Hunting - Lesson from Old Nanook

The mountain was high and it got even higher when the pack of five young tokotas arrived at their destination. It was another trip to learn how to hunt properly. Some of the tokotas already participated in hunts but today they got a special meeting with someone. A young handler named Nanuq had organized a meeting with the old Nanook, one of the oldest tokotas known. And one of the wisest of course. Nanuq had chosen four of her own tokotas and one other tokota for this special hunting lesson. When the pack arrived she put on her mask and turned into a rather big arctic fox. That way she could communicate with the tokotas easily. And she had to introduce the new students to the old Nanook.

"They are arriving. I will introduce them to you, if you wish." Nanuq took position beside the old male. He way laying on a big boulder covered in snow. His eyes were white and he could not see the five youngsters. But the young fox would be his eyes and she would describe him who he was talking to. When the pack finally stood in front of the black male and the handler, they all lowered their heads with respect. Then the fox started to the introduction.

"Welcome young ones. You have gathered here today to learn an important lesson from one of the oldest and wisest tokotas known. I think every one of you know the old Nanook." the arctic fox pointed at the black male. "But as good as you know him, he wants to know you as well. Please step forward and make a sound so he know who belongs to my description. First we have Rust, a reddish-brown female. She is quite a she-demon, or at least we like to call her that. She knows what she want." Rust took a step forward and barked so Nanook could hear her voice. Then it was Mahagoni's turn. "The second female is Mahagoni, she has a rich dark brown coat. She is very fierce but always looks out for her friends." The dark brown female did the same as her team member but not without an evil stare. Rust and Mahagoni weren't best of friends. "Next we have the third and last female, Pandora. She doesn't belong to my pack, she is our guest today. She has a cream tundra coat with large white piebald spots. Her owner calls her Penny." The third female took a step forward and barked to identify herself. "Now we have two males in our pack today. One of them is Killerwhale, and like the name his coat is black with a little bit of white. We also call him Orca, that's shorter. And lastly we have Spot, he has a seal coat. His trademark are some spots on his hind leg looking like a paw print." Both males took a step forward and like Nanuq introduced them the barked afterwards. Now after all of them were introduced old Nanook could begin his lesson.

"Every day is a challenge and you as part of this pack need to master them. Sometimes you will hunt with pack members you already know, sometimes you will encounter new members. It doesn't matter of old or new member of the pack, you are one team, one unity. You have to act like one. I can sence that there are two of you who doesn't like each other very much. Rust and Mahagoni if I'm not mistaken. You two are very strong characters, perfect leaders and each of you will find it hard to be submissive to each other. That can be a problem in a unity like that. Everybody needs to watch out for the others, you need to know what the other one is doing. Every tokota has it's place in the pack and if the other on has a higher status, you have to live with it. Each of you have a individual pack of talents, use them wisely and you will succeeded." Rust and Mahagoni looked at each other angrily but the two females knew that the old Nanook was right. They had to work together if they wanted to make the hunt a success.

The old Nanook would talk about the pack, each member, how to hunt, how to coordinate and many other things. All five tokotas listened to him carefully, absorbing every single word like a sponge. After an hour the lesson was over but the pack would not move. They hoped  he would  tell them a little bit more but there was only one more thing the old black male told them.

"And now, bring me a bear! Nanuq and I will be waiting here. Good luck!"

That was the signal that they were ready for their hunt. Nanook had given each of them an individual task in this hunt. Since Rust and Mahagoni were the biggest and heaviest in the pack, they would make the killing blow. They could hold down the bear with their weight and their size with ease but they weren't fast. Orca, Pandora and Spot were just a little bit smaller and lighter but that gave them the advantage of speed. They would circle the bear, trapping it so the bigger females could make the kill. With this plan in their heads the pack left the huge rock and disappeared into the woods behind it covering the bottom of the huge mountain. In there they had to find a bear first. Spot was an expert in tracking and like a white shadow he ran between the trees looking for tracks. After a few minutes the pack heard a howl, it was Spot, and they would follow his voice to a cave.

"He is in there, isn't he?" Rust's voice was cold and without emotion. She looked at Mahagoni and saw the same expression on her face. Caves were always difficult and dangerous to hunt in. They had to get the bear out before doing anything. And that was exactly their plan.

"Orca, Pandora, Spot, get him out of there. Be careful, the cave isn't very big. Chase him out, I will wait in front of the cave for him, and Rust ... can you get up there? I know it's quite steep but when he comes out you can throw yourself on top of him, pining him down." Mahagoni's instructions were clear and all of them nodded. The three chaser walked slowly into the cave while Rust tried to get above the cave. It was harder than she thought it will be but somehow she got herself up. The reddish-brown female positioned herself exactly over the cave, ready to jump. Mahagoni positioned herself in front of the cave to slow down the bear so Rust had a chance to get him. Meanwhile the other three walked deeper into the cave. it was dark but all of them could see quite well. And they didn't need to search very long because a roar announced that the bear knew that they were in here. The group split, one tokota left, two right. Slowly the walked forward but a sudden paw with claws let them walk a few steps backwards. It was a huge brown bear and he wasn't too happy to see the intruders in his cave. The was roaring and bawling at them, trying to get them out again but that was exactly their plan. Orca started to growl and snapped at the bear, a few seconds later Spot did the same. They got him and pulled on his fur to get him to move. Pandora had positioned herself behind the bear, growling as loud as she could to frighten the bear even more. With their teamwork the bear slowly started to move in the direction of the entrance. A quite howl was the signal for Rust and Mahagoni to get ready. And with a few more snaps and bites the bear started to flee. He had enough and sprinted out but before he could exit the cave he saw the brown female standing in his way. Three tokotas behind him and one in front of him, the choice was quickly made and the bear started to walk out of the cave. The bawled at Mahagoni to get her out of his way, but she was quite big and would not move. He was trapped and stopped directly under Rust. She noticed it quite fast and made her jump. The impact threw the bear to the ground and the reddish female pinned him down quite good. Now Mahagoni joined her, throwing herself onto as well. They weight was to much for the bear, he couldn't move anymore. With a strong bite both females seized the neck of the bear and broke it. A last breath escaped the bear's lungs before all life disappeared out of his body. 

A strong howl signaled Nanuq and the old Nanook that the hunt was over and successful. The old male smiled and Nanuq seemed to be happy too. They had to wait another twenty minutes before the pack arrived at the rock again. Rust and Mahagoni would pull the bear forward while Spot jumped in front of them. Pandora and Orca would push the bear from behind every time he got stuck in a root or rock. The pack positioned the bear in front of the rock and Nanook could smell the fresh carcass. 

"You did well today. It's nice to see that the new generation has still this strong will to hunt. You make an old man proud."