Sangay Glass's Blog - Posts Tagged "grief"

Jess Taylor grew up wild running traplines with her dad, setting snares, handling “nuisance” animals, and selling parts and pelts, sometimes under the table, sometimes outright illegally. But somewhere along the line, something shifted.

She was done with killing.

So she took a different path. Jess became a wildlife biologist, chasing the holy grail she once believed impossible: coexistence in the wilderness she still called home.

Let’s talk about the uncomfortable truth behind predator control, cultural inheritance, and what it means to grow up in a world where killing animals is a way of life—and then choose to protect them instead. Jess’s story isn’t just fiction. It echoes countless real-world stories of trappers turned trackers, hunters turned healers. Can both be true? Can both be right?

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, We Weren’t Meant to Be Wolves is a chilling and darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

Yes, I regurgitated food for a wolf pup.

It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t pretty. It was instinct.

If you’re grossed out, congratulations. You’re human. But if you’re a wolf pup? It’s just another post-hunt ritual.

Here’s why this wild, ancient behavior exists, and why doing it felt more like biology than parenting.

Why do Wolves Regurgitate for Pups?

~Survival~
Around 3 to 4 weeks old, pups are weaned off milk—but they’re not ready to hunt. So adults step in. They bring back partially digested food and offer it up the natural way: by throwing it up. This gives the pups soft, warm meat they can digest easily.

~Trust~
The pup has to lick and nuzzle an adult’s mouth to trigger the regurgitation reflex. It’s tactile, intimate, and complexly involuntary. Though some humans and animals, like birds do it voluntarily to feed their young.

~Everyone Participates~
It’s not just the mom or dad. Aunts, uncles, even unrelated packmates will feed the pups. Cooperative care like this is rare in the animal world, but wolves wrote the book on it.

~It Teaches~
This is how pups learn what meat tastes like. One day it’s beaver. Next, it’s deer. By the time they’re old enough to trail a scent or join a chase, they already know what they’re chasing, and how it should feel in their bellies.

~It’s Literally Gut Instinct~
Shared food helps pups develop the right gut bacteria to digest meat. It’s nature’s gross little probiotic handshake.

So yes, I did it.
I felt the pressure rise, bent forward, and fed the pup with what I had. Not because I was told to because I had to.

And in that moment, feral, raw, maternal, I realized something: I wasn’t just studying wolves anymore. I was becoming more and more like one.

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, We Weren’t Meant to Be Wolves is a chilling and darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

Here’s how media spin works:

Colorado reintroduces wolves, a huge win for restoration and ecological balance. The goal? Let them do what they’ve done for thousands of years: regulate prey, restore landscapes, bring back the balance.

But what makes headlines? Not “Wolves Released, Ecosystems Begin to Heal.”

Instead:
“Wolves Killed After Release.”
“Cattle Losses Blamed on Wolves.”
“Program Under Fire.”

They skip the part where it’s one or two wolves.
They skip the fact that some die because that’s how wild works.
They skip the dozens still thriving, hunting elk, avoiding humans.

Because fear sells. Because outrage clicks. Because “balance” doesn’t make front page.

Wolves aren’t political. But people sure are.

~Jess Taylor~Check out my story July 25th in paperback and Kindle

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, We Weren’t Meant to Be Wolves is a chilling and darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

Don’t let someone else’s headline rewrite what’s actually happening on the ground.

This goes for everything you see in the media today. Always take a second look.