Spring - Wolf Park

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Spring came again, and with it promises of new dens and invisible puppies.
This spring Devon and Ember created a new earthworks on the site of last
year’s new den — right under the 200-pound slate slabs put in place to prevent
such an occurrence. They nestled in among the rocks underneath the slabs
and looked smug. Andrew came along, lifted the slabs, put down a layer of
hardware cloth, and replaced the dirt and the slabs. The foxes returned and
dug futilely under the now-reinforced slabs. We humans said “Neener neener”.
“Phantom puppies” sometimes occur in female animals who do not have
puppies yet are being signaled, by photoperiod, temperature, and other stimuli,
that they should have puppies. Devon and Ember had phantom puppies last
year and are repeating that experience this year, with Ember trying to carry
Devon around by the scruff of the neck, and poor Corey walking around trying to
figure out which vixen to provision.
Corey began shedding early this year, his winter coat falling out in huge
fuzzy clumps. He was very naked by the time Basil started losing the
occasional bit of soft white fluff. As of this writing, neither of the girls has begun
to shed. They are hanging out in the shade, waiting for their coats to get thin so
they will be cool again. Since the back den has flooded, Ember is hiding out in
the Fox Fallout Shelter, occasionally emerging to beg food from Corey and try to
mother Devon, who tries to mother Ember in return.
Devon’s Weird Leg Owies (which appear to be hot spots of some sort) have
returned this year in the form of one Leg Owie which was quickly squelched by
the prompt action of Andrew, who administered bubble-gum flavored Clavomox
(in peanut butter!) as well as a steroid shot. (Devon was the only fox who did
not like the bubble gum taste. Ember, Basil and even Corey nearly attacked
Andrew trying to get some of the tasty “treat”.)
Basil was very interested in the installation of the bridge, which went on right
next to the fox enclosure. Baz is proud to be the first fox — or any other Park
animal — to have crossed the bridge (on leash and under supervision). He
hopped onto it and crossed fearlessly, dragging his handler behind him.
Devon also went on a
walk this spring, her first in
several months. She ran
around loudly professing
that she’d rather be back in
the enclosure, so vigorously
that we took her home.
(Fox walks are supposed to
be treats for foxes, not
punishments.) We are
working on ways to make
walks more pleasant for
her, so that she can enjoy
Ember (left) and Devon argue over
possession of a bunny.
Photo by Monty Sloan
going out and being allowed
to explore.
With apologies to Michael Strong, and his poem about
Hiawatha’s Mittens, we present a short excerpt from The
Feeding of Marion:
(
She, to get at the meat side, inside,
had to turn the skin side outside,
Had to turn the fur side inside,
Peeling the hide back from the outside,
Till the outside all was inside
In a sort of furry tube.
Pat’s Poetry Corner is neither permanent nor light-fast and will not mark on
concrete, foam or organic matter. It has no known effect on hedgehogs.
Please contact your local Poetry Control Center if Pat’s Poetry Corner
begins to steam, smoke or emit hallucinogens.
Wolf Park News Summer 2002
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DENEB still has a little fat around her ribs — yay, Deneb! Our little “aerobics
instructor” has started keeping on a little weight, which is good for the oldest wolf
at the Park. (Don’t tell her, though — she feels she must maintain her girlish
figure and will continue her weight-loss-through-fence-fighting program with
more vigor.) Deneb has started asking for tummy-rubs during cleanup, and
enjoys having staff member Gale Motter “somersault” her head over heels
before administering a (purely medicinal!) all-over body rub.
URSA and Andrew continue to make friends via the bliss-inducing influence of
Andrew’s fingers, which we may have to bottle and sell. She, too, enters spring
in good weight and health. She has manifested one unusual phenomenon,
though — her howl seems to have gone on vacation. During Park-wide chorus
howls she gamely tilts her head back and opens her mouth, emitting a soft
breathy noise with no tone. (It’s not a health problem...many old dogs “lose their
voice” with age too.) Fortunately we love her anyway.
On Members’ Weekend we moved ORCA to a larger enclosure to see how he’d
do. He was across the corridor from Chance and Jacona, O. J. Volkman’s arctic
wolves, who were making a guest appearance. After a day, Orca clearly wanted
out of his enclosure so Monty shifted him to a holding pen. Next morning Orca
had let himself out of the holding pen and had had a “hose party.” Pieces of
hose, converted into short “party favors”, lay strewn about. (At some point in the
glees and frivolities a segment must have been moved within reach of Apollo,
Karin and Alyeska. We found it in their enclosure where they had converted it to
many “favors.”) Orca was returned without incident, and gates were reinforced.
The Pillow Pack continues to be a model of peace, tranquility, and splash-tanktipping.
ALYESKA has decided to surprise us all and not only approach, but
actually schmooze with, several of his own sponsors during and around
Members’ Weekend. APOLLO was locked up for that, due to his propensity for
patting people very hard on the head and growling at them. He and KARIN form
quite the happy couple, with lots of parallel-walking and wagging, and lots of
amicable grumbly noises and squeaks. Both have been quite tolerant of Al.
KIRI and SOCRATES enjoyed watching the bridge being put in place. Even the
bison came and watched. Both brothers seem so fascinated by large machinery
that we have joked for years that they would like to learn to drive and then
“borrow” our neighbor’s backhoe for cross country exploration. In addition to
machinery, they enjoyed watching the bison. When one of the cement trucks
got mired and spun its wheels in attempts at extrication, Pseudospike the bison
(who has spikes (horns) but is not the original Spike) started shaking his head
and threatening the equipment. Possibly the mud thrown by the spinning tires
was enough like the dirt tossed by bison bulls as part of their threat displays to
make our top bull think he was being challenged.
CHANI and SIERRA test the waters each cleanup day by wandering a little
closer to the intruding humans, but for now are content to schmooze mostly with
familiar staff members. They gracefully turned 13 this spring. They have gotten
out on several walks and continue to behave adorably, resembling elderly, giggly
aunties, having a great time “out on the town”. They remain each other’s oldest
and dearest friends, and continue to find time to flirt with neighbors Kiri and
Socrates (who would be much too rough on the little girlies for us to ever
consider putting them together).
WILD BILL has continued to look lithe and handsome and not at all like an end
table. We hope to keep his weight low to keep stress off his aging joints. (Bill is
the oldest canine at the Park now
at fifteen years of age.) He joins in
like a trouper on Howl Nights and is
still most willing to “run his siren”
and let others know he is still top
‘yote. He remains genial with
visitors but is still a curious and
investigative ‘yote. He has
expressed occasional interest in
“collectibles”, such as shoestrings
and dangly bits of clothing. (And,
like all our animals, he still wants to
own his very own 35 mm camera.)
Kiri glances over his shoulder. Photo by Monty Sloan