a friend of mine regularly visits a wolf rescue in NJ called howling woods farm so i decided to tag along this time (with my sister in tow) to check it out. i have to admit that i was a teeny bit anxious about playing with the wolves, but within the first few minutes we were there my fear had completely dissipated.
we were first excitedly greeted at the fence by 2 of the adoptables that were itching to play with us. once inside the pen, we met the wolves and wolfdogs that live on the property. we quickly witnessed how the animals socialized with each other -- the alpha definitely made it known to the rest of the pack that he was alpha (especially when the largest wolf came around who was even bigger than him!). we learned that the wolves had to warm up to us in a way because we had to appear non-threatening, so we'd just wait patiently until they approached us (not too different from my cats, because when i ignore them it seems like that's when they most want my attention). we also noticed each of their personalities -- one was especially mischievious and liked to "steal" things, in this case, a child's hat; one of them was extremely sociable and craved attention by jumping up on the elevated structures (which again reminded me of my girl cat), so i was instantly drawn to him. most permitted and enjoyed head scratches and belly rubs. they were docile and generally sweet. the only instance i felt a slight shock was when one of the employees had been feeding a couple of the wolves to get them to pose for pictures, so i had lifted my hand to ask to be next, and one of the wolves thought i had food, so i felt my hand go through his mouth. the only way i can describe it is that it felt like when my girl cat nips at me, but doesn't bite. stunned, i stared at my hand, and once thankful it was intact and hadn't even been grazed, i started laughing. i really think that none of these wolves would attack unprovoked. we were told that there has never been a documented case of a healthy wolf attacking and killing a human in north america. after my visit, i believe this to be true.
i also learned that this facility operates as a rescue as opposed to a sanctuary because the mission is to obtain and place adoptable wolfdogs, some of which are pictured below.
i'd really like to visit again someday! it was such a neat experience.
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| adoptables sampson (yes, he has a blue eye and a brown eye!) and sierra? |
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| stealing a hat.. |
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| kotori, my favorite! |
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| bella, an adoptable, part german shepherd |
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| samson, a big bear! |
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