Moving on from fairy-tale wolves to actual wolves, I speak to Maggie Howell, the Director of The Wolf Conservation Center. I was not surprised that Maggie Howell dispelled certain misconceptions (wolves don’t pose a threat to humans, at least under normal circumstances). But I was surprised to encounter familiar themes.

Pluskowski, whom I interviewed for the previous episode, speculates that wolves may have been bolder in an age before firearms. Howell told me that wolves in the Arctic are much less shy (though still not threatening) and says that biologists think wolves may have learned to be afraid of humans.

Another theme that came up again was the similarities between wolves and humans. But, whereas the fairy-tale wolf usually shares our vices, Maggie Howell stressed the positive things we have in common with wolves, our family bonds, for instance, and our tendency to sometimes “wolf down” food.

If we hold on to the figure of the fairy-tale wolf, perhaps it’s because we are nostalgic for a time when we weren’t the biggest predator. But what Maggie Howell teaches us is that the wolf is not just a figure of a mythical past, but a “keystone” species that is surviving in spite of our best efforts to eradicate it and that, in some parts of the U.S., is actually making a comeback.