It's a frog-catchin' sort of day

Hello again,

Today I took my next door neighbor/friend/budding herpetologist Alex out to Red Wolf Sanctuary with me. He just finished a week of zoo camp, but was still ready to go see some more animals and I was happy to oblige. I was glad I brought along some extra help - it would have been very tricky to feed three fawns on my own. Wallace the boy fawn is a little piggie and can be a little bit of a bully since he is so much bigger than the girls. Dixie the littlest girl will only drink out of one specific bottle, and Joey has a short attention span and tends to get distracted by the other fawns' bottles even though she has her own. Needless to say, Alex was a big help with managing these hooligans. The good news is that they are starting to eat solids, including grass and grains. Hopefully we will be able to start weaning them off of their bottles...they went through a grand total of eight bottles this morning, and that was just breakfast!

Dixie

Dixie (front) and Wallace (back)

After feeding the pigs-disguised-as-deer, we said hello to the wolf pups. They are just as friendly as last time, but bigger. Kiowa was having a grand old time trying to pull my hair out of its bun, and nearly succeeded in pulling my scalp out along with it. Their puppy fur is nearly all gone, and being replaced by the denser, more wiry adult fur. The other thing that has really changed is their eye color. Sioux's eyes have changed to a soft honey color, which suits her gentle personality quite nicely. Crioux's are fading from the green-blue to the more classic wolf-yellow color. Kiowa is the only one who has managed to hang on to the striking green color, which contrasts sharply with her black pelt.

After we hung out with the wolf pups, we went to visit with Rosie. She surprised me by being extra friendly today, even allowing Alex to pet her a bit. She was also extra ornery...she tried stealing my entire camera no less than seven times. When that didn't work out, she tried fishing my phone out of my pocket, and almost got away with it too. She must be Swiper the fox's long-lost sister or something.

Next was a visit to the raptors. We fed them today - mice to the owls and hawks and chicken to the turkey buzzards. The hawk was quite hungry today, pouncing on every mouse we threw in and slurping them right up. I even managed to take some pictures today:

Great Horned Owl 

Red Tailed Hawk

We visited the bears on our way back to lunch, and they were chowing down as bears are wont to do.

Tecumseh the male Black Bear

After lunch, Alex and I went frog huntin'. This was strictly catch-and-release hunting, but hunting nonetheless. We caught numerous small frogs along the creek and got our boots stuck in deep mud for our troubles. Alex managed to catch four good-sized frogs who had taken up residence in one of the horses' old water troughs. My catch of the day was a frog who I dubbed Freddie (or he could be a toad- I actually think he's a toad, but don't know my amphibians well enough to say for certain). Observe my fine specimen of a frog/toad (as held by Alex):

Freddie the fine frog (or maybe a toad - my herpetology is not up to par)

Thus ends another Saturday at Red Wolf. Next weekend my Saturday will be spent at the Cincinnati Zoo shadowing a vet, which promises to be exciting but also lacking in wolf puppies. The following weeks I am with family in North Carolina, but I should be able to get back to Red Wolf at least one more time before the summer is out (I hope!).

Thanks for reading
T

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Sorry about my skipped post last week-I was in Chicago for Northwestern's graduation. I ate a lot, sat through many graduation ceremonies, and sat a row behind Adam Sandler. No big deal. I'm sure you want to hear about the wolf puppies more than you want to hear about Mr. Sandler.

I don't mean to start off the post on a sad note, but Yuma had to be euthanized yesterday and I wanted to give a little tribute to the sassy yet beautiful girl that called Red Wolf her home for 15 years. Rescued from a trailer park, her life at Red Wolf was much better than it would have been otherwise. She was old girl and passed away at the end of a very long life. I count myself lucky to have met (/served) her.

On a happier note, the wolf pups are growing with wild abandon. They are getting much more distinct, both in personality and in coat pattern.

Crioux's eyes seem to change color depending on the light - sometimes they look green, other times they look blue. 

"Hey Sioux, that's my feather!"

STAHP

Kiowa is the troublemaker of the group. She is always the first to try to sneak out of the pen, jump on a napping sibling, or stick her nose somewhere it shouldn't be.

Crioux is the only boy of the group, but he doesn't let his two sisters bully him around. He is mild-mannered and inquisitive, he has the most striking eyes and facial markings of the group. 

Sioux is the sweet girl, most likely to cuddle up in your lap and watch the others play. She is a big sweetie and has the gentlest personality of the group. 

Crioux having a rare noble moment

You dare disturb my slumber?!!

Pooped puppy

Red Wolf has also added yet another fawn to their collection. She came to the sanctuary with the name Ditch, because that's where she was found. But she is such a dainty little thing that they are thinking of changing her name to "Dixie Doe". She is much darker than the other two and her spots are cream instead of white. She is very sweet and has a cute fuzzy patch of fur on her head.

We also stopped by to see Akima, who was fascinated/terrified by his new ball toy:

When we got back to the main barn, we stumbled upon Tracy working with one of our newer Barred Owls named Ocho. Apparently he is much more amicable than the other Barred Owl (Uno). Hopefully he will make a good ambassador bird in the future.

I'm just here, chillin'

Of course, we couldn't leave without saying hello to Rosie. She was feeling very friendly today, friendly enough to come out and say hi even though I had three friends with me. 

Paul was very pleased to show off the fact that he is famous, since he (and Red Wolf Sanctuary) was featured in an article by the Cincinnati Enquirer. If you don't get the Enquirer, you can check out the article here if you want to read it: Red Wolf Sanctuary Article

Today's task for me was taking my friends on a photography tour, so I don't have any exciting details about the poop I scooped or the roadkill I dismembered. Maybe next time!

Thanks for reading, y'all!

T