Dog Days

Yesterday afternoon was spent at Wolf Park -- which is, as you might guess, a research and education facility that houses about fourteen wolves. T has been there about a jillion times over the years, because 1) it's right there and 2) he digs wolves. I've never really been hooked into wolves the way he has, which is kind of surprising given my affinity for domesticated dogs. And though I've seen all sorts of endangered or just plain elusive animals in the wild, I've never encountered a wolf. Wolves had re-established themselves on the mountain behind my house in Montana, but the only evidence I saw of them was the greater presence of coyotes on my mountain as a result of the increased competition on the other one. Even during my time in Glacier, I heard not so much as a howl.

We'd been wanting to go to Wolf Park together ever since we started seeing each other, but one thing or another had always gotten in the way, so we didn't make it till yesterday, almost a year hence. All three kids went along. The Boy and The Girl have also been there a jillion times, and in fact are going to begin volunteering there this summer. As for The Kid, well, he would be willing to sit and watch paint dry as long as I told him The Boy and The Girl would be going along too. So off the five of us went, sans Thomas, who was left at home to wonder why his pack was going somewhere else to look at a bunch of wild dogs.

Wolves, I must tell you, are captivating. These are highly socialized animals, of course, but I was still unprepared for how playful and affectionate they can be. They live in a very, very large enclosure, complete with pond and trees and space to range. The enclosure is ringed with a trail for visitors to follow, which gives them the opportunity to see the wolves up close. Two wolves trotted along with us on lanky legs on the other side of the fence for a portion of the trip.

The Kid, never much impressed by grandeur and dignity, pronounced them "so cute."

From time to time, when I'm going somewhere very photogenic but for which photography is not the main purpose, I'll forget my camera. While I kick myself, this is usually a good thing, because every now and then I really need to see the world unencumbered by a lens. That happened yesterday, and I'm glad it did. They offer photography seminars at the park in the fall, and I think I'll take one. But had I remembered the camera yesterday, I might have missed some of the things going on with my human company. The Kid, for example, was more interested in the wolves than in any other animal he's encountered (with the possible exception of the dog shark petting tank at the Indy Zoo), and was quick to raise his hand and offer answers to the questions asked by the staff in the introductory presentation.

And sometimes it's just good for me to be reduced to using the camera on my phone like everyone else.



Wolf Park houses coyotes as well. These are Twister and Willow. Twister spends most of his time being a jerk to Willow, as shown here. Willow spends most of her time appeasing Twister in the most invasive and annoying manner possible, which serves only to perpetuate the cycle. In a fit of anthropomorphizing, I observed to T that Willow appears to have a self esteem problem, and would probably be better served by hauling off and biting Twister's balls instead.




Wolves hanging out on logs near a longtime staff member.