Thinking Like a Mountain

       A single wolf's cry echoes through the crisp mountain air. The world tenses. The still night air is on edge, every breathing thing's mind running a million miles per second. This is because, when hearing this simple cry to the moon and beyond, the world feels fear. Half wants to run, half wants to kill. A mixture of anxiety, anger, and excitement rushes through the essence of every human, and every mind is centered on one thought: kill the beast. Although in days of old predators were thought of as harmful and were therefore removed (mostly killed), Aldo Leopold explains in his essay Thinking Like a Mountain that the mass removal of a predator species can be harmful to an ecosystem, and warns of dangers that are associated with killing the killers.

       In the essay Thinking Like a Mountain, Aldo Leopold highlights the dangers of removing predatory species entirely from ecosystems using the metaphor of a mountain's thoughts. In the first paragraph of the essay, Leopold states: "Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf." To me this shows how intricate the balance of nature is, and how all of the factors live so perfectly in co-existence with each other. The earth is renewed by vegetation, the vegetation is controlled by deer, and deer are controlled by wolves. It's all a naturally measured cycle, renewed by life and death. Leopold goes on to make a statement about this idea in the sixth paragraph of the essay: "I have watched the face of many newly wolfless mountains, and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed, first to anaemic desuetude, then to death." This statement clearly summarized the idea of the balance of nature, and how removing an element can so drastically affect an ecosystem. 

       When I read this essay for the first time, I was in awe at the character's writing style. The language he used to enlighten readers was awe inspiring. One passage I feel showed this writing style was in paragraph five, in which Leopold claimed: "We reached the old wolf in time to watch the fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes - something known only to her and the mountains." I loved this passage, because in one moment the character came to the realization that the wolf and the mountains shared; a complicated myth that humans have created, a myth that has been misinterpreted by so many, a myth that mistakes fear for anger and creates a sharp bending in the balance of nature. 

       In conclusion, this essay made me more aware of the balance of ecosystems through Leopold's unique writing style. Coming away from this essay I feel enlightened to the intricacies of nature, and I feel that Leopold's goal of creating awareness was achieved through his story. As my last thought on this essay, I'd like to end with a quote from the last paragraph, which reads: "In wildness is the salvation of the world."

Here's a crunk picture of a wolf being majestic.