Why wolves howl, and how they connect us to nature

Answer: Whether or not a wolf howls at the moon is still unknown. What is known, however, is that there are very few sounds in nature which have captured our imaginations more than the sound of a wolf howling.

Have you ever heard a wolf howl? Maybe you have experienced the sheer magic of hearing wolves at the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park howl or maybe you have heard this mystical sound in movie theaters or on television. It's no surprise that we are captivated by the sound of a howl, for it somehow reminds us of our connection to the natural world, a connection that seems ever more distant. The great environmentalist Aldo Leopold once suggested that we had to be as old as a mountain to understand the howl of the wolf.

Let's examine what we now know about the wolf howl and reflect on what the wolf might be trying to tell us in the beginning of the 21st century. read more...