Description

The largest predator of the dog family — the wolf (Canis lupus) — began inhabiting the territory of Latvia right after the last Ice Age. Wolves live in kin-based packs consisting of a breeding pair and their offspring. The wolf is monogamous; partners stay together for life and seek a new mate only if the previous one has died. Female wolves that fail to find a new partner sometimes mate with dogs.

While the pups feed on milk, the mother leaves them only to drink water. Their food is provided by the father, who brings back partially digested meat in his stomach. Wolves are capable of killing prey much larger than themselves. They eat carrion without prejudice and will also consume fruits, berries, and herbs. A very cautious animal, the wolf possesses an excellent sense of smell and hearing. Its lifespan can reach up to 15 years.

In Latvian mythology, a werewolf (vilkacis)) is a human transformed into a wolf. In his analysis of theologian Ralfs Kokins’ book Tales of Werewolves in Courland (“Kurzemes vilkaču nostāsti”), literary scholar B. Simsone writes:

“In these tales, the werewolf often appears not as an unequivocal monster but as a messenger of God or of nature, existing almost beyond good and evil. He is often attributed with the role of a guardian of nature: ‘In modern-day Courland, there is a belief that werewolves destroy those who cruelly ravage nature.’ (…)
In the story Vidāle’s Tale, young people travel through the forest after a ball, and the werewolf tears apart only the young man who had shown cruelty toward others and animals.”

The wolf is a territorial animal. Āža Hill — the positive zone of the Rauda Forest — is not the werewolf’s territory. In the forest route, its brain, eyes, snout, and throat lie on the other side of the road. Yet the wolf remains alert, hearing and sensing everything that happens around it. Therefore...

… Listen to nature — to yourself — and to your relationship with the natural world!

Contact information Rauda Forest, Sēme parish, Tukums region