Jessica Crabtree

Photo from National Geographic.

Mexican wolves are the rarest species of wolf in North America. They are a subspecies of the gray wolf, or timber wolf, with the most obvious distinctions being the longer ears, rounder head, and short tail.

They traditionally ranged through the American Southwest and northern Mexico. The surge of human population that accompanied white settlement and development of the region led to the decline of natural prey populations. When the wolves turned to livestock as a food source, they were essentially hunted to extinction. By 1950 none were known to exist in the wild.

Today about 300 exist in captivity. Attempts have been made recently to reintroduce them into the wild, but they remain a highly endangered species.

Lobos of the Southwest: The Official Site of the Mexican Gray Wolf http://www.mexicanwolves.org/
A beautiful website about a truly beautiful animal.

(Click for full-size)

This photo from Wikimedia Commons is in my opinion one of the best wolf pictures ever. The composition is perfect and I think it does a wonderful job of capturing the animal’s persona. Wolves are a favorite icon and images of them are a dime a dozen – but every now and then you run across a genuinely stunning shot like this one. Thanks to April King for this great photo.

Click for larger view.
Image from Photos8.com – free stock photography
(yes, completely free – a highly recommended source!)

Photo from National Geographic.

The other definition of “taking the family out for fast food”…

Photo from National Geographic.

Courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation 2009 Photo Contest.

Image from National Geographic.

“Guilty!”
This is what a squirrel looks like when he’s caught on a bird feeder…

(By the way, the photo’s mine, and I’m releasing it to the public domain – which means if you like it, you can do what you want with it – modify it, use it as a reference photo, post it elsewhere – no strings attached. Just be sure to pass the favor on.)