hand and taking it in his mouth, but not biting it. He dropped me hand and I touched his soft fur.

His ears flattened to his head and he lowered his muzzle, growling and backing off.

I no longer bring him food regularly, other than sharing my snack with him a little if I'm eating. He allows me to touch him now, and sometimes even brings his friends, although he remains ever alert to make sure they don't attack. My remarkable experience with Wraith has inspired me to start a wolf sanctuary where, amazingly, one of the females gave birth to three healthy pups. 

I don't now how many of you have actually had an experience similar to mine, but I had gotten lucky with Wraith. If you actually do wish to befriend a wolf, remain ever vigilant and take the three, four, even five years it can take for a wolf to even come within feet of you, in a trusty way, study wolf(or whatever your animal is) behaviour, and always, always, remember to not show weakness. If they sense that you are weak, they may take advantage of you.

It might help to bring them food the first time you see one, but be careful about it. 

Always be careful, my friends, and love nature!