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Retrieving the Arrow
Published: 2012-08-05 07:56:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 20516; Favourites: 1116; Downloads: 0
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Description
This was project intended to exemplify humanity's modern disconnection from Nature. The hunter is wearing modern clothes and exists in a modern setting, yet is using primitive weapons and techniques to 'survive' in a world which has been all but destroyed by Man's inability to live in harmony with the planet.The wolf in the image is called Teva. She's my personal headdress. She and her sister were both removed from a population in Southeast Alaska by a friend of mine who works with the State Fish and Wildlife Department in population control.
Once Teva was tanned so that she could not rejoin the Earth, I purchased her to make her into the headdress above. Due to some damage to the leather and a missing rear foot, her hide was not deemed suitable for traditional taxidermy and would be otherwise bound for the fur market to be made into clothing instead.
She is the first wolf I ever mounted, and Iβm very pleased with the way she turned out considering. From start to finish, it seemed that Tevaβs creation from tanned pelt to finished headdress came together like a dream.
Photography by Teddy Anderson. Editing and taxidermy by me.
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Comments: 412
My sister tried soy milk. She hated it.Β
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Im pretty sure they're referring to the blood draining process hahaΒ
either way, they're confused as to how the cows are killed Cx Β
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Beautiful shot. You'll forever have my favorite tumblr too...lol.
And the comments are priceless.
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Lovely photo. Also- and I think you get this a lot- you are a wonderfully strange person to know, and reading your description felt like a hike in unfamiliar woods.
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Lol first I saw it I thought the wolf hat is photoshopped
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I'm glad that you got a DD for this, let the ignorant young people not dampen your mood. The main reason everyone is spazzing out is because many people show favoritism to wolves. Which I do not agree with. A simple field mouse is just as important as a "majestic"wolf. Population control is required
Have a nice day~
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Killing wolves, or any animals, is totally avoidable. This out-of-date method "population control"Β is extremely harmful to nature, and costs America tons of money.
Defenders has demonstrated through their nonlethal coexistence project, the Wood River Wolf Project, that wolves and livestock can in fact share the same landscape with minimal conflict. In the six years the project has been in operation, no wolves have been lethally removed and less than 1/10th of 1% of sheep have been lost out of more than 27,000 that move through the project area each summer.
Each year, more than 100,000 animals are killed by Wildlife Services, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the name of livestock protection. More recently, the agency has also been called in to kill wolves and other animals in order to artificially boost game populations for hunters.
But as environmental groups have argued for decades, Wildlife Servicesβ approach is not only very costly but also often ineffective. Further, their shoot-first mentality perpetuates antiquated ideas about predator control instead of encouraging innovative nonlethal practices that allow people, livestock and wildlife to coexist.
"It makes no sense to spend tens of millions of dollars to kill predators, especially in the way that it's done, to the extent that it's done, when it can have cascading effects through the ecosystem, unintended consequences and nontarget consequences," said Bradley Bergstrom, a professor of wildlife biology at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Ga., and chairman of the society's conservation committee.
Might want to do some more research.
www.defenders.org/living-wildlβ¦
www.defendersblog.org/2012/05/β¦
www.sacbee.com/2012/04/28/4450β¦
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If we did not kill any animals we would all starve
I have done plenty of research from unbiased sources
thank you for your opinion
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That was really rude of me to post. I respect your opinion, and I apologize!
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It is alright, I understand some people get upset about this stuff and do their fair share of looking around as well
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I like all animals, so seeing one that has struggled with habitat loss because humans have no population control for themselves get killed always makes me a little sad. I hurt a little seeing any dead animal used in art, though... ignorance or overly sympathetic, call it what you like.
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Yeah, I understand
There are way too many people, but what can you do?
nothing really
Population control is to make sure animals do not suffer and starve to death or die from disease, because wolves are plentiful in some areas (like Canada and Alaska)
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Yes. Our species causing the problem does not mean that we have no right to try and prevent it from getting worse. A lot of people do not know how the world around them works.
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What i meant was
We cannot go getting rid of people who already exist, the damage is already done and there will be population control for the animals that are abundant
I think it kinda sucks but it has to happen.
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I am one of those people who thinks it might not be a bad idea to limit the number of kids a family has to just two or three, OR try to encourage families living together like they do in Japan and other Asian and European countries. I think for many people it's a touchy subject, though, to say they aren't allowed to be the next Octomom or whatever. It would also be a little hard to enforce, unless you had fines for people who had more children, or if you went the opposite route and rewarded families who only had 0-2 kids, etc etc. And even then...Β
But I do think something NEEDS to happen, and a nonviolent route would obviously be the best course of action. Maybe in the next fifty years we will have space colonies starting up, and people can go off and live in space and have as many babies as they want, heh. I'd like to stay on earth, assuming there is still some nature leftover.Β
I told someone else this, but I am fairly certain population control is for when animal numbers get too high and it has a negative effect on the ecosystem. And by ecosystem, that often just means it becomes a problem for people living in the area-- with wolves and cougars, for example, if their population numbers get too high, their prey animal populations get lower (since they are being eaten by more predators). That can make food become scarce, or competition for territory leads to animals getting into farms and attacking livestock or even people, especially if the animals wind up roaming rural and suburban communities. I have seen a lot of people say it helps animals from starving, but I am pretty sure humans aren't going out of their way to rescue starving animals, since mother nature has pitted animals against the elements before and has a natural method for selecting the weak and sick and clearing them from the gene pool, allowing the stronger to survive. I have a feeling people use the starvation card to make themselves feel less guilty... 
Gray wolves aren't endangered, so I am not exactly enraged by an image like this, Β but they probably wouldn't cause people as many problems if they could still enjoy the habitat range they once had and the need to shoot them whenever they get too close to towns and cities would also go down.
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you have good ideas and I enjoy that you have an opinion without being an butthole
Not to be negative, but people will always have babies even if there is a way to slow it down. (I for one will not have children) I do not think people should not try to help the environment though
The "starvation card" is true. for example, if there are too many deer they eat all the food then all go without and many die slowly. also many more deer vs car accidents happen as they look for food
or if there are too many wolves and they eat almost all the deer they will start to starve or will go after livestock and get shot or poisoned
There has to be the right amount of predator and prey or else both will suffer
I used to think population control was fucked up until some fellow deviants explained it to me,
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A few countries actually do try to restrict the number of babies born in a household (China being the most famous example), but you are right, it is difficult to keep people from making babies for a multitude of reasons.Β
Well, the reason deer populations get to be a problem is because their natural predators (bears, cougars, wolves) have been eradicated from most parts of North America-- former wolf hunting grounds may not have any wolves left, but they still have deer around, and without hunting seasons the deer populations do get to be a problem sometimes. But people didn't get together and say "Hey, let's control the population because starvation is such a sad way to die", it's more like people went "Hey, these deer ran out of food because they are breeding like crazy and they keep hopping our fences and eating all our corn, and when they cross the street we hit them with our cars which then need to be repaired with a hefty bill attached". Hunting season satisfies those who feel they need to shoot stuff, and it also keeps the deer from wandering too far into human territory. So it is often a necessary evil, but loss of habitat due to human development and dropping numbers in natural predators (usually also caused by human meddling) are the main reasons we have to do it, so it's a weird cycle of humans having to try to clean up their own mess. When I have seen the starvation argument used, I've seen it used by hunters trying to make themselves look sympathetic. Well, I can understand hunting to some degree (even if I don't like it) because you can at least eat deer and many other animals, but you don't hear people eating wolves or cougars much (though bear I have actually heard of, at least in Japan) when it's a prey animal with a limited number of natural predators, such as with deer and kangaroo, but predators it always seems a bit depressing, especially hearing the way it's done (like shooting wolves from helicopters... how very sporting...). Another method is animal relocation, but that is obviously a more expensive route...
Population control, no matter what the species, is always a sticky subject. Probably the best methods are deemed "inhumane", but doing nothing at all only makes things worse. So like I said, we kinda dug ourselves into a hole and we don't know how to crawl back out. But I've found it's better to stay level headed instead of scream "animal cruelty!" and toss red paint on to women with furs and all that. People who make the most noise tend to not get heard, you know?
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I know this, It is sad that people are not a part of natural selection
I agree that the deer get out of hand because of lack of predators, because we have messed up the ecosystem we also have to help it by removing some of the deer, in other places it is the other way around and there are almost no deer
I support hunting, because of factory farming (much more cruel than a quick death) and even our vegetables are not %100 cruelty free because farmers kill the deer, rabbits, and mice so that they will not eat the food
I would eat everything I catch, even if it taste gamey. we can eat anything that is not poison
When I am out on my own I am going to be self sustaining
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AAAH I can't believe I'm just now finding your DA!
Β And congrats on the DD, you have so much terrific stuff that I'm not surprised to see you in the featured section!
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Does seem like like homage to Princess Monononoke
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First thing that ran through my mind was "Holy Crap! Princess Mononoke? Oh, wait... no... just a cute girl with an awesome wolf headdress"
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I'm not commenting my opinion on population control, but I find it very ironic that this image represents "Man's inability to live in harmony with the planetΒ " while the culled wolf in itself seems to display this very quality in that without human overpopulation and disruptions overpopulation of wolves would likely not exist as an issue x)
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Your ancestors, who lived in much greater harmony with nature than you, killed, ate, and wore millions of beautiful animals every day. They were a part of the circle of life; not an entity existing outside it, as modern humans have come to do.Β
In the event that modern technology fails and farming is no longer an option, hunting for food and clothing will become the norm as it was back then.Β
The "irony", then, is really that you cannot see this fact, because you are too disconnected from nature to understand it.Β
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I fear you misunderstood my comment, please don't be so quick to judge 
I have made NO comment on hunting, or prior generations hunting, I have only commented on the irony of population control with the piece. Β Population control is not comparable to hunting for sustenance, as our ancestors did and many continue to do. If you'd like to know my stance on hunting though I'll let you know- I have not opposition to non-sport hunting. I think its a much more favorable option than the typical mass production, often inhumane "farms" of today. I think killing one moose and using it to feed your family for months, using its fur for boots ect. is a very environmentally sustainable and all around sensible thing. We existed in harmony with nature in the past because we worked with the already existing ecosystem, not against it as we do today trying to control and manipulate it for only our own gains.
Β and there is a difference between say a problem coyote coming around someone farm, continually taking livestock, and being shot to protect a herd , and ordering the mass cull of a single species merely for existing as a part of a "problem" species.
Β
Also, I never stated my opinion on taxidermy which you seem to be hinting at in your comment. I purposefully did not share my opinion on that because I really didn't want to cause any drama, and because I find it rude to come and try and force your opinion on someone else which I'm sure many have done in their comments and I'm probably its why you are responding to my comment the way you have.Β
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Perhaps you need to work on your wording before submitting a comment in the future, then. You seemed to suggest that you had a hard time understanding the parallel between using a hunted animal and living in-tune with nature.Β
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where anywhere in my comment did I use the word "hunting" ? I used the word "cull" and I used it for a reason 
I kept my responses civil, and I hoped you would do so in your reply once you saw it was misunderstanding, but instead you have replied with an equally crude response. Β My comment on population control wasn't aimed at you, but I think you have taken it personally.Β Oh well, its not a big deal but I wanted you to know my comment wasn't an attack, or meant to cause and argument, so lets just end this here x)Β
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You seem to misunderstand, then, why population control is instated in places like Alaska in the first place. Wolves are not overpopulated because of human encroachment; Alaska is actually one of the most sparsely-populated states in the country. Quite on the contrary, wolves are being culled because their numbers are naturally quite high and need to be regulated to keep them stable.Β
Yes, some people think that nature can take care of itself, and in reality, it probably can. But nature's way of regulating wolves is to let them deplete their food sources and then starve slowly and succumb to diseases.Β
Why not allow people (who are and always have been just as much a part of nature as wolves themselves) hunt a few wolves a year to end their lives quickly, so that none have to starve and elk and deer populations don't have to decrease in the process.Β
Logically, it makes perfect sense. The reason so many are opposed to population control hunts is simply because they cannot see past their own emotional bias and only focus only on "why would you kill a bootiful magestic woof?! They don't deserve to die!!1!!"Β
Cuteness is not factor in drawing logical conclusions.Β
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Again you are making assumptions out of context, stop trying to act as if you know my opinion. The fact that its a wolf doesn't make a difference :/ If someone came to me asking if I support culling snakes I would have the same response- I think its an unnatural process.Β I'm speaking on behalf of population control in the larger context, not on the single instance of wolf culls in Alaska.Β As far as it being "necessary" or not, I won't say. All I'm saying is that I think the existence of the problem and the creation of this means to control it seems to me human derived and aimed at human gain (not say, to protect wolves from starving)
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Well then you're living in a fantasy land, m'dear. Humans are a part of nature, and if we kill animals for the betterment of the environment as whole, why is that "unnatural"?Β
Sometimes, killing animals is the best option for protecting natural resources. You are entitled to the opinion that it is not, but facts are facts: Population control works when it is properly instated. It produces healthier ecosystems and increases population densities of predator and prey species. Pretty simple, really.Β
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Β I see where you are coming from, but still I have my own opinion on the matter and clearly our views differ. No problem with that, I don't mind disagreeing with someone on a matter- if everyone thought the exact same thing the world would be pretty bland. Β I've said all I want to say and more- I think "agree to disagree" is where it shall be left
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Sounds good to me.Β
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Nice reply!Β Also nice work here.Β The taxidermy is beautiful and the message is good.Β Keep up the good work.Β
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Ooh, you know what would gave made this photo even better?
If you turned the arrow around, so that the tip would be facing towards the girl,
Like she had caught it in mid flight.
Just an suggestion. <3
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lol @ the butthurt teenagers
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
I'm so happy you got a DD. Love, love, love your taxidermy, and the mask I purchased from you is still in great shape!
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congrats on the DD! you deserved it!Β
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Beautiful pelt <3 you did it justice, I'm so glad it ended up here instead of in some awful coat where you cant even tell what animal it is anymore.
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AMAZING!
This picture is really good!
I love the respect to the animal <3
Congratulations to the DD!Β
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Wonderful shot, and also a great idea behind it. Loving it :3
Also, to those complaining about the poor, poor dead wolf:
Yes, I agree that it is sad that such a beautiful animal was killed. Yeah, if the human had not destroyed so much of nature it would maybe not be necessary to control wolf-population in some places.
But well, things are as they are, and you complaining about it won't change things. So don't spend your time with making silly comments but rather volunteer on projects that help to regrow natural environments for the animals, or something other that actually changes something.
And if you are so pro-human-population-control: Start to decrease the number of humans polluting earth by killing yourself. Oh wait, right, that would mean you actually have to do something yourself instead of just telling others what to so. Sorry, my fault.
And at least the artist shows respect to the animal, and does not handle it like a cheap accessory like industry would do.
TL;DR: Stop whining and enjoy the art, because the fact that it shows a dead wolf doesn't make it less beautiful.
Also I have the feeling that not half as much people would complain if it was a dead Anteater or a Galapagos Tortoise, or an other actually endangered animal. But I could be wrong.
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Β I definitely agree with you on the last part. And I bet if it were a dead human people would actually be laughing, as I've collected on my years on DA.
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this is. REALLY GOOD omg
people need to get over themselves, just ignore them
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NaturePunk, I feel really bad that you have to deal with all these people. Most of them don't know, nor ever will know what it even means to be in touch with nature.Β
Being in touch with nature is really, truly caring about the environment, and not /only/ one or two species. All animals. All plants. All living things.
And aside from that, it is also understanding there is a way things work. The world is like a huge clock, everything is supposed to mesh together due to cause and effect circumstances that bring the circle of life to full completion. Everything was made to be perfect in its own imperfect way, and that means death happens. But death is not bad, it's merely the next step toward /new/ life.Β
Did you all know that the very ground you walk on is comprised of mainly dead plant and animal matter? And that new plants grow well in such dead matter, and such plants make food for animals, and such animals make food for other animals, and that for this cycle to come full circle, such animals and plants must die for the next generation. It's life, it's scientific, it's even religious for some.
Yes, humans do use their brains to warp the cycle as they see fit. But when has the world ever been perfect? Certainly not a million years ago when the dinosaurs had their turn of mass extinction. Certainly not during the ice age when animals had to adapt or go extinct. And certainly not now as we embark on the next stage of life on this tiny little blue and green planet.
Nature is tough, it's gritty, it's survived because that is its sole purpose- but that doesn't give us the right to trample it either. It's all about balance. Nature is give-and-take, it's help-me-help-you at its finest.Β
And I think, in the grand scheme of things, wailing over a wolf pelt that this woman wears not only to make a statement, but also as a reminder of a time when we knew better than to scream over such things, is pretty silly.
That being said, I love this photo, the composition is stirring and the lighting is beautiful; organic and modern all at once, and unique in its own right.
Your expression speaks volumes- you know who you are and where you stand in this grand circle of life, and that is the most wonderful thing of all.
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