Wolf Haven visit

Today we joined a few of the moms with the Moms' Club for a group tour of Wolf Haven International out of Tenino just south of Olympia. It's basically a sanctuary for wolves that are taken from the public OR retired from zoos. On arrival, they told us we had to wait because they were having an emergency. No, thank goodness, one of them did not escape. One wasn't feeling herself so they were trying to wrangle her to get her to the vet. So after doing some coloring of wolf prints in the education center, we headed out for our trek. The fenced area in the far back had 2 wolves that were brother and sister to the sick one. So they were off limits at the time.

Lauren taking in the sights and spotting the wolves.

Once we got to the wolf enclosures, the mobile kiddos were confined to strollers so we didn't agitate the wolves. Kiawatha is the female in the front and London is the male behind her, both gray wolves. London came from a breeder that was intending to use him for the movies. Kiawatha is one of the older wolves (12 years old). They live in the wild 4-8 years, but the haven has had one live to be 20.

We also saw a red wolf named Ruby. She was really shy hence no pictures. The guide, Megan, was telling us about the red wolves and when Ruby came out Lauren said "Red Wolf!" Megan said to Lauren in disbelief "Good Job!" in which Lauren replied "Thank you!"

This guy was probably my favorite. Caedus was a pet to a person in the military who had to give him up when he was deployed. Now he shares his pen with a female gray wolf, Ladyhawk, who was brought in with her mother and father. Caedus whimpered and cried to greet us when we arrived.

They informed us that they have a contract with Thurston County to pick up "road kill" for dinner! They only get fed twice a week. And in the summer they get tuna and blood popsicles on hot days! Yum! They do have special treats during holidays (like stuffed turkeys) and fun wolf friendly cupcakes for birthdays!

Not sure if it was because of the passing train or the problems with the female, Cricket, but the whole sanctuary started a group howl. It was pretty neat. Some of the kids were scared, but not Lauren....she laughed hysterically! Lauren called it "singing" and not "howling".

They also have Mexican gray wolves, Gypsy and Diablo.

It's a pretty neat place to visit. They had coyotes as well that were pretty fired up when we arrived. The city kids were in awe of their yipping! We had it all to ourselves since they are only open on the weekends right now. And it didn't actively rain which was a plus! Megan said that most folks think that the summer is the best time to come out, but the wolves are so hot, they don't move and all you see are ears in the tall grass.