The wolves serenaded us as we arrived. The enclosures are spacious, extending up the entire hillside, where the animals can run, dig dens, rest, or hide in complete privacy.  Some wolves were willing to approach their enclosure fence; others watched with curious eyes from a safe distance.  Some would not let themselves be seen. Each wolf is paired with one or two others in an enclosure.  Staff members go to great lengths to make an appropriate match.

We were permitted to enter two enclosures.  In the first, companions Pax and Sasha are well-socialized to humans.  These two serve as ambassadors to local schools.  Even so, we were told to sit separately.  Wolves, like children, can be jealous of human attention.  If they start to snap at each other, you don’t want to be in the middle.

We sat down, and the wolves came to us.  Pax stood on my legs, sniffing and licking my head and face.  Wolves are very attuned to the head and demonstrate a strong physical connection to it.  Wearing a hat can frighten or disturb them.  The wolves stayed in constant motion, jumping down off the rocks, loping away and then back again for sniffing, touching, contact.  I very much wanted to pick up a paw and look at the webbed feet wolves have, but I didn’t.  I also wanted to stick my hand in their mouths to look at their teeth — but I didn’t.  Better to respect them as wild animals making a home close to humans.

Sasha and Pax were scheduled to visit a school near me today, and I was to accompany them.  Visiting Denver is unusual, since the sanctuary is two hours away.  Whenever a wolf leaves the sanctuary for a school or other visit, he is tethered to a human.  If the wolf tries to run away, he has to take the human along.  I was going to be a tether.  Sadly, last night the school cancelled the visit. Pax and Sasha have been to this school before, with safe and enjoyable encounters.  But not today.

Then there is Rajan.  Rajan is also an ambassador.  He often prefers to remain outside a building, and the children come to him.  Told he was more skittish, he sidled up, sniffed, and stayed within touching range most of the visit.  I did stick my finger in his mouth to look closely at his beautiful and enormous white teeth. 

Feeding Drake with a spoon – get a good grip on it!

Sigmund, a wolf-collie mix – what a hair-do!

Loki, who spent much of his pre-W.O.L.F. life on a short chainThere is lots more to share about the sanctuary and its staff.  But Yellowstone calls, and I must away.  I look forward to catching up with you beautiful bloggers when I return.

]]> http://sweetplanetpoems.com/2013/05/20/a-visit-to-w-o-l-f/feed/ 7 monicaglickman Sasha through the fence Pax Rajan kisses Rajan checks me out Drake-1 Sigmund Loki http://sweetplanetpoems.com/2013/04/30/an-evening-with-w-o-l-f/ http://sweetplanetpoems.com/2013/04/30/an-evening-with-w-o-l-f/#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:24:58 +0000 Monica http://sweetplanetpoems.com/?p=1810 Continue reading →]]> Last weekend we attended a fundraiser for W.O.L.F., a sanctuary for wolves and wolf-dog mixes in the mountains about two hours away.  The remarkable executive director, Shelley Coldiron, and her impressive staff explained the organization’s mission – rescue, sanctuary, and education – and gave us some insights into what W.O.L.F. does.

Approximately 100,000 – 200,000 wolf-dog mixes are bred in this country.  When these animals reach adulthood, they are no longer suitable household pets.  Almost all are eventually abandoned or euthanized.  So one important mission is informing the public that breeding wolves and dogs is a very bad idea.

The sanctuary has room for 30 animals.  Some are brought to W.O.L.F.; others are rescued by staff members who sometimes travel long distances to locate an animal.

Wolves and wolf-dogs are fed dry dog food with a fresh meat supplement every 2 – 3 days. Local supermarkets often donate meat, i.e. the wolves are not sent out to find their own.

We learned from Shelley that wolves, unlike dogs – surprise! – are not motivated to please humans.  That does not mean they are vicious:  Shelley has never experienced or heard of a wolf attack on a human.

Another principal goal is educating people about wolves.  Well-trained and informed staff members take “ambassadors” to local schools.  Children can see a wolf first-hand and hear about their lives and behavior.  Travel is limited to an hour’s drive from the sanctuary; longer is too hard on the animal.

At dinner we met and petted a rescued wolf-dog puppy named Mona.  I learned that wolves are naturally house-broken.  That’s a good thing, since I can’t imagine how you would train a wolf.  (No, no, we don’t do that…”)  Mona may in time become a companion animal; but, if not, she has a home at the sanctuary for life.

What I saw and heard from director, staff, volunteers, and philanthropic supporters was an untiring devotion to the cause of wolf and wolf-dog rescue; a solid foundation of training, knowledge, and information; and a deep love and respect for the animals.  Rescue and be rescued.  Amen.

Thank you!

Here’s my addition to the Petition:

Hear my voice.

I am a stakeholder in how public lands in the U.S. are used and managed.  That includes predator control on those lands.

Plans in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to drive wolf populations down to ~100 individuals a state are succeeding at warp speed.  In two years, approximately 1100 wolves have been killed from a population of about 1700 in the Rocky Mountain region.

Three hundred wolves are unlikely to sustain a biologically diverse and healthy group that can, over time, withstand disease cycles, loss of habitat, and the uncertain effects of climate change.  You know this already.  But isn’t that the real goal?  Get those numbers down until they are no longer sustainable over the long haul.  Extermination in the guise of management is not acceptable.

It’s ugly.  It’s based on the myth of wolves as evil incarnate.  It incorporates cruel and relentless hunting practices that call into question our decency as a species.  Deer, elk, moose, and bear are not pursued with the cruel rage that wolves endure.  If an animal is hunted, hunting practices must be controlled by those with a respect and even a love for the animal.  Existing wolf management practices mirror the fervor and mania of a witch hunt or a religious crusade, with all the blindness and brutality that implies.

I am a citizen of the United States, and my government must not permit this.  Not in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, and God forbid, not anywhere else in the U.S.   When the states demonstrate their inability to proceed with decency, the federal government must act.

Base your decisions upon fact and science, not myth or political bullying.  The benefits wolves bring to the ecosystem and the health of prey populations are well known.  So is the fact that wolf predation on domestic livestock is minimal, and that means exist for reducing this predation even further.

Hear my voice.  It’s your job to find a way.

Thank you.  I now join the Defenders of Wildlife petition:

cc: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/

Member of the Family

Call me mother, call me father
call me source of life and strength
call me sister, call me brother
call me only home and hearth
call me garden of paradise
call me member of the family
call me earth.

“Member of the Family” first posted January 28, 2011

Public Domain Images:
earth from moon*
earth from space

*The source image for this illustration by DonkeyHotey is a photo in the public domain from the Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. “The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.”

More images from our garden of paradise:

No self control – couldn’t wait for Earth Day

The mind constructs compartments
sealing off brutal burdens
burying alive dark knowledge
from the light of change
and a fatal duty to act.

 Did we judge too harshly?

 Nightmare waking truth
huddles behind padlocked doors
horror’s ooze ordered by a stern will
soul finds anchor in unreality
unforgiving, hunted heart reveals itself
no secrets

 Have I judged too harshly?

Spam, I Am

Spam, I am
overwhelmed with spam
crying and moping while carrying a croc
Alice in Wonderland meets downright schlock
You may not love it? Walk around the block!

 Along the way, your wheels
should not disrupt
the oxygen flow to the Arctic O
the planet receiver
would run amok!

 Fun-loving nerd singing in the attic
clinically determined bipolar attacking
change the direction of your gaze
from the genuine to the brazen
infections too pass off due
overall, it is amazing!

A two-fold disease for 4
increased by the constitution of plaque
flairs up in people
who want to giggle
and modesty is not so simple

The neighborhood’s loosing their mind!
Please Dr. Seuss, let’s call a truce:
We can’t be left behind.

Your investment may be a risk
(no doubt)
further funds are wanted
so handle with care, and check it out
and do remain undaunted.

When shopping for household products
it is very useful to know
which ones should never ever enter your home
much better to toss and throw.

With time, Hosting Hosting
strange internet posting
better service to All
in WordPress Hall.

To be perfectly honest, “croc” was “crocodile” in the original; “O” was “Ocean”;  and “brazen” was “fake”.  I’m sure apologies should be made for this.

This curtain does not bode well for the outcome.  In the last act, Carmen appears wearing a black dress with a similar red rent down the front.

No Kisses for Valentine’s Day (Belated)

No kisses today
I’m sorry to say
I saw you about
with a squirrel in your mouth
a very dead squirrel
you dropped at my feet
a Valentine’s treat

So I must remember
to let time go by
how long does it take for bacteria to die?
Impatiently waiting
anticipating…

No kisses for me
but what do I see?
that nose in the air
so soft and so fair
resolution be naught
I already forgot.

Poor, poor pitiful me
Richard Nixon looks good, you see
I never thought, in all my days,
that I could utter such a phrase

To China he went and opened the door
NEPA enacted, he carried the floor
Rough spots on the way, can’t make too light
Watergate burglars went bump in the night

But all in all, I must declare,
he used his office to get us where
we didn’t know
we needed to go*

 (*That’s my definition of leadership.)

If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them, and what you do not know you will fear. What one fears one destroys.
Dan George, chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation

That’s it. Amen.