The hidden way the big, bad wolf protects us
ORR, Minn. — The first clue was the flock of ravens.
Tom Gable spotted the birds while driving to work. He pulled over and saw what they were circling: a rib cage poking out of the fresh dusting of December snow, about 20 yards from the road.
Climbing down an embankment, he found more carnage. Tufts of fur scattered like confetti. Trails of blood on the frozen river. And the disemboweled remains of a deer carcass.
Gable removed his mitten and traced a finger along the rounded edge of a paw print on the ice. These were the telltale signs of a wolf kill.
“There’s not a shred of doubt in my mind,” said Gable, a University of Minnesota wolf biologist.
Usually the story ends here, with ravenous wolves as the villains. They’re the antagonists of fairy tales like “Little Red Riding Hood” and parables of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
But a new line of research is helping to rewrite the story of the big, bad wolf, with a surprise twist.
Studies have found that wolves in the Midwest and Canada not only keep deer populations in check, but they also alter deer behavior in ways that help prevent car crashes and save human lives.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2025/gray-wolfs-safer-roads-delisting/