12z today - A ridge is toppling SE'wards to our west, with low pressure over the North Sea bringing northerlies or NNW'lies for most of the UK. The cold front has cleared the UK, but the occluded front is bringing plenty of rain for much of England. Conditions at 12PM on Sunday: Thickness, 532dam, temperature 6C (dewpoint 3C). Wind from the north-northwest, 12 MPH. Today's high, 6C, last night's low 4C. (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA).

Today was the last weekend of Autumn and the weather was seasonal for once! It was chucking it down as I left Leysdown in the gloom, with the temperature at 9C. The rain was due to a cold front and as expected temperatures fell as I forged westwards, falling to 6C by 9 o'clock as I pulled up at the Trust.

John Denness (a senior who's in charge of wolf welfare and safety amongst other bits) was there, making a pleasant change from finding a locked gate. We walked down to Kodiak and Kenai's enclosure, as they'd yet to be let out - Kodiak bounded out without so much as a second glance, but Kenai was much more coy. Her white muzzle poked out from the kennel, then she went back in. She repeated this a couple more times before dragging out almost an entire paunch (sheep's stomach). She then went back in for more, emerging with a meaty bone and this time she decided to take it with her into the enclosure.
Kenai loves her food, as she had digestive problems as a pup - something which she still seems to remember even today!

I then went to see Duma and Dakota, but typically they wouldn't stand still and I ended up with a variety of photos of wolf anatomy, a leg here, half a head here - not really worth putting online!

On the way back past the Euros I heard Duma and Dakota howl, then while Latea and I were eyeing each other up she started to join in the howling. I had my trusty Psion to hand and promptly recorded it:

http://www.medvale.net/wolves/04-11-28/lateahowl.wav

Bear in mind that being two feet away from a wolf when they howl is loud - and that's more than reflected in the sound clip. Duma and Dakota are heard howling in the background, with a higher pitched howl. Latea's howl is deeper as she's an omega - higher pitched howls carry further.

Here she is, a picture snapped as she was howling:

Latea, a couple of feet away from the camera.

Kenai wasn't the only wolf to have decided a take-away meal was a good option - Lunca took part of a deer with her into the enclosure and this picture shows her gnawing on it a bit later:

Cleaning today didn't take too long - the European wolves hadn't made much of a mess although there was a fair bit of soggy straw that needed to be removed. All the while it was drizzling, but despite temperatures persisting around 6C it didn't actually feel that cold - at least not to me!

After that it was back to the Obs Room and while I was fiddling around on the PC the European wolves started howling again:

However, there were a few "yips" involved so I grabbed the Psion and darted outside. My efforts were rewarded with a fair few half-barks, snarls and growls as the wolves rallied - a joyous occasion for the pack who chase each other around, tails wagging like mad.

Here's a sound clip - not as loud as the other one though!

http://www.medvale.net/wolves/04-11-28/rally3.wav

As noon approached it was time to head into the woods, via that level crossing that was in the news a few weeks back. Some of the trees still have their leaves, but it won't be long before they're bare now....

The road through the woods - the wolf paraphernalia is out of shot behind me.

After a stint on car-watch duty I zoomed through the woods, which were just as soggy as before. The wolves took their usual dip in the water - here's Dakota just after she'd been in the water, having a sniff at something:

Of course, the woods are full of fascinating smells for the wolves, not least those of dogs. Duma here may be a bit soggy but she's enjoying following a scent trail:

Talking of which, the wolves scent mark a fair bit. The unusual thing was that I saw Dakota doing a raised-leg urination (as in the typical dog thing). It's usually the alpha female that pees that way, wheras the others just squat. In theory it's Duma who's the dominant one of the pair, but as ever with wolves it's obviously not quite that straightforward....

The skies opened back at the Trust, as a bent-back occlusion dumped its load of rain on Beenham. Just a couple of degrees colder and it would have been snow, but as it was it was just cold rain! The trainee handlers were then taken around the fields with Duma and Dakota and this time I was lead around by Dakota. She kept up a fair pace for much of the time, although there were quite a few stops as she stared at the European wolves. It felt pretty cool out there, with a gusty NNW'ly wind, light rain and temperatures around 5C - I've heard that holding those chain leads is a real pain (literally) when it gets a bit colder!

After circling the fields it was back to the Obs Room for a quick drink then in the gathering gloom I set off for home - another fantastic day with the folks at the Trust and (of course) the wolves.

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