Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Only a couple of weeks after the arctic pups arrived, 5 six week old timber-arctic crosses were in need of placement. While we dishearteningly turned down the offer, another individual who planned on starting a facility in Ohio accepted the pups if we agreed to board them while he made travel arrangements.
From the day we met them, we started noticing a world of difference in the timbers from our original crew. The arctics we had started with were like “rag-dolls.” They cuddled, they fell into your lap if you touched them. The timbers were excitable, frisky jumpers who would leap into the air for attention. Their rambunctious personalities were endearing, and playing with them became quite a bit of fun for all of us
at Wild Spirit.
Roughly a week after their arrival, we began finding out a little too much about the situation they were going into. Proper arrangements had not been made, and we were misinformed of quite a bit. It was decided that we couldn’t let the timber’s go to the situation that had been planned. And so, while we toiled with the idea of arranging placement at a different facility, all five of the timbers ended up staying at Wild Spirit as well.
***
Sleeping in a room with six arctic pups is a quite an ordeal. There’s always someone awake, finding some sort of mischief to get into. There’s always someone who’s decided that the best place to pee is right on their caretaker’s pillow, and there’s always someone who thinks it’s a great idea to test out their new found teeth on the sleeping human’s arm or cheek!
When we first integrated the timbers however, 11 puppies in one room only lasted one night!
It was hard to let them go that first day – to put them in an enclosure overnight without supervision. It was hard to watch them find solace in one another, in the grass, in the mud, and not in a person.
The first night the pups spent in an enclosure together, I woke every two hours and checked on them – just as though I was still on their original bottle-feeding schedule. And each time, of course, they were perfectly all right and only mildly excited to see the overly-concerned human that had come to visit.
***
When the pups were being bottle fed, their paws pulled at our arms as though they were trying to push more milk out of a mother’s nipple. Tiny, sharp, cat-like claws dug into our arms, and Leyton and myself both looked as though we were making poor-suicide attempts, or trying to shoot up heroine! Tiny claw wounds were exposed to the sting of formula, but it never seemed to matter. Their tiny mouths sucking so strongly—their milk splattered “beards” – their warm, fuzzy gray bodies – it was too much “cuteness” to let any pain slip into one’s mind.
When the arctics & timbers moved into an enclosure together, a new feeding pain came about. The timbers were like “little jumping beans” and the arctics soon learned the trick as well. In order to feed the “chicken-paste” we were serving, we’d spread it out on bucket lids and carry at first two, then three, then four, then five platters into the enclosure with the pups three times a day.
For the first few days, we were able to simply open the door and be mauled for a few seconds before setting the platters on the ground for the “feast.” Soon however, anytime we went in, two or three little “fur-kids” came out! As soon as they saw the food entering the enclosure however, they of course followed.
Within a week our little timber “jumping beans” had taught the arctics the great trick of getting your food mid-air, and little bite marks began gracing my hands and arms each day. We came up with a new system, and started entering the enclosure and throwing the trays like Frisbees to different sides of the enclosure.
This, too, was not long-lasting and eventually, it began taking three people to feed the “puppy pack.” One person on either side of the enclosure, one (typically myself) inside, being handed one tray at a time to quickly toss in the other direction.
Amazing… to watch 11 pups eat 80 lbs of “chicken paste” each day… 20-30 lbs in each sitting, and it all disappeared within seconds…
***
Storm was the first to let us know he was ready for “real food.” I was working in the animal care office one day, while Alice, Storm & Sabine visited. At some point, one of our volunteers, Mary came in to tell me something or other, and as the door opened, Stormy slipped out into the Wolf Kitchen unbeknownst to either of us.
Now, the Wolf Kitchen is full of fun things. Since it's where we prepare and store all of the “wolf food” there’s always bags of treats in the pantry, dishes with leftovers on the sink, and plenty of leashes that look very edible to playful little pups. On many occasions, a pup had slipped between our legs and found something fun and mischevious to get into. Storm, however, found the jackpot.
Mary had just been preparing to de-bone, de-skin, grind, & blend chicken to make “baby-food.” As she was leaving the office, Storm pranced happily and proudly in with a chicken quarter in his mouth. He had found her bucket, and confiscated his first “real meal.”
Storm had some help on that first “snack.” Sabine & Alice assisted him in cracking the bones, and chewing it up, and the three had quite a good time in the office that day. While we waited a couple of more weeks, it was a good sign that the kids were ready for chicken – bone and all – just like the rest of the wolves.

***
The best thing about puppies in comparison to adult wolves, is that pups still love human attention. When they escape, they come running to their human mom’s and dad’s to let them know about their new-found talent. It’s a good thing, too, because our kids sure found plenty of escape routes.
In the beginning, we kept small 3-foot gates around the enclosure entrance so the pups had a “sub-enclosure” to come into when tours were around. We’d open the gate, let a couple of pups in, and visitors could reach over the small fence to greet the youngsters.
Without any testing of limits, Thunder one day shocked us all by jumping straight up in the air and clearing his “containment.” The tour loved it – The laughed as Thunder romped around the inner-compound and his brothers & sisters, and timber cousins excitedly watched. Thunder, quite proud of himself, simply pranced up to Sierra, one of our volunteer’s dogs, and we were able to leash him and take him back to his enclosure.
The bad thing about this situation is that wolves learn by observation. The next time pups were let into the containment, they all remembered Thunder’s genius idea, and thus, we had four wolf pups romping happily through the inner-compound.
The pups also made other escape arrangements. Dakota, the largest of the timbers, and who I’ve always referred to as “my problem child” found that he could tunnel out of his enclosure. Now, while this was definitely a problem, I couldn’t help be impressed by this act.
You see, all of the enclosures at the sanctuary are equipped with ground-wiring to prevent such activity. While wolves consistently dig down and straight across, they rarely dig up. The reason for this, is most likely that they’ll be laying on their backs, getting dirt falling in their face if they are digging upward. Of course, it’s still a possibility, and of course, the enclosure the pups were in wasn’t quite as well equipped as our adult enclosures, and of course one of the pups was bound to surprise us.
We watched the digging start. We watched the pups hit the ground wire, and continue digging a nice hold straight down. One afternoon, however, we also watched a furry little paw reaching out from under the ground. Dakota had tunneled his way out of their enclosure, and covered in dirt, started happily wiggling his rear-end and whining as soon as he saw he was outside and near the people he was trying to get to. Once again, wolves learning by observation hurt us, and several tunnels began taking form all around the perimeter of the enclosure. This day marked the first “puppy pen maintenance” as well as starting to split the pack up.
***

The pens we utilized for the pups when they first went outside are what we refer to as our “geriatric ward.” They are smaller pens, less-professionally constructed, they have felt the sting of time ware on them, and they aren’t quite as tall as our typical enclosures. Sabine, the tiniest of the pups, one day proved that the “geriatric ward” was no longer up to her standards.
During feeding. Sabine or “Bean” (think jumping bean), got so excited over the chicken that was about to be delivered, that she jumped straight up in the air, clearing the six foot fence and the extra feet of overhang. Flying through the air, headed straight for a chicken bucket, came the tiniest pup, and soon to follow, her equally impressive at jumping brother, Thunder.
The pups at this point began utilizing our isolation enclosures that are equipped with roofing, but it wasn’t long, before our 11 pups moved into large, “big-kid” enclosures.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

As a young woman with maternal instincts and little child-rearing experience, I’ve always dreamt of becoming the young mother to five children. For some reason three boys and two girls has always stuck out in my mind as the perfect family arrangement. In all these dreams however, I never once expected all five – with an extra girl to boot – to show up at once. Nor did I expect them to be quite so furry with such sharp teeth.
Wolf puppies that are destined for a life in captivity after being born as such require intense socialization for a happy, peaceful life in a facility such as ours. They must be bottle-raised and constantly around humans to accept us as part of their life. A wolf pup that grows up with other wolves will never trust the sight of a human, and thus, vet trips and feeding and anything involving humans becomes a stressful experience. For that reason, since their arrival at Wild Spirit, our six newest residents have been under the constant supervision of a surrogate human mother or father. Watching them grow so much in such a short period of time, I’ve gained quite the respect for those of you human mothers and fathers out there, and decided that anyone who wants to have children, should first attempt raising a wolf puppy to find out the responsibility awaiting you.
Phase 1 - I’m a terrible mother and my baby hates me.
I’ve heard tales of many new mothers having emotional breakdowns when a difficulty appears with their infant. “Why is she crying? I don’t know what she wants!” or “She won’t eat, what’s wrong?!” or “What’s wrong with me, my baby hates me!” It was probably five days into my surrogate mother duty when the pups had destroyed the one nipple they found acceptable. At 3:00 in the morning, covered in formula, urine and the smells of puppy, the office filled with the cries of hunger, and a 2.5 lb Sabine, wriggling anxiously in my arms, I burst into tears because I had failed the puppies. I couldn’t get them to eat, and couldn’t stop the hunger pains, and couldn’t make the crying stop, and my maternal emotions took over, and here I was, six little puppies tugging at my clothing, screaming to a staff member about how I was a failure as a mother.
When several new nipples arrived the next day, and the puppies began contentedly sucking away again, I came to the conclusion that, motherhood isn’t about success and failure, but merely the right kind of latex.
Phase 2 - Everything must be perfect, and I must document EVERYTHING.
In the planning stages of motherhood, first-timers always plan to do everything right. Children will be on food-pyramid dictated, vitamin-enriched diet, they’ll be at a third grade reading level by the time they reach pre-school, and elected as President of the United States before graduating high-school. To boot, mom will be documenting every event from the baby’s first word to the first time the new baby sees a pine tree…
For the first two weeks the puppies were with us, they were weighed daily. We took their measurements and temperature each evening, and took photos of each puppy in the exact same position to document every stage of growth.
Some time during their third week, I found myself hyperventilating over the fact that I had forgot a day’s worth of weighing and couldn’t find the records of the temperatures from the night before. It was when someone found me examining the one-pigment coloration difference in one of the puppies feces that they informed me I might be going a little overboard… A week later, pages and pages of documentation had been forgotten, and perfect, posed pictures had gone by the way-side of the 3,000 random pics that had already made it to computer hard drive.
Phase 3 - My baby doesn’t need me anymore.
As infants, humans and wolves are completely dependent on their mother to give them everything. Human babies need fed and bathed, to have their diapers changed, and their bedding perfectly arranged to avoid any dangers. Wolf puppies need bottle fed, stimulated to go to the bathroom, isolated from danger and disease, and constantly examined for any signs of illness.
At first, I was with the puppies 24/7. I sat with them day in and day out, found myself on a puppy schedule, napping when they did, eating after they were finished, running to the bathroom in those few short moments between feeding and cleaning and then feeding again. The first time I left them in someone else’s care, I found myself paranoid beyond my expectations. “What if one of them gets smothered by another puppy?” or “What if something falls from the shelf into the play pen and hurts them?” or “What if we suddenly get the first earthquake in the history of New Mexico, the window breaks, and the walls come falling down on the puppies?!”
Needless to say, when I came back from my short departure, the puppies were all fine, unaffected by the paranoia that had been swirling through my brain. Alice proved it a little more when one day she climbed out of the play pen and fell flat on her face. I went running across the room to comfort her, and by the time I arrived, she was already distracted by a very chewable paper towel roll a few feet away.
Phase 4 - The Teenage Years.
My teenage years are still fresh enough in my mind that I have no trouble whatsoever remembering all the yelling and screaming my mother and I did at one another. Over and over again, you hear mother’s talking about how they can’t believe their son/daughter would act this way toward them.
For the first few weeks of life here, all six of the puppies were sweet, lovable, moldable balls of fluff, completely dependent on humans for everything. They were cuddly, fell asleep in our arms, and licked at our faces anytime we were nearby.
One day, however, as I was cuddling Sabine, who originally slept on my chest every night and needed constant assistance in eating, I bent over to kiss her and a snarly growl escaped her mouth and she snapped at my face. A few seconds later, I felt a drip of blood, caused by “my sweet baby.”
Now, sometimes when I go to discipline the cubs for chewing on electrical wires, or put them into the sink for a bath, they scream and snarl and snap. While I know it is only for their own benefit, it is still heart-breaking to feel their anger and distress.
Parents of teenagers know that when they tell their 16 year old, “No you can’t go to Woodstock,” or “No you can’t go to that college party with some guy I’ve never met,” it is only for their own safety, however, those slamming doors, stomps around the house, and harsh words about “I hate you and I’ll never forgive you for this!” Are still devastating. I suppose the only plus size to a human teenager, is that they don’t have nearly as sharp teeth.
Phase 5 - Pride.
Through all of the hard work, all of the diaper changing, all of the late-night feeding, and all of the discipline and heart-breaking cries, the first steps of a toddler, or that young adult finally reaching for his or her diploma fills all parents with pride.
After scooping poop, mopping floors, being covered head to toe with scratches and scrapes and constantly smelling the many odors of puppy in my own hair and clothing, the first time the six little puppies, now 15 lbs in size grouped around me to raise their tiny little mouths to howl, I almost wept. The first day they were able to romp and run outside, I stood with pride watching their first explorations in a new world. And even the first time I saw two of the boys begin a dominance ritual, I couldn’t help but smile.
The experience these puppies have given me thus far is a dream that many people have but will never get the chance to understand. Few people realize how difficult it is to raise wolf cubs in an appropriate setting, and even here, we are still learning every day.
But if nothing else, watching six little wolf puppies go from bottle feeding to playing in an enclosure outdoors has given me quite the insight into what parents of all types of children go through.
Wolf puppies are pretty amazing things. In the past week, spending every moment with these four little critters beyond a total of five hours, my life has changed and my comprehension of a lot has also been affected.
Perhaps what is so amazing is to look at of them, grey balls of fluff, clear blue eyes, and perfect pad-marked feet, as they whimper and whine, sucking at a bottle and occasionally licking my lips in an effort to get me to regurgitate food, and think of how much they are going to change in the coming weeks, months, years… In six months time, each one of the cubs will have clear yellow eyes, remnants of baby blue faded beyond sight anymore. There coloration will have lightened, almost to a pure white. Their feet will be large, the pads tainted by a life of frolicking and running, and at least one will bare a battle scar of a sibling spat. They will grow to be no less than 70 lbs, and some, even by six months may be larger. They will no longer whimper to the sound of a blender, and I will no longer be able to simply scoop them up when they are getting into something they shouldn’t.
Even for someone who has worked with wolves, and day in and day out dealt with the phone calls and emails from people who have attempted to domesticate them as pets, it is difficult to hold such a sweet ball of fluff and refrain from thoughts such as, “Ah, they will always be this sweet, lovable, and docile.” New volunteers and visitors that come through have looked at these innocent cubs and had thoughts or utterances of how sweet they are. When we make mention of hoping one of them will be an ambassador for us, little do people truly understand how rare of a happening this will be. Time and time again, we find ourselves thinking that if a wolf is raised around people, raised like any dog, that when they mature, they will act the same. Even after explaining this over and over again, it is still hard for me to remember that this is not the case.
To some, this is a depressing thought. That, no matter how much love, affection and dedication I give to this animal, he will never be a loyal, trustworthy companion. For me, this may be perhaps the most amazing revelations I’ve been blessed with.
Sometimes, when I hold Sabine in my arms, her small body, so dependent on me, I begin day dreaming about the beautiful wolf she will someday develop into. I think of looking back at this day, her limp body cuddled on my chest, and remembering the hours spent with her. Someday, she may bless me with a kiss upon entering her enclosure, and exhibit excitement when I bring her breakfast, however, she will never again depend on me the way she does now. She will never exhibit the loyalty that my own dog, Nakita, has shown me. She will not patiently wait for me to take her for a walk, or play with her. She will not depend on me for enrichment and attention. Some days, she may not even acknowledge me, and when I am present in her enclosure, she will not respect me as an “owner,” she will look at me as simply another member of the pack. And someday, perhaps what is most difficult to believe, she may decide that she will be the alpha, and dominate me completely unprovoked from anything. If she needs to take a trip to the vet, I will not be able to simply “scoop her up,” and perhaps I will not even be able to leash her or kennel her. She too, even being bottle raised by humans, may become a dangerous animal when she matures. She will have her own agenda, a lack of fear of humans, and now, a pack mentality that includes us in its rituals.
All six of the puppies scamper up to a newcomer for attention right now. They want scratched and cuddled and anxiously await the gift of formula or baby food. Within only a few weeks, however, the fear will begin to take form, and we will see one or more hiding behind chairs or their siblings when new arrivals enter. When they are fully mature, some of them may only trust their original caretakers, if even them.
Currently, the small dominance displays that are shown between littermates are fascinating and endearing. When they mature, however, members of the litter may have to be removed from the original pack. The aggression may heighten and an omega may e at the receiving end of too much.
Watching them chase people’s feet, tare up bags of baby wipes and chew on shoes is currently amusing, however, when they have grown to full size and begin doing the same things as well as exploring new items like couches and chairs etc., it will not be as endearing, and for some, they’re playfulness may be the very reason they cannot be ambassadors. A puppy who climbs in your lap and licks at your face is cute. A wolf that does the same is over-bearing and in some cases even dangerous. I watch them develop, hour by hour… I’ve watched their ears raise from floppy to upright. I’ve seen them grow a full pound in only three days. I’ve seen Thunder begin scraping his feet at the ground after urinating, already utilizing the scent glands in his paws. I’ve watched as the puppies decided my bed is their territory, and thus, have decided this is the prime urination area. I’ve seen Thunder and Storm begin sparring, heads and tails raised high, ears clenched tightly together and back on the head, and a stern look of dominance in both of their eyes as one’s head is placed over the other. I’ve seen the first signs of fear as Sugar ran under the desk when the door to the office was abruptly opened. It’s an amazing experience to watch them grow day by day… And I can only imagine what will come in the future.