Cody & Willows Enclosure
Round 2 of winter weather this week. High winds, freezing rain and snow made for some long hours of worry about trees falling on our fence lines. We did have lots of branches come down and a small tree on Journeys fence but no damage to any of the fences. We'll have lots of cleanup to do but every one is safe and happy.
Making a path
Winter has arrived for sure. Last week we had quite the snow storm. Although our pups love the snow and thrive in the winter deep snow is pretty hard on little Mocha. She is shorter legged than the rest and she suffers from an old (pre rescue) broken bone in her hind leg that was allowed to heal without medical attention. Also both of her front wrist joints are arthritic. Snow over a foot deep is difficult for her to navigate. Dad to the rescue with the snow blower so she has lots of paths to get around in.:)
Journey Halloween
Have A Safe and Happy Halloween
Willow in the grass.
One of Willows favorite things, fresh cut grass. She turns from white to green in a few short minutes.
Journey Again
Here we go again :) Master Journey just can not figure out why Mike is putting all that dirt back in a hole that he worked so hard to remove.
Morning after the snow storm
Spring Snow Storm 4-18-18
Sky
Beautiful Wildchild Skylar. We've worked many years on trust and made slow progress. I'm grateful for the steps she has made. She came to us terrified and unsocial and would go into flight mode when I went into the enclosure, so this is such a huge step for her. I love this girl!!
Journey's dig 2
This is the reason why we have our fences buried 3 feet in the ground. This trench was away from the fence but we have had a few that made it the full 3 feet to the bottom of the dig wire. Those big paws can move a great amount of dirt in a short amount of time. We would love to let them keep digging but these sand tunnels can cave-in easily. Dogs have died in these if people aren’t vigilant. Dens have even caved in on wild wolves if they don’t choose their den site wisely. The funny thing is, there is never enough sand once it’s out of the hole to fill it back in. Wonder where it all goes? But these are great places to get rid of tree limbs and old bricks. It makes the next dig in this spot a little more difficult. I wonder how many tons of dirt we have moved over the years in this never ending game. But it's all such fun for the pups.
Journey first dig of spring
Journey's First Dig of Spring. Happy Days!
Journey & Noble 3-2018
Best Buds Play Hard. This goes on for hours but they do sleep good at night.
Just an early spring time annual Vet Check. Everything looks good so far, but Journey was a little bit off his feed so we thought a total blood work-up was a good idea. Although he has gained 10 pounds and as you can see he's looking very handsome. Stool sample, urine sample and blood work all at the lab waiting results so stay tuned. Master Journey was a very good boy and enjoyed all the attention but he was VERY happy to get back home to his brother Noble and his brother Noble was thrilled to see him back.
Snuggle Brothers
These two are just too cute. They have become fast friends..
Wild Wolf Visit
We live in wild wolf country and we are often asked if wolves come to visit. Wild Wolves are territorial and most of the year they stay in their boundaries usually within a 20 or 30+ square mile area that they live and hunt in. Just like humans they post their property with “no trespassing signs” except they use scent marking and howling. Our rescues do the same thing but on a much smaller scale within the confines of their enclosures. This avoids confrontations with other canines and keeps the peace with adjoining packs. Late fall and early into the winter changes come to that arrangement. The wild breeding season has arrived and young dispersers often head out to find a mate to start a pack of their own. These are dangerous times for those teenagers as they leave home, looking for romance and test the waters in someone else’s territory to find a home of their own. This is also the time of year that established packs and the alpha pairs are on the move during the day. The breeding pairs are traveling (road tripping) more during the courting process and it makes them vulnerable to poaching but that’s a whole other story. We often hear them from a distance but this is the time of year when we can get wolf visitors willing to approach closer. They have always been respectful of space; they stay back in the woods and talk to our guys before going on their way. This little video (turn up your volumn) is from last year when 2 wolves spent a few hours within about 100 yards of our enclosures. I always wonder what our pups are thinking. We get a lot of different reactions from just standing and listening to howling back to confrontational alarm barking. It’s always an exciting time for our pups and I wonder what the wild wolves think about getting so many mixed signals. It’s times like this that I feel very inadequate in my understanding of the wild world.
What a beautiful day to be out with the Pups ❤️
