Laughing Wolf

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hate To Tell You LiveScience.Com:

You’re wrong.  Wolves, be it in the wild or in captivity, are just as monogamous as humans.  Some general citations are here and here.  There are some good papers out there as well, but don’t have the right citations readily available. 

LW

Monday, March 03, 2008

The Great Stoned Jenny…

WIth thunderstorms predicted for today, I’m trying something new to help her with her dislike (severe understatement) of loud booms.  So, after talking with her doctor, I hit her with a dose of melatonin (sp?) this morning.  I wrapped the capsule in some cheese, and was amazed when she actually chewed some, clearly cracking the capsule.  She ate it though. 

I would love to know how fast that stuff acts, for a few minutes later I took her out to put her on her (repaired) lead system.  She normally is very good about it, but today got very interested in her treat.  So much so, she went back, and back, and back, and eventually over onto her back (fall down, go boom!).  I did get the lead on her, and gave her the treat, but that was quick—and funny.

LW

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Think I’m Happier Not Knowing

There are days when I honestly believe that I am far better off not knowing what goes on at the lair when I am gone. 

I had to go run a few errands around lunch time, and per usual hooked Jenny up to her lead system before I left.  When I got back, Jenny was on the porch, and then rapidly down to the fence and gate.  Excited.  Extremely excited and talkative, to the point I was concerned she might just figure out she can go over said fence and gate.  My first thought that someone had let her off the lead was dashed when I saw it still clipped to her collar. 

Well, rather, part of it was there.  It looks like she somehow managed to snap what was supposed to be aircraft rated steel cable a couple of feet up.  No signs of gnawing or such, just a good snap that may have been building for some time judging from the coloration. 

Looks like my plans for a quiet afternoon are going to have to be put on hold for a quick trip to the hardware store for repair items…

I knew I shouldn’t have gotten her the home metalworking kit…

LW

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Sending Good Thoughts South

Elisson writes that all is not well with house owner Matata.  Go on over, send your thoughts, and wish them well.  Let that which is right be. 

LW

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A Hard Thing To Do

Time is one of the most precious commodities, and it seems these days the one we have the least of.  I’m trying to do a number of things in my life, and I need time in order to do them.  WIth luck, getting them done may allow me much more time to devote to the fun things.  I can dream.  While it was extremely difficult to do, and I had looked long and hard for ways not to do it, I stepped down as Assistant Volunteer Coordinator at Wolf Park.  I will continue to give what time I can, and do what I can to support the Park, but for the next little bit it is not going to be as much as I would like it to be. 

I also want to state for the record that in my writings here, I do not represent the Park nor do I speak for it in any official capacity.  I speak merely for myself, and myself only. 

Speaking for myself, I hated to step down.  I have enjoyed very much working with Dana, and hope that I may do so again some day.

LW

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Interview With CNN

Yesterday saw me doing a very interesting interview with CNN on DJ the Puppy and Operation Puppy Love.  Interesting because it was done by phone, but the video work was to be done by me.  Me being me, I could not do just the normal-type thing.  So, I talked with Holly out at Wolf Park, then talked with Pat, and then abused my friends by getting Pat, Gale, and Monty (with Dana on call if/as needed) to help do the interview from Wolf Park with the main pack out on the ice of Turtle Lake.  With luck, this will get some nice publicity for Wolf Park and maybe even in time for Winter Wolves. 

The set-up was somewhat surreal to me, and the wolves/location were a bit surreal to the folks at CNN.  I’ve just finished uploading the video files to them, and thought I would share with you a bit of how you prepare for doing something like this.

The hardest part, aside from being able to actually understand the person doing the interview (voice came across as badly overmodulated), was keeping my balance when trying to stand up.  At the end, I was glad for Gale’s help as my knees had become one with the ice—you can actually hear a ripping noise from each on the video.  Huge thanks to Pat, Monty, Gale, and Dana for their help on this.  Some more wolf videos are coming too…

LW

Sunday, January 20, 2008

A Doggy Tale

Jenny is fully recovered from my latest bit of running away (in her opinion) and is now comfortable enough to get rather insistent on my training.  You see, we are having some problems in that regard as I am not picking up fast enough her desires in regards eating.  Nope, it’s not the food that matters, but where I am and what I am doing. 

For the longest time, my just being nearby was good enough.  I could be in the same room, doing anything, and that was great.  Then she began to get more and more specific on where I could be and what I could be doing.  The thought appeared to be that I would reach a point where I would be in a specific pose and hold it while she leisurely consumed her meal.  I fear that she is doomed to a lifetime of disappointment as that just is not going to happen. 

Not that she doesn’t try, and sometimes get very insistent about it.  Sometimes a little too insistent, as happened yesterday morning when she pushed on that front and a couple of others where she wanted me to do what she wanted right then! In fact, she got so adamant that she earned herself the first time-out she’s had in quite a while, and a tone of voice from me that brought out a serious “oh oh” face on her. 

Despite that, I did take her with me to Wolf Park as it was too cold for her to stay out here at home (rather, she seemed to be fine with it but I wasn’t).  I also did not trust her inside alone acting out as she was.  So, I packed up her crate and my cold weather gear and took off.  Wolf Park is closed (except for Howl Nights, please come!), but we did have a private tour and a special guest visit.  Also, we are getting ready for Winter Wolves and Wild Valentines, and I needed to check with a couple of people on some things, so…

Jenny was Miss Noncooperative on a few fronts out there, as she did not appreciate being in her crate part of the time.  I mean, come on, there are new areas to explore, creatures to investigate, and p-mail to read and mark over… That said, I did get to take her on her first perimeter “walk” since I got back.  Well, walk for her Aunt Caity and myself, a mix of trot and run for her.  We were bundled up to the point of having trouble moving, while she was quite happy as she was—which got us some very exasperated looks from Jenny who kept looking back as if saying “Come on, hurry up!  What’s keeping you?” In point of fact, at one point I expected her to start barking like a drill instructor “Move it, Move It, Move IT!”

A very nice, if different, day was capped off with dinner with our special guest.  It was delightful on several levels, not the least of which was her and Dr. Klinghammer getting into tales of various biologists, animal behavoirists, and ethologists they have known and some of the interesting and interesting things these people have done or witnessed.  More than one eybrow was raised in “you have got to be kidding me!” mode on parts.  It had to end all too soon as Howl Night required attention, alas, but we did have some people brave the cold and come on out.  I left before the end, so as to get Jenny on home and my new pepper plant in from the cold.  Monty Sloan gave me a wonderful portrait of Jenny yesterday as my Christmas gift, and one of his peppin pepper plants.  Those are very tiny, bb size, but have a lot of heat and a lot of flavor to them—Monty actually brought some recently to a Mexican restaurant and shared so that we could spice up the food a bit.  Thank you Monty, for all!

Despite the difficulties, I got my real reward in the car, with a puppy who was contentedly leaning against my shoulder, and putting her head into the hollow of my shoulder as we drove home.  Times like that make it easy to forgive and forget the behaviour problems of the day.  She did act out just a little bit when we got home, apparently over my taking several trips to unload the car.  After that, she settled down and was good. 

This morning, she has been very good.  I did just get a “look” from her just know when I went to this entry from AWTM and played the video.  It got a cold, very cold as in zero degrees at 0900 hours, day off to a laughing start.  May your day be as good.

LW

Sunday, December 16, 2007

A Christmas Woof

Well, really a howl, but I wanted to play the title off the James Herriot story “Only One Woof” that if you haven’t read, you should.  Yesterday was the Christmas program for the wolves out at Wolf Park, and thanks to a former intern who is now a volunteer, each and every group of wolves got a “tree.” She (with some help from her Dad) worked out a system if an easy stand that made use of branches trimmed from Christmas trees to create a “tree.” While the Junior Volunteers carried the load for the main pack, the rest of us did up trees for all the wolves in the retirement area and a real tree for the coyotes. 

As things got started at Eastlake (the retirement section), a small group of us pre-positioned the trees at the enclosures so that things could move along.  The wolves love this weather, the visitors, not so much.  When we did this, my favorite wolf Echo (our oldest wolf) indicated her strong interest in the tree via some silent ru-ing and howling.  She is silent, and has been since she came back to us, because of a condition that affects a number of older canids—vocal cord paralysis.  I told her that it was coming, and then moved on to do other things. 

Well, because she can’t really be seen by the public where she is, Echo got her tree last.  I don’t know what caused me to put some extra cheese on the tree (a specific brand of cheese product most often used in dips), but I was glad I did.  I was given the honor of taking in her tree (thank you P!), and when I picked it up, Echo looked at it and me, and howled.  It was more than a ru, it was a howl.  A real, honest-to-goodness reasonably loud howl.  Sound.  Sound from my silent lady. 

Now, Echo is also a picky eater. She still isn’t sure that a lot of things really are food no matter what we and some of the other wolves say.  Yet, she went into the tree with gusto, getting all the cheese product wrapped around limbs and taking it almost before she began to consider the summer sausage and other meats.  She also seemed quite taken with the special little sausage I added, though it took her a while to track it down.  I can say without a doubt that she liked her tree—a lot. 

Me, I got something I never expected:  A Christmas Howl.  What a wonderful gift, from a special and wonderful wolf. 

LW

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Correcting A Mistake

In life, we all make mistakes.  The mark of a Man, male or female, is what one does after the mistake. 

The last few weeks since my return have been stressful, hectic—frenetic even—and demanding.  There is more to come, and to those in Easy Company as well as the 1st of the 4th Marines, your stories are coming.  Suffice it to say that had I known half of what awaited, I would have stayed in Iraq (didn’t want to leave, but that is another post) even had it meant taking a job cleaning out port-a-potties by hand.  I have made mistakes, or have discovered past mistakes, in regards people, places, and things. 

One mistake, made for all the right reasons and with the best of intentions (yes, the road to Hell surely is paved with them), has been corrected. 

Jenny is home. 

LW

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Jenny’s Choice

When I was preparing to go on the embed, the one thing I did not have to worry about was Jenny.  Monty Sloan, the nature photographer, stepped up and offered immediately to keep her.  Most canids seem to regard Monty as a deity, and he can do things to and with them that would get anyone else severely hurt.  Canids fawn over him, and seem to delight in having him work with them—and Jenny had already benefited from his willingness to teach and train.  Alicia, who shares the house with him, was a little less enthusiastic, but I also knew that she liked Jenny and had faith that Jenny would charm her.  It also didn’t hurt that Alicia is not what I would call a slouch when it comes to working with animals either. 

I’m not implying that Jenny was socially inept with other canids; nor do I hint that she needed some work in regards people either—I’m flat out stating it.  I don’t know for sure what life she had before she was tossed out the car, but from watching and studying her body language and behaviors, it was what I would think was lacking.  She is a compulsive kisser-upper, her minding behaviors have interesting gaps, throwing motions make her tuck and cringe, and getting in the car brought about what I will simply term extreme reluctance behaviors. 

Over this last year, primarily with Monty, the social issues with canids and some of the other behaviors (or lack thereof) have been worked.  Using suggestions from Monty and Pat, I worked on other things at home, with some positive results.  One thing I decided early on was to take her in the car just on random errands, so that she would eventually realize that car trips didn’t mean getting tossed out, taken to the vet, or—worse yet from her viewpoint—the groomers (ICK!). 

Jenny did adapt, and got where she loved to do certain things very much.  Despite her previous life and some diffidence in displaying some emotions/behaviors, she also was quite willing to show certain things.  Some of our earliest trips together, especially to the vet and groomers, resulted in her pointedly sitting in the passenger seat with her back to me, positively radiating waves of “I am NOT! happy with you!”

One other area where she didn’t hesitate to show how she felt was when it came to leaving somewhere.  When it came to the vet and groomers, not even reinforced pressure-formed ferroconcrete could stand up to her.  She had a range of behaviors, major and minor, that clearly indicated when she wanted to leave somewhere.  From greeting, to response to the leash, they were clear as if sending up flares.  Once displayed, that was the final word.  I still laugh at the night when I went to pick her up from spending the day out with her boyfriend at Monty’s, and said boyfriend threw himself down in front of the front door in an effort to prevent her leaving (I should mention that Jenny is roughly 35 lbs and Chumley is roughly 125 lbs), and Jenny walked right over him with almost disdain as he had failed to keep the door from opening. 

When I returned from Iraq earlier this week, I had asked Monty if Jenny could stay until the weekend as there were a number of things I needed to do (including rest a bit).  It wasn’t a problem, so we waited.  I knew Jenny had charmed them, and that things were going extremely well on several fronts for her and them. 

I went out yesterday, and went in to see Jenny.  She was happy to see me, but not her usual frantic “"get me out of here” mode.  She loved on me a bit, but not heavily.  Most importantly, she displayed none of her major ready-to-leave behaviors, and only one minor one—and that for a very brief time. 

Yes, dogs can’t really understand questions and such, but I talked anyway.  I told her that the choice was hers, and that it would be respected.  I asked her what she wanted to do in as neutral a voice as I could manage, and after a moment she went and beat up on Chumley.  The humans talked a bit, the dogs visited us and talked amongst themselves.  I watched and observed her body language and behaviors.  The dogs went into Monty’s room, and when Monty left soon after to go do Howl Night at Wolf Park, I too left and left Jenny to her new home.

There, she has two other dogs with whom to play and socialize, and two full-time humans who will love on her and give her attention when she wants and needs it.  That house is also social central for much of the Wolf Park crowd, which means she will have a lot of interaction with other people and other animals (not just canids).  The part of me that loves her and only wants the best for her is happy.  That part knows that I can visit anytime and that she will remain a part of my life.

But I would be lying if I didn’t say that for the rest of me, it hurts. 

LW

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Expressing Displeasure

No, not me—Jenny.  She has some interesting ways about her, including how she displays her displeasure with various things and situations.  Take, for example, how she deals with going to the groomers. 

Not a spa girl is my Jenny.  Much more the tomboy, she does not care for her visits to the groomers.  Things are better now, but at the start taking her to the groomer or the vet (about the same in her mind) resulted in her sitting in the passeger seat with her back very pointededly towards me, with “I am not happy with you” positively radiating from her. 

She hasn’t done that in a while, but I just took her to the groomers and she did manage to let me know by look and by posture that she was not happy with me on that.  She didn’t turn her back, but instead adopted a long suffering posture and some looks that mixed that “I’m not happy with you” look with pitiful/guilt trip looks.  Am hoping the visit with her boyfriend afterwards (thank Ifni she is spayed!) will help get her over her annoyance. 

LW

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Jenny The Chicken Killer

Well, not quite but… A few days ago, Jenny was acting strangely, or at least stranger than normal.  She had gone out to potty upon getting up, and had not wanted to come back in.  I had noticed some debris on her muzzle, but given that she digs, roots, and otherwise is into dirt and mulch, I hadn’t paid much attention to it. 

Then, completely against type, she wanted to go back out.  Not merely asked, but was dancing in a frenzy to get back out.  Being as how I had an armful of laundry at the time, I decided rather than risk an accident if she wasn’t feeling well to just let her out.  Something told me, however, to just drop the laundry as fast as I could and get outside. 

Upon heading out the back door sans laundry, I saw Jenny jumping and darting at something dark that was standing very still.  So much so that I thought it dead, and wondered if she had gotten a particular neighbor’s cat that would not be terribly missed by me—and how to best to quietly dispose of the remains. 

Headed over while mentally rehearsing my best innocent wolf routine, I realized that it wasn’t a cat as the first quick glance had suggested, but was something avian.  A small buzzard?  As I got closer I realized that it was one of the great neighbor’s young roosters.  [Side note:  my immediate neighbors are broken up as the really good/great neighbors, the good neighbors, the junk neighbors (who don’t actually live there, just leave junk in the yard), and the not-good-at-all neighbors.]

Yet closer examination revealed a very much plucked rooster who was terrified, but still had the sense not to move, a pile of black and white feathers hidden by a jog in the fence, and a somewhat frustrated but very focused (and happy/in-her-element) Jenny. 

First things first, I got Jenny back in the house, though she was very reluctant to go in.  Then, I went back to the chicken who screamed when I tried to pick it up, and moved over to the lee of a fence post still screaming.  At that point I decided that the best thing to do was to go get its “mom” as I figured it might just die of a heart attack if I picked it up.  “Mom” came over, grabbed it, and it screamed again—until it realized it was safe and then it just laid its head on her breast and moaned. 

How the young rooster got out of the coop, over their garden fence, and over my yard fence is a mystery.  I could see it clearing one fence, but not all three.  Sad to say, it died a few days later, apparently being picked on by the other chickens.  My neighbor is not upset with myself or Jenny, but —like me—quite curious about how it got over all three fences. 

As for Jenny, well, she was disappointed to loose her prey but had a great time with it while she had it.  She also seems to be developing a taste for chicken…

LW

Monday, July 23, 2007

Wonder

Recently, I’ve been wondering what was going on with Jenny, what was going through her mind.  Was she okay?  You see, she’s been—for her—very clingy, wanting lots of love, assurance, and contact.  The scent of other dogs and wolves on me appeard to make her concerned, agitated even.  Normally that only happens if the scent happens to be that of her boyfriend.  Her health appears good, so, I wondered. 

This weekend, it hit me.  It’s been just about exactly a year since she came into my life.  A year since she was dumped, tossed out of a car.  It is hard to believe that it has been a year—in some ways, it feels like she has always been a part of my life.  I do wonder if somewhere in the twisty and interesting train of thought that is her mind, if she remembers and worries.  Fears that I will discard her as did those who had her before.  Wish there was a clear and easy way to reassure her that she need not worry.  Meantime, I think a few extra scritches and more contact might be good for both of us. 

LW

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Free Ice Cream vs. Wolf Park 35th

Work is busy, but even busier are all of us getting ready for the Wolf Park 35th anniversary and members weekend.  April 20 is Wolf Park Day in Indiana; a free-admission program Friday evening from 6-10 pm at the historic Lafayette Theatre; and, here is a PDF schedule of events for the weekend. 

NOTE:  This is a member’s only weekend, there is no general admission.  Memberships are not expensive and will get you in to a variety of interesting speakers, presentations, demonstrations, and activities.  You can buy one at the door, and come on into the Park. 

Oh, did I mention the charity auction???  Or that the free-admission event on Friday will feature live jazz as well as a howling contest, stories, and more?  Or that we are doing a special wolf-bison demo on Sunday?  Or that people can win a chance to ride in the truck for the wolf-bison demo, to take part in food prep for the wolves, or other special activities? 

That’s it for now, but there are tons of gravel, acres of mowing, and many other things to get done.  Hope to see you there.

LW

Sunday, March 25, 2007

It’s Never What You Expect…

I know that my working with wolves worries some who know me.  In fact, I think it scares the heck out of some relatives and perhaps a few others.  Yet, the first real attack I’ve had doing said work happened yesterday, and it wasn’t a wolf.  It seems I accidentally stepped into a romantic situation, and the female involved was not happy at all.  It seems she had two males entagled with her, so when I walked in and accidentally interrupted things, she struck at me. 

Female garter snakes are large (many times larger than the males), and can be quite pissy when interrupted in the snake equivalent of a menage au trois.  Thankfully I was wearing my wellies and there was no real damage.  In point of fact, snake porn was recorded and an image can be seen on today’s (Sunday) Wolf Park’s Photos of the Day. 

LW

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