brown bear

wolfThe wolves roaming our forests today do not see humans asprey. There is plenty of food in the woods and, being smartanimals, they have learned from wolf hunts to fear humans.There is no need to fear a wolf attack even when running into awolf den in a windbreak or built by the wolf itself or expandedfrom a fox burrow. Yet, it cannot be excluded that wolves, beingcarnivores by nature, will become interested in humans as preyagain one day if circumstances should change.In early autumn, when parents teach their young to hunt forprey, the “teaching aids” quite often happen to include also farmanimals – most often sheep. Young wolves deprived of parents,or pack outcasts without a defined hunting territory, may also gofor such easier prey.Seeing a wolf in the forest today is a chance that few are luckyto experience. Still, wolves in Estonia have not yet becomemythological creatures comparable to werewolves, as is said tohave happened in some regions of Western Europe.Estonian Museum of Natural History•Dangerous Nature: Myths & Realityanimals 4