Every few months, my friend Brendan disappears into the wilderness to track wolves. The wolves are tagged with radio collars as part of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, which has been observing the animals in their natural environments in an effort to help protect them since 1995. Brendan's work as a volunteer is to follow the wolf packs (from a safe distance) and record their behavioral, social, and predation habits. Sometimes he'll go a day without spotting a wolf, just sitting in sub-freezing snow fields and staring through a scope. Other times, he and his partners will stumble across the juicy meat of the job—a wolf howling atop a boulder, a pack devouring a weakened elk—and the biting, windy wait will all be worth it.