A Day To Remember

Today, I was kissed by a wolf named Tien. We visited the Shy Wolf Sanctuary in Naples. The owners rescue as many pure wolves and wolf dog crosses as they have room for. They spend weeks, months and sometimes years undoing the harm, both physical and psychological, to these magnificent creatures. Most of the time, they succeed and the animal can be adopted by people who wish to provide the right kind of loving and care. Sometimes, the animal cannot be returned to a state of grace and will live out it’s entire remaining life in their loving and capable hands. Our guide, Mark, one of the many volunteers who care for the animals, took us from enclosure to enclosure and explained about each of the animals. The sanctuary marks each enclosure with a grading system, level one through four, which tells the volunteers who may enter or who should be wary. For instance, some of the enclosures, level one, are completely off limits to visitors and most of the staff because the animal inside may be dangerous. Some of the wolves have been abused by men and this information is noted on the doors as well. We were allowed to enter most of the Level Four enclosures with our guide after we filled out a liability waiver. We were warned to remove hats, earrings, handbags and other items because some of the animals have developed attachments to these items and delight in snatching them from unsuspecting visitors. One of the wolf dogs has even been known to nip people on the backsides as they leave his enclosure. It doesn’t matter how much “wolf” is in the animal for each of them carry their own baggage. In fact, the animal to be most cautious around was more dog than wolf. The sanctuary does not charge an admission fee and is completely dependant on donations. There is good news for the Sanctuary. The owners have recently purchased a much larger piece of land and, in time, will be able to not only increase the number of rescued animals but will also be able to provide even more room for these beautiful creatures to roam than they have now. If you find yourself on the gulf coast of Florida, I urge you to give them a call. Please check out their website for more information about the work they do and the animals which also includes 4 panthers, a couple of arctic foxes, a half dozen prairie dogs and a handful of tortoises. Here’s the link http://www.shywolfsanctuary.com