Wolves for the Win!

A few months ago, as my husband and I were living a life without cable, we would watch this show called Elizabeth Stanton’s Great Big World on one of the public stations (video below). It’s geared toward younger people, mostly kids, and a lot of the Disney television stars come along for the ride, but when one does not have cable, almost anything can be entertaining. One of the episodes that caught our eye was the one about Colorado. It highlighted Pikes Peak and the swings that swerve out over the gorges, but we were pretty fascinated by the Howl With the Wolves segment. Next thing you know, we are living in CO and Rebecca from Love at First Book and I (along with our husbands) are bundled up and heading to the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, CO.

Gorgeous white wolf

The sanctuary was amazing and the wolves are right there in front of you. The tour guide (who did a great job) ensures that the wolves come close enough for some great photographs by tossing meat into the enclosures. There is also an option to go into the enclosures to take photographs with the wolves.

When I think “wolf” this is exactly what I envision

What I didn’t know was that wolves show affection by kissing, just like dogs do, and they are highly offended if a human turns a cheek to them. The woman running the tour told an endearing story about a wolf who was rebuffed and went into the back of the enclosure and wouldn’t come back down. We also saw a big black wolf who is the nephew of one of the Twilight stars (Rebecca and I are pretending it was Jacob), which was a pretty neat brush with royalty.

This one looks just like my Oliver!

As a dog owner, I knew that I would love the wolves because they are related. What I didn’t realize is that wolves are so big and that they are actually much more doglike than I thought (meaning they weren’t at all vicious-looking). One wolf actually wagged his/her tail like a happy dog, which is not a wolflike trait. I recommend this sanctuary to anyone in the area (and if you can’t make it, you can always support the cause by donating or shopping with them).

These red foxes are white because they were genetically altered for their fur, which can make them very sick. As a result of this practice, their mother died not long after giving birth.

To make this post book-related, I took a picture of their wolf library!

 Elizabeth Stanton’s Great Big World