Test yourself! Take this Who's Afraid Of the Big Bad Wolf? Quiz | Thematic Animals

Answer: Aconite

Aconite, also sometimes called monkshood and wolfsbane, is a very poisonous plant that grows mainly in the Northern hemisphere. It likes moist but well draining soil and is a perennial. It has very attractive blue flowers and, despite being so poisonous, has become a garden favourite.

The name wolfsbane comes from the fact that toxins from the plant were, in the past, used to kill wolves.

Answer: German submarines

German submarines that carried out attacks on convoy ships crossing the North Atlantic came to be known as wolfpacks. They hunted in loose groups, and when one sighted a suitable target it would radio for the others to join it in the attack, much as wolves do when attacking prey. The drawback to this was that quite a lot of radio communication was needed to organise the attack which could be intercepted allowing air cover to be called in.

The Americans later copied these wolfpack tactics with their submarines when attacking Japanese shipping in the Pacific.

Answer: Boy Scouts

Wolf Cubs, or sometimes just Cubs, are one of the age divisions of the Boy Scout movement. Usually boys from 7 to around 11 are in this group. Like the main Boy Scout movement the Wolf Cubs were founded by Robert Baden-Powell. He realised that there was a demand for scouting type activities from boys younger than the joining age for the Boy Scout movement.

Many scout troops had already started their own junior sections, so he decided that a movement with an identity of it's own was needed. Like the Boy Scouts, Wolf Cubs was open to boys only, girls joined the Brownies or Girl Guides, however since about 1990 many countries have opened the Cubs to both sexes.

Answer: Edward Albee

Written in 1962, the play looks at the breakdown of the marriage of Martha and George, a middle aged couple. It won the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1962/63 New York Drama Critic's Best Play Award. In 1966 it was adapted into a film with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Martha and George.

It was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, and won five, with Elizabeth Taylor winning for Best Actress. It lost out to "A Man For All Seasons" for Best Picture.

Answer: Fenrir

In Norse myth Fenrir is the son of Loki and is a massive wolf who, it is foretold, will kill Odin at Ragnarok. This is the Norse myth that tells of the death of the Gods, the end of their world, and rebirth as a world populated by two human survivors. Having killed Odin, Fenrir will himself by killed by one of Odin's sons.

Answer: French horns

Written by Prokofiev "Peter and the Wolf" is a tale for children which entertains them whilst introducing them to the instruments of an orchestra. It is a story rold by a narrator, with various instruments of the orchestra taking their turn to represent various animals and people.

The wolf is represented by French horns, the Oboe is a duck, the Bassoon is Peter's Grandfather, the Clarinet is a cat. The whole piece takes about twenty five minutes to perform and is a great favourite at children's concerts, especially around Christmas time.

Answer: Mowgli

"The Jungle Book" started life as a series of stories published in magazines in the 1890s. Written by Rudyard Kipling, the originals were illustrated, and some of these were done by his father. Many of the stories feature "Mowgli" the man cub raised by wolves.

The stories all gave some form of moral tale, either family values, or honesty, or friendship. Because of the strong moral values the book was adopted by the Cub Scout movement as a motivational tool.

Answer: The Werewolf of Paris

Guy Endore's novel, "The Werewolf of Paris", has been described as the "Dracula of werewolf fiction". In 1961 Hammer adapted it as "The Curse of the Werewolf" with Oliver Reed. Werewolves have featured in fiction and folklore since at least medieval times.

They are mainly depicted as an evil beast, who transforms from man to wolf at the full moon, and then eats people. This has proved a rich vein for Hollywood horror films as well as fantasy writers.

Answer: The whole pack

There are usually four to six wolf cubs in a litter, and the whole pack participate in bringing them up. When they are still in their den with their mother other adults will bring food so she does not have to hunt. When they start to venture outside the adults take turns to play with them, bring them food, and act as baby sitters.

When they reach about eight weeks old they leave the den completely. When the pack goes hunting the cubs stay in one place to await their return, usually with one or more adults to guard them.

At around six months old they look like fully grown wolves, and at that stage will start to go with the packs on hunts to learn the skills they need to survive as adults.

Answer: Three Little Pigs

The song featured in the 1933 Disney animated film, and is sung when the pigs believe that their house of straw and twigs will protect them from the wolf, which of course it doesn't. It became a very popular song, and over the years has been covered by many people, including Barbara Streisand, Duke Ellington and Pinky and Perky.

The original version from the film has featured on many compilation records of Disney songs.