His response was short: "It's natural."

When I was a child my father used to catch frogs and bring them home to me for an evening before letting them go the next day (SPOILER ALERT: I soon realized why prolonged visits were not sustainable). I remember looking forward to the white bucket he'd leave for me in the backyard, filled with new playmates.

One day, I decided these creatures deserved environmental enrichment and that a white bucket of water was no place for a wildling. I scooped one lucky contender up and placed him in a salad bowl (sorry fam, we still eat out of this bowl) filling it with all sorts of hand-picked leaves, berries and twigs that I could find (is it possible to pick without hands though?). I was called in for dinner, and left buddy in his new home on a picnic bench for a short break. When I returned, he was lifeless. Something that I couldn't (and still can't) describe that once glowed within him was gone.

So often we think we know what is best for someone, some thing, some animal, when we don't know anything at all. Our lack of wisdom and/or experience can sometimes cause more harm than our original intention--to do the opposite.

A wise man once asked me, "When a dog or a cat approaches you, what do you do? When you hold a bird in the palm of your hand, what do you feel?"

When a dog or cat approaches you, you touch it. When you hold a live bird (or frog) in your hand, you feel something--connected, beautiful, special...whatever you want to call it. These things happen and you can't explain why or how, but you just know this is what you do.

It's natural.

How to make him flee, screaming like a girl:

1. Write your name in the snow using Naptha
2. All eyes on him if/ when he arrives (if you're near Arviat it won't take long)
3. Send your name in flames and bask in the heat of glory 

Caution: Based on recommendation. They are not all born the same. If you lose a limb over this you need to work on--you should've worked on--your calligraphy skills.

A couple of snow troopers showed me how to clean a wampa hide in sea water (FYI, wampas are legally harvested based on an informed quota system and usually involves collaborations with the Old Republic, where samples are collected as an ongoing monitoring program).

It's like crushing grapes.

The hide is then tied to the back of a snowspeeder, hauled out across the ice, fleshed, and dried. The fleshing out process alone takes about 5-9 hours (longer for a better hide) with no breaks; rotting meat in room temperature for extended hours would not be a good look. 

A tooth is also extracted so that the wampa can be aged. 

It's like counting tree rings.

When I left Kimmirut today I thought I was going to die. I'd much rather break my back on a kamotik and have my face slapped for 5 hours by Frosty than fly in a Twin Otter again; you really don't know what flying in turbulence feels like until you're being blasted through the air in a sardine can.

Oh, and a few things about Kimmirut:
- It looks like a heel ("Kimmirut").
- It has The Bay (est. 1909, along with a church of the same age).
- It's wind will keep you inside, but you can always sew pualuks and watch Star Wars to pass time.
- It's tides shift daily. You can hear the ice cracking and shifting. Maker's Mark on the rocks.