What big teeth you have

The birdsong in Berkshire‘s Ufton Woods ends suddenly. In its place, a different kind of music fills the air. High-pitched and excitingly eerie, this is music made by wolves.

Underneath a huge oak tree, two charcoal-grey, coarse-haired she-wolves bay as if their lives depend upon it. With necks back, eyes shut and mouths wide open - displaying sharp fangs capable of snapping a human arm in two - their lupine symphony begins.

Later, dark-amber eyes open and yellowy canine teeth are locked behind closed jaws. Bar a faint rustling in the undergrowth, there is silence in the woods again. Then the larger of the two wolves pricks up her ears. Muscles tensing, she gets ready to chase and catch whatever it is that has caused her pale-pink tongue to lick her furry chops.

Only she can‘t. And neither can her companion. Neither of these wolves is roaming free through the ancient woodlands of the home counties - both are restrained by members of the UK Wolf Conservation Trust.

In the quiet village of Beenham - a few miles from here and just six miles from Reading - unwanted European and North American wolf pups from other animal organisations have been hand-reared and habituated to humans by the Trust. As part of an initiative to dispel the creature‘s big bad wolf image, the trust provides members of the public with opportunities to walk with their wolves.

During these walks - under strict supervision - it‘s possible to touch and photograph the wolves, see them enjoying the sounds and scents of the great outdoors, hear their chilling howls compete with the ringing of bells in nearby villages and wonder at the size of great wolfy footprints left behind in the woods today.