Remus and romulus

[DLegend]

This is the myth where Rome originated. Is it even possible for a she-wolf to feed human babies? I don't know if someone had tried doing this but I think it is impossible as babies are very vulnerable to diseases.

 

[Chimeranick]

I have a bachelor's on zoology so I can tell you that it isn't uncommon for mammals to sometimes suckle babies of a different species. I have read that in times before the advent of breast milk substitutes people would feed babies milk from any viable source; cows, sheep, goats, etc. Since infants receive valuable immunities from their mother's milk, these infants had an astoundingly high mortality rate but some did survive. And babies will suckle on ANYTHING so if a wolf's teat got near his mouth he would probably suckle on it. So it is possible however highly unlikely that this would work. It would require an extremely accommodating wolf and a lot of luck that the boys don't contract any viruses or bacteria. (unlikely in a forest) More than likely the wolf would have just classified the boys as "easy pickings" and eaten them.

 

[Chintai]

Modern day tales of children raised by wolves do exist though. Having said that I can't remember if they involved actual suckling or not. I am nowhere near a scientist but I imagine it would be hard for a human baby to get perfect nutrition from the milk of another species.

 

[Bona Dea]

There are many stories of children being raised by wild animals going back centuries, and having had a Siberian Husky when I was younger I can understand where the stories come from.

The dog was very caring a gentle, and I'm not the only person who has had this type of experience - as the video shows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhA_TTKetyM&feature=player_embedded#!