Trailboss met real LIVE Wolves Today!

I had heard and seen posters at my alma mater, Vermont Law School advertising that live wolves were coming to our school. Vermont Law, for those who did not know, specializes in environmental law and our environmental law clinic just assisted wildlife organizations in a court battle regarding restoring wolves to Northeastern forests. We won the decision so it made sense to bring some real live wolves by from Mission Wolf, which saves wolves and educates the public. They have a large refuge for wolves in Colorado I believe.

Well, they did come and they had REAL GRAY WOLVES with them to show the audience I kid you not...they had two with them...that looked kind of like this one and they were really cool. HUGE animals weighing in at 85 and 86 pounds with big paws and thick coats.

The presenter did a good job explaining why wild wolves are important for the ecosystem and what we should know about them and their behavior. It was very interesting--the whole 'big bad wolf' stereotype doesn't fit...they are quite intelligent and communicate like...wild animals :wink: So it is important for one to learn about them before judging them. These animals were approaching people, licking noses, and even sniffing and nibbling people's lips, but don't worry...the trainer explained what to do and how to react and nobody, I mean NOBODY was hurt.

I was really impressed and learned a lot! It was really cool. They're doing a limited New England tour right now with these two animals to schools and universities, so if you get a chance, check it out. :beer:

...

Very social animals! Agreed, they're not the reckless killers that the frontier developers with their sheep & cattle have labeled them as.....

Um, so they are using wild wolves held in captivity to show why wolves should remain in the wild?

[/irony]

-Stephen

The part that i am a little confused on is that the gray wolf isn't native to new england, the red wolf is. So do they want to introduce the gray wolf or reintroduce the red wolf. Now if it is the red wolf there is no way to sustain a population as they interbread with coyotes and domestic dogs both of which have substantial populations. Which will be a big waste of money and achieve no results. Or do they want to introduce a non native species?

We have wolves

http://www.turtlebackzoo.com/

kinda neat to have a zoo in your home town...

Brettski said:

We have wolves

http://www.turtlebackzoo.com/

kinda neat to have a zoo in your home town...

Click to expand...

my wife works there as a vet tech... she came home last night telling me how she was getting them to howl yesterday... having some good fun with them. she's also been working with the bear cubs there and lately she's actually been petting the female cougar! 8)

anyway, she *loves* wolves and could have probably done the whole presentation that trailboss saw.

trailboss, thanks for the post... I am going to send the link to http://www.missionwolf.com/ to my wife.

GET OUT!

Where do you live?

I gotta get my membership card renewed.....

$35.00 family + 1...such a deal....

I'm at the rink 2-3 times a week...can't believe they renamed it...

They addressed the irony aspect of it and stated that wolves are WILD animals. The ones that they had were bred and raised in captivity, so they will always be in captivity.

Their mission is to have more wild wolves in the US than those in captivity.

We have wolves in Mass.

http://www.wolfhollowipswich.com/

very cool place.

Also use to be an FBI safe house, but don't ask me how I know that.

peace.

Brettski said:

GET OUT!

Where do you live?

I gotta get my membership card renewed.....

$35.00 family + 1...such a deal....

I'm at the rink 2-3 times a week...can't believe they renamed it...

Click to expand...

hi brett, assuming the above post was meant for me... we live up in west milford, but she works there at TZ 3 times a week + school part time. its a good little zoo but there is lots of really dispointing behavior going on there behind the scenes... my wife is there for the animals but most of the employees are there for a paycheck, marking out their "turf", and gossiping. but.. on the bright side... the cougars and wolves, as well as lots of other animals, are really great. And the zoo def. needs supporters like you, so kudos man! What a great place to bring kids. Stop by the petting zoo and you might meet my wife.