大学英语6第四课.docVIP

An Encounter with Wolves One spring morning many years ago, I had been prospecting for gold in southern Alaska, and as I emerged from a forest, I froze in my tracks. No more than 20 paces away in a flat marshy area was a huge, black Alaska timber wolf — caught in one of Old Georges traps. Old George had died the previous week of a heart attack, so the wolf was lucky I had happened along. Yet now, confused and frightened at my approach, the wolf backed away, straining at the trap chain. Then I noticed something else: it was a female, and she was full of milk. Somewhere, there was a batch of hungry babies waiting for their mother. From her appearance, I guessed that she had been trapped only a few days. That meant her babies were probably still alive, surely no more than a few miles away. But I suspected that if I tried to release the wolf, she would turn aggressive and try to tear me to pieces. So I decided to search for her pups and began to look for incoming tracks that might lead me to her nest. Fortunately, there were still a few remaining patches of snow. After several moments, I spotted paw marks on a trail skirting the marsh. The tracks led a half-mile through the forest, then up a rock-filled slope. I finally spotted a hole at the base of an enormous tree stump. There wasnt a sound inside. Wolf pups are shy and timid, and I didnt have much hope of luring them outside. But I had to try. So I began imitating the high-pitched sound of a mother wolf calling her young. No response. A few moments later, after I tried another call, four tiny baby wolves appeared. They couldnt have been more than a few weeks old. I extended my hands, and they tentatively sucked at my fingers; perhaps hunger had helped overcome their natural fear. I placed them in a cloth bag, and headed back down the slope. When the mother wolf spotted me, she stood erect. Possibly picking up the scent of her young, she let out a high-pitched, miserable howl. I released the babies an