How to STRETCH – in Six Simple Steps
The Proper Way to STRETCH
Riley stretches
On May 15, for a 24-hour period, The Seattle Foundation is hosting the 3rd annual GiveBig Campaign for participating nonprofit organizations. People from AROUND the world can make a donation to the listed charity of their choice anytime between midnight and midnight of that special date AND The Seattle Foundation will “stretch” all donations. Although not a dollar-for-dollar match, the stretch increases the total amount of money that each nonprofit will receive at the end of the day. The percentage depends on the size of the stretch pool and how much is raised in total donations.
Here’s WHAT YOU CAN DO to Help Wolf Haven International and STRETCH those dollars!
Easy, how-to instructions
- First of all, SHARE these instructions with your family and friends.
- Set a calendar reminder (make sure it’s audible!) on your smart phone and other electronic devices with the following information: May 15, midnight (12 a.m.) – 11:59 p.m., GiveBIG.
- When the alarm goes off & your reminder pops up on May 15, immediately go to www.seattlefoundation.org/GivingCenter/GiveBIG
- Enter “Wolf Haven” in the search bar
- Select “Donate Now” & complete donation form (make sure Wolf Haven International) is your designated recipient.
- Brag about your generosity on Facebook and Twitter: “I just gave to Wolf Haven International through The Seattle Foundation GiveBig campaign. How about you?”
THAT’S IT! You have now properly completed a healthy stretch – which will benefit not only you (don’t you feel good about yourself?) but especially a nonprofit organization that you care deeply about – Wolf Haven International.
Wolf Haven needs your support year-round and we are always grateful for it – whenever it occurs! But for one special day – MAY 15 – your gift can magically GROW. All you have to do is GIVE via the Giving Center on The Seattle Foundation’s website on MAY 15.
Thank you in advance for your generosity and FLEXIBILITY.
Now set your reminders to STRETCH on MAY 15!
Happy Birthday to Shadow!
Uma P. with her drawing of Shadow.
This lovely drawing of Shadow and Juno in their sanctuary enclosure was drawn by a young lady named Uma P., in honor of Shadow’s 3rd birthday. Uma & her mom visited Wolf Haven International to see the young wolf that she adopted at Christmas time.
See Sweetgrass documentary – sheepherding in American West
Join Wolf Haven International for a special screening of Sweetgrass at Evergreen State College followed by a discussion on wolf recovery and agriculture in the Pacific Northwest and abroad. This breath-taking documentary follows the last of the American west cowboys as they lead herds of sheep into the mountains of Montana. The discussion following the film will be led by the Evergreen Conservation Club and the Evergreen Animal Agriculture Club.
Wolf Haven International Screening & Discussion of Sweetgrass
Evergreen State College
Free Showing
April 12, 2013 at 4:30pm
2700 Evergreen Parkway NW
Olympia, WA 98505
This event is a collaboration with the award-winning documentary series POV.
“With eloquence and splendor, “Sweetgrass” is a singular record of all there is to love and hate.”
Slate review of the movie Sweetgrass.
Feeding the Wolves at Wolf Haven
Lonnie with salmon
Our Wolf Feeding Schedule
At Wolf Haven International, we have traditionally maintained a feeding schedule for the wolves that mimics a wild setting as much as possible. This means adjusting their diet to simulate a “feast or famine” style of eating. (In the wild, wolves generally succeed in hunting one out of ten times.) We accomplished this by maintaining our animals on a bi-weekly feeding schedule (with treats in-between).
We recently began modifying our feeding schedule. Rather than two regular feedings (as in the past), we now focus simply on 20 pounds of meat per wolf/per week. The number of feedings (usually 2-3) and the amount per feeding varies depending on what food we have available. The primary food sources are beef, chicken, and salmon. The salmon is donated to us from World Famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. The wolves’ diet is still supplemented with marrow bones and turkey necks. In addition, we now get donated meat through our participation in the Sustainable Selections Program (meat donations from WalMart). This includes steaks, roast, ground beef, and other human grade food. This meat is usually divided up and frozen into a ‘loaf’ for each wolf.
Feeding Species Survival Plan (SSP) Wolves
Kibble feeder made from cedar wood.
Keep in mind the SSP animals (red wolves and Mexican gray wolves) are on a different diet: The SSP animals are fed kibble, with approved supplements (mainly roadkill). The reason the SSP animals are fed kibble is so ALL the facilities in the programs can maintain on the same diet. This removes the need for animals to get re-adjusted to a diet at a new facility if they get transferred. It also prevents potential pre-release animals from developing a taste for farm or ranch animals.
Erik Wilber, Animal Care Specialist
brotherly love
Siblings Myta and Chai
Chai, one of our female San Bernardino wolves, was transported to the vet on Tuesday for surgery. Chai, who will be 10 this month, has remained intact since her arrival in 2000. She is housed with her brother, Myta Jr., who is altered, so there was no risk of pups. However, the last couple of years, she has been having very severe false pregnancies, with symptoms persisting into August. We decided to do a complete spay so that she would not have to endure another season.
While Chai was at the vet, Myta received a portion of his regular meal, since Tuesday is a normal feeding day for the wolves. When Chai returned, she was not ready to go out so she spent some time recovering in her crate until she had burned through the anesthetic drugs.
By around six that evening she was ready to go; we transported her into her enclosure and opened the gate of the crate and backed off, allowing her to come out on her own time.
Myta Jr. just watched her from a distance, slowly walking back and forth, whining. As soon as Chai exited her crate, he took off running. We thought maybe he was going to run over and greet her but instead he ran to his meat pile. “oh… how sweet,” we thought. “he’s going to offer her a piece of his meat.” but instead he proceeded to scarf it down as fast as he could.
Cienega pack
Mexican wolf pups
The first pack of Mexican gray wolves that were transferred from Wolf Haven for release into the wild was the Hawk’s Nest pack, in 1998. Two year’s later, on March 12, 2000, a second group of endangered Mexican wolves, the Cienega pack, left Wolf Haven for Seattle, WA, and then flown to AZ. Once there, the pack was transported to the heart of the Apache National Forest.
The group was placed in a soft wire mesh acclimation pen in the hopes that they would spend some time acclimating and subsequently localizing in the area once released. However, the pack had other ideas. Within 45 minutes, they chewed through the mesh and all but one male pup (m620) self –released and left the pen. By March 14th, the pup ventured from the pen and reunited with his family and together, they roamed the wilds of their new home.
A Book Review of "Part Wild" by Ceiridwen Terrill
Part Wild is the real life story of Ceiridwen Terrill and her part wild wolf dog named Inyo. Terrill tells a deeply honest truth about living with an animal that is neither wild nor tame. Her need for safety and protection drove her to seek out a wolf dog but the result was that she spent her time saving and protecting Inyo. Terrill shares their, all too common, story with amazing detail that honors the life of this extraordinary wolfdog.
Ceiridwen Terrill is an environmental journalist and science writer which is apparent throughout the book. She incorporates scientific facts about wolves, dogs and wolf dogs. She breaks apart myths that even she believed until her experiences with Inyo. She not only tells us that wolves and dogs are different from a scientific perspective, but shows us how through her personal experiences. This makes Part Wild unique in that it is grounded in fact and experience thus making it an enjoyable and educational read.
This book is important for anyone with an interest in wolves, dogs and wolf dogs to read. It is especially important for those who think that wolf dog ownership is a good idea. While a few people claim to have had positive experiences raising wolf dogs this book makes it clear that those experiences are extremely rare. This book proves that even the most well intentioned people that are willing to turn their lives upside down, including living on the verge of homelessness as Terrill did, may not be able to save the life of those caught in between worlds. Read more about Part Wild.
Posturing
Mexican wolf brothers M1066 (left) and M1135 (right)
Today while doing the walk through I observed some posturing between our 3 sibling male Mexican gray wolves. The brothers, who are housed together, were born here at Wolf Haven (2 were born in 2007 and the other in 2008) . While the boys lived with their parents and female siblings for several years, they have been living alone as bachelors since 2010.
Fortunately they had the benefit of being parent reared and as such, learned appropriate behavior. We would often observe (via remote camera) the parents chastising the pups when they got out of line and because they were a multigenerational group, they had lots of siblings (8) to not only play with, but to practice ritualized fighting with as well, subsequently developing good social skills.
Even though the parents are the ones in charge, there is a linear hierarchy that exists within the group that is not only age graded, but sex graded as well- meaning that the males and females work out their own chain of command and rarely do dominance disputes cross gender lines. Very early on the 3 boys established a hierarchy among themselves and it has remained pretty stable up until recently. Even when they moved into their own enclosure, away from their sire, the male who had been in charge (M1066) retained the dominant role. However, the youngest of the 3, M1135 has started to test the waters this season and it appears that there may be a shift in dynamics. This is not uncommon, particularly in a disrupted pack. For although the alpha pair’s (or parents’) leadership will stay stable, the rest of the group’s dynamics are in flux. Things like dispersal, injury, or attrition can lead to an opportunity for a lower ranking animal to move up in status. In the case of captive wolves, something as seemingly benign as a move from one enclosure to another can prompt a shift.
So far, our 3 bachelors have lived a pretty peaceful coexistence. During breeding season we saw them periodically get a little testy with one another but usually it presented in raised tails and/or hackles. There were never any actual physical confrontations (that we observed). Same sex groupings, particularly males, seem to get along pretty well together – of course, all bets would be off if we were to introduce a female into the fray- and our boys are no exception.
Breeding season has come and gone, so naturally we would expect to see less posturing. However, today as I rounded the corner to their enclosure, I observed M1135 facing off with M1066-his tail and hackles were raised, his face was set in an agonistic pucker as he emitted a low growl. M1066 had his head turned away in avoidance, which is a submissive behavior, but the rest of his body language sent a different message. His tail and hackles were also raised and his body was rigid, indicating that he wasn’t quite ready to submit. However, his brother body slammed him and M1066 tucked his tail and turned away, redirecting towards the other brother, M1067, who is the lowest ranking of the 3.
There is never a dull moment when you work with animals (especially wolves) and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Stay tuned….