Wolves
Seeing the wolves this morning was spectacular. I now know every single thing there is to know about wolves. Lol! There are 45 wolves total on the property and I love and respect the animals even more than I ever used to. (FYI: The sanctuary is just that - sanctuary. Most of these wolves are rescued from one place or another. They have very, very good lives here and are very happy. The organization has a deal with the state and they get first dibs on all fresh roadkill. Deer are the wolves favorite meal.) :-)
Here is my sweet Kara so excited to finally be here:
Ooo! We can see a wolf from here! Yes, it rained the whole time. There are shed like buildings in each enclosure, as mandated by law, but none of the wolves like being inside. It freaks them out. In the super hot months of summer, they'll dig under the shed and chill underneath.
How pretty! These were our first pack to be introduced to - timber wolves. A pack of three, one alpha male, one alpha female, and a third dude. :-)
A-wooooooo!
Next, we met a pack of two - they are dog/wolf hybrids. You'd think they would be just a sweet friendly wolf, but they're not. They're more aggressive than wolves and most have to be put down because they're so nasty. But, this sanctuary will gladly take them in and give them a good life.
Next was a medium sized pack - I think 6. There is a wolf in this pack that does only one thing - sit on top of a little hill in his territory and keep watch for Darren. Darren is the man who works there and is responsible for neutering the males. They never forgive him after that and the wolf in this pack will alert all the wolves in the whole sanctuary when poor Darren walks by. (They don't attack, they just run away from him.)
Snack time! He's gonna throw some meat over the fence, I can smell it!
This guy came out of nowhere. Out from behind a tree or something. He brought out a limb of something or other he had stashed away and kind of flaunted it in front of us.
*Yawn.* Sometimes they looked just like doggies to me.
Until a little fight broke out with this next pack. They are 12 wolves strong and don't have the organization the other packs have. An alpha male, an alpha female, and on down the line is very important for these packs. They learn, hunt, take their cues from, etc. these leaders. This large pack doesn't have an alpha (it's a long story why) and they are all a little snappier because of it.
They lined up along the fence for a snack, when I noted the darker faced one has a boo boo on his nose. Maybe even from the fight we saw.
Then I noticed another wolf licking his boo boo for him. No matter how dysfunctional family is, it's still family. Am I right? ;-)
I want a snack first! No me! There they go again.
This one's face reminded me more of a bear.
Their paws are massive. Wolves in captivity live longer and are larger than wolves in the wild. Only half of the wolves in the wild make it to their first birthday, and very few make it past 10 years old. Here, they live as long as 18 years.
This next pack had 3 wolves, 2 are brother and sister (and are the alpha male and alpha female) and they were all 3 raised in the sanctuary since they were babies. They've never been shown how to be wolves, so they're much more docile than the other wolves. They are a little more playful too - they drag each other around by their tails, they play hide and seek, etc.
Our last pack of 2 was maybe one of the sweetest. We all walked up and murmured to each other, "Why does that wolf look different? What's wrong with it's eyes?" It turns out he is completely blind. He went blind around age 4 and is now older than 10 (11, I think). Some sweet lady fell in love with him and offered to pay for the surgery to fix his eyes, but all the putting him down for the trip to the doctor and the surgery and all would be traumatic. In fact, he runs all day because he has his entire enclosure memorized and never has any problems.
One reason he never has any problems is because of this guy. He is the other half of this pack and he looks out for him. They take good care of each other. While the seeing-wolf gets the best treats and first dibs on the food, he will always make sure his vision-impaired buddy is taken care of. (Did you notice the blind wolf is even chubbier than him?)
But, don't forget to give me treats for being a good, sweet boy.
I learned so, so much today. I learned how sophisticated the family structure of a pack is. I learned wolves howl as a pack to celebrate the birth of a new pup, they howl as a pack to mourn the death of a wolf in their pack, they celebrate together, they work as a team, and the alphas are respected.
If only we were that organized. ;-)
We can't wait to go back. It turns out wolves hunt better in the winter because all their prey is slower and weaker, so they feed very well. Summer keeps them very, very hot and all the old guys tend to pass away in summer (as opposed to other seasons). With winter around the corner, I was advised to come back when it snows - not only is it beautiful, but the wolves are at their happiest and most playful. We will definitely be back!
Here is my sweet Kara so excited to finally be here:
Ooo! We can see a wolf from here! Yes, it rained the whole time. There are shed like buildings in each enclosure, as mandated by law, but none of the wolves like being inside. It freaks them out. In the super hot months of summer, they'll dig under the shed and chill underneath.
How pretty! These were our first pack to be introduced to - timber wolves. A pack of three, one alpha male, one alpha female, and a third dude. :-)
A-wooooooo!
Next, we met a pack of two - they are dog/wolf hybrids. You'd think they would be just a sweet friendly wolf, but they're not. They're more aggressive than wolves and most have to be put down because they're so nasty. But, this sanctuary will gladly take them in and give them a good life.
Next was a medium sized pack - I think 6. There is a wolf in this pack that does only one thing - sit on top of a little hill in his territory and keep watch for Darren. Darren is the man who works there and is responsible for neutering the males. They never forgive him after that and the wolf in this pack will alert all the wolves in the whole sanctuary when poor Darren walks by. (They don't attack, they just run away from him.)
Snack time! He's gonna throw some meat over the fence, I can smell it!
This guy came out of nowhere. Out from behind a tree or something. He brought out a limb of something or other he had stashed away and kind of flaunted it in front of us.
*Yawn.* Sometimes they looked just like doggies to me.
Until a little fight broke out with this next pack. They are 12 wolves strong and don't have the organization the other packs have. An alpha male, an alpha female, and on down the line is very important for these packs. They learn, hunt, take their cues from, etc. these leaders. This large pack doesn't have an alpha (it's a long story why) and they are all a little snappier because of it.
They lined up along the fence for a snack, when I noted the darker faced one has a boo boo on his nose. Maybe even from the fight we saw.
Then I noticed another wolf licking his boo boo for him. No matter how dysfunctional family is, it's still family. Am I right? ;-)
I want a snack first! No me! There they go again.
This one's face reminded me more of a bear.
Their paws are massive. Wolves in captivity live longer and are larger than wolves in the wild. Only half of the wolves in the wild make it to their first birthday, and very few make it past 10 years old. Here, they live as long as 18 years.
This next pack had 3 wolves, 2 are brother and sister (and are the alpha male and alpha female) and they were all 3 raised in the sanctuary since they were babies. They've never been shown how to be wolves, so they're much more docile than the other wolves. They are a little more playful too - they drag each other around by their tails, they play hide and seek, etc.
Our last pack of 2 was maybe one of the sweetest. We all walked up and murmured to each other, "Why does that wolf look different? What's wrong with it's eyes?" It turns out he is completely blind. He went blind around age 4 and is now older than 10 (11, I think). Some sweet lady fell in love with him and offered to pay for the surgery to fix his eyes, but all the putting him down for the trip to the doctor and the surgery and all would be traumatic. In fact, he runs all day because he has his entire enclosure memorized and never has any problems.
One reason he never has any problems is because of this guy. He is the other half of this pack and he looks out for him. They take good care of each other. While the seeing-wolf gets the best treats and first dibs on the food, he will always make sure his vision-impaired buddy is taken care of. (Did you notice the blind wolf is even chubbier than him?)
But, don't forget to give me treats for being a good, sweet boy.
I learned so, so much today. I learned how sophisticated the family structure of a pack is. I learned wolves howl as a pack to celebrate the birth of a new pup, they howl as a pack to mourn the death of a wolf in their pack, they celebrate together, they work as a team, and the alphas are respected.
If only we were that organized. ;-)
We can't wait to go back. It turns out wolves hunt better in the winter because all their prey is slower and weaker, so they feed very well. Summer keeps them very, very hot and all the old guys tend to pass away in summer (as opposed to other seasons). With winter around the corner, I was advised to come back when it snows - not only is it beautiful, but the wolves are at their happiest and most playful. We will definitely be back!
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