Conditions at 12z: 5C, clear skies, haze. Thickness: 550dam. Sunday's high: 5C, Saturday night's low: -2C (Source data: MetO (chart), NOAA and GFS)

Saturday saw an interesting phenomenon here on Sheppey, with frost persisting all day in the shade. As the sun set further frost formed and the temperature quickly fell below freezing, despite much milder air moving in aloft. By the morning it was misty with temperatures hovering just below freezing - for once I needed to scrape the car!

The journey to Beenham went smoothly, although there was a fair bit of mist and fog around. As I headed along the M25 the variable message signs were warning of the M1 being partly closed due to the oil refinery explosion - unsurprisingly it was the main news item on the radio.

I arrived in a frosty Beenham just after 9 o'clock and as the wolves had been left out on Saturday night I was able to say a quick "hello" to Kodiak and Kenai, who came over to the fence as I was parking. A bit later the others started to arrive and before long I was in the Obs Room, watching the wolves.


Kodiak howling

The main job for the day was unrolling some wire mesh that had been used to protect saplings in the enclosure, but on the way down we all said "hello" to the wolves. They were all as friendly as ever and for the first time in months I was able to get up close to the Euros - and they're pretty big up close.

Interestingly the wolves' fur was cold to the touch, but if you buried your hand in their fur they were lovely and warm underneath. That goes to show just how efficient an insulator fur is, it's far better than the coat I was wearing!

When we arrived by Duma and Dakota's enclosure two of us decided to grab a picture of the wolves sitting on their mound. However, that involved going behind the safety barrier and perhaps unsurprisingly the wolves both galloped over, tails wagging, to greet us. After a couple of minutes they wandered back to the mound and I was able to get the picture I wanted:


Duma and Dakota on the mound

The job of unrolling the wire mesh turned out to be much more fun than I thought it would, involving much frantic rolling and jumping to flatten the mesh. All too soon it was time to head back to the Obs Room for the safety briefing ahead of the members walk.

This time there was something new for me, as I was asked to help bring the wolves in to the trailer. That involved catching the wolves (not a problem as they came straight up to the gate) and putting on their collars. That was more problematic as they have to go on the right way and when you've got a couple of friendly wolves prodding and rubbing up against you it's quite hard to slide the collar over their head!

It only took a minute or two though and the wolves were lead into their trailer, then two of us set off to greet the members in the woods (and ask them to move their cars as people always park where they shouldn't).

The woods themselves were fantastic, with mist and plentiful ice.


Preparing for a "meet and greet" by the lake

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves out in the woods, including the wolves! It's interesting that they don't tend to walk on the ice much; they seem to prefer walking over mud instead. When the wolves went for their swim Dakota chomped some bits of ice, although Duma refrained from such antics. The lake itself looked really appealing...


The lake in Pennsylvania Woods

With the sun low in the sky we all headed back to do the usual things, serving refreshments, chatting to the guests and selling merchandise. Once the public had gone there was time for a relaxing chat and some drinks, before I decided to call it a day and head for home.

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