I've had this on the backburner for a while, but seeing a couple of posts about the wolves on TheWeatherOutlook spurred me on! So, four months after the last installment, here's another edition of "Wolves and Weather".

Last year was a baking hot summer - not ideal for wolves! Indeed, my abiding memory is of seeing the wolves panting away like steam engines, seeking the shelter of the shade and generally looking hot and bothered. Wolves are pretty quiet during the heat of the day anyway, but last year they  were especially so. Of course, we had the pups so it wasn't quiet all around!

 
Duma, late September 2007

Fast forward a year and we've had a wet summer with temperatures close to average. The wolves were much more active generally, no longer constrained by searing temperatures and strong sunshine. Indeed, the difference was quite startling, as the wolves were quite happy to come up to the fence to say "hello" during the hottest part of the day.  

We did have some hot weather in August though and indeed I was at the Trust at the peak of the heat. Then, and only then, it reminded me very much of last year - the wolves sought the shade.

Kodiak sheltering on a hot August day

Kodiak himself is now well into his 13th year, a grand old age for a wolf. As with last year, he's been troubled by flies recently but we've been keeping him covered in gunk which seems to be working so far - we certainly don't want him getting flystrike!

Duma's now nine years old and in fine fettle. Her tail belies her age though, as she's growing quite a few grey hairs there! On the other hand, Dakota has been diagnosed with cancer. My old adopted wolf Kenai had a cancerous lump around her neck and eventually succumbed last June, thus it was a real blow to learn Dakota's got a cancerous growth near her neck too. Dakota and Kenai shared the same parents and although it's deeply unscientific I can't help but wonder whether it's a genetic trait. Bearing in mind Dakota's age (she's also 9), it's been decided that chemotherapy would be too much of a stress, so she's been given steroids and a plethora of other medication. For the time being she's still the same perky old wolf as ever, albeit not quite as mischievous as I remembered.

Dakota on the prowl, September 2007 

Dakota's been semi-retired now, but she's still keen to come on walks. Indeed, if she makes it clear she wants to come out (by rattling at the gate when Duma's being collared) then she'll generally be allowed out - as a socialised wolf she still gets a great deal of enjoyment from it all.

For the times when Dakota's not feeling so perky, we've introduced Torak (our young male wolf) to Duma. Initially he attempted to play with her, then to dominate her - but as a wise old wolf she soon put paid to that. The two of them seem to get on well and provide a good alternative to the well known D&D combination. It's likely eventually Duma and Torak will be in an enclosure together, as it's not fair to keep a wolf on their own.

Torak, late September (17 months old). He's fully-grown now but not yet in his winter coat.

Torak himself is just about to become fully mature. He's a humungous but shy wolf, capable of being very affectionate with those he likes. Of course, being a male with hormones raging he's starting to "test" us handlers, meaning we have to be on guard. For example, just a couple of weeks ago, I was "tested" upon entering the enclosure. It went something like this...

* Torak came up to me, tail wagging and tongue lolling.

* He then grabbed my arm in his jaws, something a wolf will do if they're being especially friendly.

* He let go briefly, then grabbed me again, a bit harder this time. Meanwhile, Mosii came up and grabbed my other arm gently. This was the start of the "test".

* I growled at him and pushed him away, which caused him to become excited. He dropped to the ground, then bounded up and grabbed onto my arm again, a bit harder again. His tail was wagging, but not in quite the same way as before.

* I extricated my other arm from Mosi's jaws (as she'd joined in), then removed my left arm from Torak's mouth, pushing him to the ground while growling loudly. That set both Mosi and Mai off, who jumped up - and while I pushed them down, Torak bounced up again.

* I then pushed Torak down a final time, pushed Mosi and Mai out of the way and walked off.

That was the end of the "test" and thereafter they were their usual friendly selves. I had a couple of light scrape marks on my arm but they faded within a couple of hours. Despite having wolves' jaws clamped on my bare arms they were still surprisingly gentle.

I've been "bounced" by Mosi and Mai once more since then, but with a similar outcome: it's vital to let them know that no, you won't tolerate any nonsense. Nip it in the bud, when the testing starts, and you should be okay. Treat it as amusing or cute, take too long to push them down and  it'll be quite different: the wolves may wander off in the same manner afterwards, but you won't have their respect.

Mai, looking especially ferocious! 

Something else I've been keen to keep up is the idea of fruit as treats for the youngsters. As I found out yesterday at our seminar, D&D really don't care for fruit (there was a windfall apple in the cage). I daresay it'd be the same for the Euros. But because I'd introduced the youngsters to apples and oranges at an early age, they seem quite keen on them - as playthings, if nothing else. They love the smell of oranges and they seem to like the texture of apples: indeed, European wolves have been known to scoff apples in Italian orchards before now!

Mosi gets her teeth into an apple.

Last week I found out that they like pears, too, after bringing some in from the pear tree in our back garden. Torak's especially funny with fruit - he's worked out that we'll peel it / chop it up for him if he waits long enough. While picking up an apple, wiping it clean, biting off a chunk and offering it to a wolf may seem odd, Torak seems to enjoy it! Thanks to Torak's finnicky nature, he won't accept fruit from just anyone - if he's wary of you then he won't touch it. I've been trying to stay on Torak's good side though and yesterday at the seminar he sidled up to me and asked for a scratch, much to my delight.

With regards to handling, the youngsters are in a class of their own. D&D plod along sedately generally, the Euros are livlier but as I'm not a Euro handler I've not experienced it firsthand. Mosi and Mai, on the other hand, can pull like a frieght train.  And as for Torak - well, he's immensely strong, exerting an enormous pull without even trying. It's clear that before many more months are out there'll be a limited number of people who can physically handle him, he's that strong!

Duma investigates an area where picnicers were eating sandwiches a few minutes beforehand...

Life at the Trust continues much as ever. We still take the wolves out to shows (largely D&D but in recent months the youngsters have been getting more outings). There are still the wonderful woodland walks and now I'm a full handler I'm able to join in with the meet and greets - it's amazing how many times people will pat the wolf on the back as they're leaving, despite being told not to numerous times beforehand! Yesterday was the Trust's annual seminar, where we had speakers talking about reintroductions in general. Much to my delight, one of the speakers came from the hallowed International Wolf Centre in Minnesota, which is like Mecca to me! Even now, I still yearn for the unspoilt forests and lakes of northern Minnesota, it's an absolutely stunning place. The talk was about the red wolf, which (unusually) saw the last remaining specimens taken into captivity for a breeding programme.

I was chuffed to use my shiny new laptop to play the presentation and accompanying DVD, so it was sod's law that the wretched thing juddered to a halt after a few seconds. Thankfully I restarted it and it worked fine, just as well as it would have been very embarrasing otherwise!

"What are you looking at?!" - Mosi

Going back to weather, there was one unusual event in July - floods! Much to my surprise, I drove along the small road towards Beenham to be greeted by a gushing river where there was normally a road. After watching a Volvo plough through it I decided to try my luck, went into 1st gear and to my relief passed through unscathed. I'd never seen a real-life flood until then and it brought it home to me just how awkward they are - a few inches deeper and I'd have been in trouble! A couple of the other volunteers at the Trust were unfortunately affected in a worse way, suffering flooding at home.

Spending quality time with the youngsters, September 2007

The photo above says it all. After a few years I'm still as hooked as ever with the Trust, where else could you see the above? After doing the cleaning and maintenance, we all went in with the youngsters and had a pleasant relaxing chat, with the wolves milling around. Note that we're in the secondary enclosure, the main area is to the left.

And although it's wonderful to spend time with the wolves, it's also important not to lose sight of the main objective of the Trust: in the past year we've raised over £25,000 to help keep wolves in the wild across Europe. With luck, we'll be able to raise even more in the next year - and doubtless have fun doing it too!