It’s a Wolf!

Next part of journey…………

It rained all day, so we decided it was a good day to travel after the Mountain Trams. We wanted to see the Wolf Sanctuary, so headed North East towards Ely. Apparently a massive fire (98,000 acres) had closed the Highway two days previously. We had to detour several times as side roads closed. Made it into Ely where we ordered pizza and found a camp ground for the night called Falls Lake. Quite an interesting system of booking in and paying. Ate pizza and watched a movie. We went off to the International Wolf Sanctuary the next morning. (You’ll notice we spell “gray” like this instead of “grey” because it is spelt with an “a” in America).  This is where my family take over writing the blog…………… Enjoy. Cath

The following is written by Trev.

Finding wildlife in America hasn’t been that fruitful. We’ve seen plenty of birds, squirrels and chipmunks, but spotting a bear, wolf or moose has been a non-event.

The kids thought this would be a good place for the "Admissions" sticker.

RV has served us well, but in need of a good clean.

We have been looking though! The evidence is in our RV. It is caked in mud and dust from taking off road tracks through mountain forests in the hope of coming across these elusive animals. We travelled up into the mountains in the wild Northern parts of Minnesota where the last of the remaining Gray Timber Wolves were holding out back in the late 1960’s (now reintroduced in other states of America and increasing in numbers). Black Bear and Moose were also well established in this area.

Flynn waiting for the Wolves to appear.

International Wolf Sanctuary in Ely, Minnesota

Running with Wolves

In our desperation we even trecked up into an area where there was a raging forest fire, only to be turned back due to road closures.

Last week our hunt for a sighting lured us up a winding dirt forest road in Wisconsin that was more suited for 4 wheeled motorbikes than a car, let alone a thirty one foot RV. We were unable to turn around, so we just plodded on, ending up at a beautiful little lake in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by little mountain cabins and thick forest, but no large animals. Although we all thought that we spotted a beaver’s dam in the river!

So after days of searching we decided to head towards the mountain town of Ely where there was The International Wolf Centre.

Listening to a talk and handling artefacts

Chayse, Amber and Kit with wolf tails in the Wolf Den

The Wolf Centre was all about education. They had a bunch of wolves in a huge forest enclosure. The problem was that it was a cold, rainy day and the wolves were hiding in their caves and weren’t going to show themselves for neither love nor money. So we listened to the talks, viewed the documentaries, studied all the fantastic exhibits and the kids checked out all the interactive activities.

Comparing wolf skull to domestic dogs' skulls.

Wolves killing and eating their prey exhibit

Wolf Behaviour in the Wild

Oh look!....A Little Wolf!

We learnt a lot about these feared creatures. You’ll have to read Amber’s blog post to find out what we learnt. Here are a few facts to add…

There are only two species of wolf. The Gray Wolf and the Red Wolf. Wolves almost became extinct in the USA due to hunting. A wolf can crack open a moose leg bone with its teeth. Loggerhead turtle numbers increased when they reintroduced wolves. Why? The wolves ate the racoons who love roaming the beaches digging up turtle eggs!

One of the wolves coming out of her den.

Both wolves are out now. The glass is where the people are watching.

We’d been at the centre for over two hours and were getting organized to leave when we noticed some excitement going on near the wolf enclosure. Our wolves had decided to show themselves! … and they were beautiful!

What a perfect ending to a very interesting day.

What a majestic looking creature.

Two of the Wolves together.

The following is a Report on Gray Wolves. It was written by Amber after she researched her information at the Centre and from books.

Grey wolves come again

A Grey wolf is a wild canine that is scared of loud gunshots and noises. They eat moose, deer, beaver, rabbit, squirrel and more.

Grey wolves live mainly in Northern Minnesota and Northern Montana. They are usually found hiding throughout the forest and scrubland hunting for food and water.

Did you know, Grey wolves are the largest wolf weighing up to 120 pounds even though females weigh less they are still quite big. When pups are just born they weigh 1 pound. A Grey wolf can be many colours such as black, grey, cream and white. Grey wolves have webbed feet for running in deep snow, they have an oily coat designed for water.

Grey wolves live in packs of 7 or 8. The dominate pair are the only ones who can breed, the rest of the pack help protect and raise the pups as well as support the two dominates. There is one pack leader that the other wolves must obey to what he says. If the other wolves want to breed they have to leave the pack because only the dominates can breed.

20 years ago Grey wolves were nearly hunted down but the government clarified wolves as endangered so they became protected. Now there are a lot more wolves then before. I’m so glad the government introduced that law.

By Amber

I hope you enjoyed finding out more about these majestic creatures. Below I have added a map to show you roughly where we are now. You will notice that the Wolf Centre is in Minnesota, but we have travelled through North Dakota into South Dakota now. The next blog will be about Bears, then you can follow us on our journey to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota where we see a lot of wildlife like Bison (buffalo), Mule Deer and Prairie Dogs. Then we can take you to see the Four President’s heads on Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. Until then, take care and thankyou for sharing our journey.

The map showing our trip to North Dakota.