John Denver, wild spaces, and some eccentric (odd?) biologists.
Naming wolf packs has become a fun endeavor for us. Traditionally, biologists have named wolf packs based on some geographical feature or landmark in a pack’s territory. We started off doing this in the early days but after a while that got pretty boring...
So, we decided to tap into our very limited creative sides and come up with more interesting names that fit the pack and the territory they occupy.
Admittedly, many of our pack names come from iconic folk singers from the 1960s-1970s because 1) this is unquestionably when the best music was made, and 2) many of these artists sang about the natural world in meaningful ways.
Now, you might be thinking at this point, “These people are weirdos…why are they talking about this?!” And we cannot necessarily argue with that. But what biologists are “normal” anyway?
Up until this year, we had named packs after some of our favorite artists like Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, and Cat Stevens but were missing one named after John Denver, an advocate and enthusiast of wild spaces!
Then, in late 2020/early 2021 we had a pack turnover. The Fawn Crick Pack dissolved and a new pack took over the territory. We needed a name for this new pack (pics of members of this pack below).
This pack territory is a wild area that feels very remote in places and is full of wetlands and mixed forests. A quiet, beautiful Northwoods environment.
In this way, the area reminded us of a quote from John Denver on the inside cover of his 1975 album “Windsong”. The full quote is below but one sentence really resonated:
"I hope that, at some time in your life, you’ll be able to go someplace where it’s quiet, where there are no cars, no dogs barking, no planes passing overhead, and that you will be able to listen to all of the music that she [the wind] gives us"
As we thought about John’s words and the area, it was clear that this new pack had to be called “The Windsong Pack”. It just fit.
Full Quote:
“I wanted to record the songs that the wind makes...In the many hours and days that we spent trying to record all that I hear in the wind, what I found was that you simply can’t get it on tape. I hope that, at some time in your life, you’ll be able to go someplace where it’s quiet, where there are no cars, no dogs barking, no planes passing overhead, and that you will be able to listen to all of the music that she gives us. If you’re really lucky, you’ll be able to sit by a lake at the foot of a mountain and hear a storm come and go. There is beautiful, beautiful music there. All you have to do is listen” - John Denver
No comments:
Post a Comment