because he heard rumors that there were gray
wolves that had wandered into the area, and
these gray wolves were hungrier than they had
been before. Normally they like to eat elk, but
the recent long winter made it hard for the elk to
survive. Many of the elk died that winter, and
this left the wolves with less food to eat.
Because of this the wolves were catching
smaller animals for food. Stumpy was at home
one night in his lodge when he heard his cousin
say that he had seen two of his friends captured
by the wolves. This made Stumpy afraid, and
even though he had never seen a wolf before the
rustling he heard made him think twice about
being out alone when the sun was going down.
He decided to head back to lodge where the
others would be gathering for the night.
As Stumpy began to leave the rustling sound
grew stronger, and he caught the scent of
something he had never smelled before. He
looked behind him and saw the faint outline of
an animal at the edge of the trees—this was an
5