In the language of biologists, they are "charismatic megafauna," the species that define a landscape and get the lion's share of attention in our parks and refuges. Wolves, bears, moose and eagles are not only wild creatures in the woods -- they are symbols of what we admire and sometimes fear about the wilderness. As the human population grows, questions about whether we want to live in a world with wolves and other wild animals become more urgent. Minnesota is one of the last places in the Lower 48 with an ecosystem that still includes big predators and game animals. In the state's remaining wild spaces, we are fortunate to be able to encounter, and learn about, our animal kingdom's star attractions.

Feather-light snow drifted out of the dusk, catching in pine needles and resting on the naked boughs of aspens alongside Fernberg Road.

The two-lane highway, not far from the Canadian border, was deserted, and I drove with the windows cracked so I could taste the sharp, clear air.

I saw some movement ahead, and I braked. As I came to a stop, a wolf jumped onto the far lip of the righthand ditch. Blood stained the snow where he had been feasting on a whitetail that apparently had been hit by a car.

A black outercoat tipped his gray fur. Running muscle defined his broad chest and shoulders. He looked me right in the eye. A moment passed. His eyes were gold. He turned and started jogging, parallel to the road on the periphery of the woods. I let the car keep pace, and 50 yards later, he veered into the trees. Again I stopped the car, this time to regain my bearings.

I'm not prone to equating animals with people, but when I looked at that wolf, there was someone formidable looking back at me.

Mythical beast

In 1963, the wolf population in the contiguous United States was estimated at between 360 and 710, all in Minnesota except for 10 on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Today, there are more than 5,000 in the lower 48, about 3,000 of them in Minnesota. Their recovery is remarkable, especially considering that many people would just as soon see them dead.

That's a sentiment that can be understood when considering a rancher who's lost herd animals to predation. But wolves carry a stigma that goes far beyond the actual damage they inflict. From Red Riding Hood to the werewolf, these wild dogs loom large in the human psyche as malevolent and clever beasts, a symbol of the wild world we left behind when we put down bows and arrows and started building fences for livestock.

Because of Minnesota's durable wolf population, and because of an esteemed biologist named L. David Mech, the state is a world-renowned center for wolf research and education. In 1989, Mech founded the International Wolf Center, a nonprofit institute in Ely, Minn., dedicated to study, preservation and education. As part of its educational mission, the wolf center has a program of learning vacations that introduce people from around the world to the most famous inhabitants of Minnesota's North Woods.

"No, wolves don't eat little girls in red capes," said Jess Edberg, an instructor at the center. Edberg was welcoming me and 14 other students to a four-day "Wolves and Wilderness" program last February.

"They eat moose and deer, and for the most part, they eat moose and deer that are weak or sick."

Meet the pack

Edberg explained that we'd be alternating classroom lectures with observation and investigation in the field. We'd use radio telemetry to understand how biologists track pack movement and dynamics. We'd snowshoe into wolf territory, looking for tracks and scat. We'd go deeper into the woods by dogsled. And we'd observe the center's resident pack of four wolves in their two-acre enclosure; even though they don't hunt, they exhibit the same kinds of pack behavior and communication as wolves in the wild.