‘Meal or Not’ by Rachel Tilseth 
September 4, 2015 (c)

Trotting silently thru slender green grass. 

On cool night downwind. 

Catch a meal or not.

Smell fresh chewed leaf could be dental disease slow enough. 

Maybe not.

Pass by woodchuck to fast up the tree.

Meal he is not. 

Smell the deer trail many hours old. 

Not the meal. 

Startle a buck with large rack nostril’s flared.

Announcing there’s no meal here. 

A sound breaks thru the black of night.

One howl.

Two howls.

Three howls. 

Turn & bolt towards the call. 

A meal awaits at the end.
Family came thru!
  


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Rachel Tilseth's avatar

By Rachel Tilseth

I am a Menomonie, Wisconsin-based environmental writer, filmmaker, and owner of Wolves of Douglas County WI Films & Media. My work explores the relationships between humans, wildlife, and local ecosystems, focusing on threats to vulnerable habitats. Through independent, grassroots media, I advocate for sustainable coexistence with apex predators and educate the public on ecological economics. My award-winning short film, People & Wolves: A Story of Coexistence, won Best Documentary Short at the Red Cedar Film Festival and features insights from Dr. Jane Goodall, Ojibwa tribal members, hunters, and biologists.

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