Scientists argue that friendly wolves sought out humans.

[G_j]

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2013, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2013/03/we-didnt-domesticate-dogs-they.html?m=1

We Didn’t Domesticate Dogs. They Domesticated Us.
Scientists argue that friendly wolves sought out humans.

In the story of how the dog came in from the cold and onto our sofas, we tend to give ourselves a little too much credit. The most common assumption is that some hunter-gatherer with a soft spot for cuteness found some wolf puppies and adopted them. Over time, these tamed wolves would have shown their prowess at hunting, so humans kept them around the campfire until they evolved into dogs.

But when we look back at our relationship with wolves throughout history, this doesn't really make sense. For one thing, the wolf was domesticated at a time when modern humans were not very tolerant of carnivorous competitors. In fact, after modern humans arrived in Europe around 43,000 years ago, they pretty much wiped out every large carnivore that existed, including saber-toothed cats and giant hyenas. The fossil record doesn't reveal whether these large carnivores starved to death because modern humans took most of the meat or whether humans picked them off on purpose. Either way, most of the Ice Age bestiary went extinct.

The hunting hypothesis, that humans used wolves to hunt, doesn't hold up either. Humans were already successful hunters without wolves, more successful than every other large carnivore. Wolves eat a lot of meat, as much as one deer per ten wolves every day-a lot for humans to feed or compete against. And anyone who has seen wolves in a feeding frenzy knows that wolves don't like to share.

Humans have a long history of eradicating wolves, rather than trying to adopt them. Over the last few centuries, almost every culture has hunted wolves to extinction.



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[a kennedy]

1. I love this photograph.....

http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=CxrcrQs4zUbLOHYiLyQGB6YHwAtzj0_sCzLCh2k3s-YrAVQgGEAFQ4uTs3AFgye7ciZSk_BWgAcyDqPwDyAEHqgQkT9C8Y5qOmpZoMANlNr40SQ_PpqNk14d_mnYbUTZ5qInVyjJMugUTCPi8lfDL4bUCFaLCMgodNmoAFcAFBcoFAKAGJoAHnPzXA-ASnce5y7vKr48I&ei=Qs4zUfiTG6KFywG21IGoAQ&sig=AOD64_1mGNiOA8fXqp305rDSDee-OTyThw&ctype=5&sqi=2&ved=0CIkBEPMO&adurl=http://pixel.everesttech.net/3451/cq%3Fev_sid%3D3%26ev_cmpid%3D%26ev_ln%3D%26ev_crx%3D20779485804%26ev_mt%3D%26ev_n%3Dg%26ev_ltx%3Dpla:Jim%2BBrandenburg%2B%2527Gray%2BWolf%2527%2BFramed%2BArt%2B%2528Jim%2BBrandenburg%2BGray%2BWolf%2BFramed%2BArt%2BPrint%2529%26ev_plx%3D13079246-000-000%26ev_ptid%3D22951410924%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.overstock.com%252FHome-Garden%252FJim-Brandenburg-Gray-Wolf-Framed-Art%252F5261050%252Fproduct.html%253Fcid%253D202290%2526kid%253D9553000357392%2526track%253Dpspla%26adtype%3Dpla%26kw%3D%7Bkeyword%7D

Artist: Jim Brandenburg
Title: Gray Wolf

Shoot, the photograph didn't come out the way I thought it would. Sorry.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://blog.graysofwestminster.co.uk/2010/11/04/dont-miss-a-christmas-evening-with-jim-brandenburg/&h=534&w=800&sz=125&tbnid=vvx3lScUu7pUxM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgray%2Bwolf%2Bjim%2Bbrandenburg%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=gray+wolf+jim+brandenburg&usg=__tkknQfqblMzRZVlQI5DLFwz81-8=&docid=iwgxnFjHXMy_nM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5s8zUd6ME4SwyQHW6IGIAQ&ved=0CFIQ9QEwAw&dur=2240

Dang it, tried it again, just not working properly.

[G_j]

2. Looks good to me!

nice photo. Here are few more,


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[2naSalit]

3. Thanks for posting that.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

4. Wolves are smart, Humans....not so much

[tblue37]

5. Dances with Wolves--the wolf approached him. Probably that is how it happened in history, too.

Humans had food--and perhaps lone wolves, especially young ones, with no pack to help them hunt and survive, approached humans looking for a handout.