Light northerlies and a lot of cloud from dying fronts cover Berkshire. Conditions at 12z (1PM BST): Thickness, 559dam, temperature 15C (dewpoint 14C). Wind from the north, 10 MPH. Sunday's high, 16C, Saturday night's low 14C (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA).

It's been a while since I last posted one of these diary updates, not least because due to a road accident I've been unable to get to the wolf centre for a few weeks! However I'm now back on the road and set off in the gloom yesterday morning to attend a "handlers day" at the Trust. Handlers days are for the volunteers who along with the wolves are the lifeblood of the centre. It's a great opportunity for those at the top to bring everyone up to date with new rule changes etc, as well as to help with training the handlers.

It was grey, gloomy and drizzly as I arrived in Beenham, to the sound of the wolves howling at the church bells in the village. I didn't have long to wait before other volunteers started to arrive and before long we were all sitting in the Obs Room. Once we'd all been brought up to date with goings on, it was time to head into the enclosure to put some theory into practice work with Duma and Dakota. It provided a chance for those who'd not usually help with "meet & greets" to have a go - and the wolves as ever were perfectly happy to stand and have their bellies rubbed!

Dakota then found an old bone and had great fun chomping it, which lead to an interesting side topic of "what to do if a wolf grabs something".


Dakota with her bone

At the end of the practical session Duma decided to pur on a display of dominating Dakota, something which I'd not seen for some time. Wolves' hormone levels are at their lowest in summer, but as autumn progresses and hormones rise this sort of thing will become increasingly common:


Dakota (on the left) and Duma


Dakota sumbits to Duma

A quick lunch followed, then it was time for something I'd not seen before - a walk in the woods without any members of the public! In the spirit of the day there were more chances to try things and several people had a chance to handle in the woods for the first time. It's completely different to taking the wolves around the fields behind the Trust, needless to say! For my part I'd asked to take a wolf into the lake, something I'd not normally be able to do. My request was granted, but the only snag was that for the first time since I started I didn't have my wellies with me!

Ah well, nothing to do but remove my socks and plunge into the lake, lead by a (very eager) Dakota. The water is pretty putrid, but at least it wasn't cold. It was a fantastic experience though, as everything changes when you're in the water. It was also the first time I'd used a double-length lead and the feeling of having all that space between myself and Dakota was most odd!


Dakota in the lake

Back on dry land I squelched along with Dakota, up a hill and through some ferns. Suddenly I was barged from behind by Duma who'd decided my dripping wet jeans smelt interesting - she rubbed sinuously around me, leading me a merry dance. To make things more interesting, she kept doing it even as I tried to carry on walking... and Dakota was pretty keen on getting going too!

Eventually Duma decided I'd been scent-marked enough and let me head off. Later on I passed over the lead and zipped back to my car to change into the spare trousers and shoes that I'd brought with me, just in case. It was then back to the Trust where preperations were being made for a barbeque.

I'd planned for this eventuality and on Saturday I procured a jar of the finest hotdogs Tesco had to offer - the only ones I could find with no mechanically recovered meat. ( to the thought of mechanically recovered chicken!)

However, these weren't for human consumption. Oh no, these were for Kodiak and Kenai as a special treat! I know those wolves wouldn't have minded cheap old hotdogs, but I'm daft like that - I want nothing but the best for those wolves!

A group of us went down to feed the hotdogs to the wolves, allowing me to take pictures and some video.


Kenai sniffing out a hotdog chunk

Did the wolves enjoy it? Well, watch the video and you'll see for yourself!

http://www.medvale.net/wolves/05-09-11/knk.avi (1:21, 5.2M, DivX format)

I then set off to home after thanking everyone for a great day - I'd really missed seeing the Trust despite it only being three weeks since I was last there. It was hellishly busy on the roads on the way back and it rained for much of the way - I hope the drizzle held off for the barbeque at the farm...

Back to the index