Day 20
(3/22/2015)
My Final Day
Today was a great last day at the refuge, we did a bunch of work today again so I wasn't able to spend any time with the animals which was to bad but it was definitly not the last time I was going to see them. Reflecting back on my whole experience interning at Wolwood, I am honestly really surprised that I have enjoyed it this much through out the three weeks. I mean I was constantly excited to be at the refuge working with all the animals, it never got boring or too repetitive. In the beginning I thought, sure it's going to be a blast working with wolves the first week and I thought after awhile I was going to get tired of having to clean up after them day after day. But as the days went on and I started to learn and interact with the people I worked with and the animals I was involved in, I found that I started to really grow a strong liking to Wolfwood and from then on the days just seemed to fly by. It feels as if it was just yesterday when I first walked up the hill heading towards the refuge, the wolves howling as if to welcome me, breathing in the crisp morning air of the beginning of what was a beautiful day. I guess it's true, time really does fly by when your having fun. I feel like I have learned and grown so much as a person through interning at Wolfwood it's almost unbelievable. I am really glad to have had the opportunity to intern there, I am planning to go further than just interning their now, since I have gotten a taste of what it's like, I plan to keep in contact with my mentor Paula to join her and the rest of the Wolfwood ream in educational events they plan to have in the summer, which sound really fun because they travel all over the place and meet all kinds of interesting people, not to mention it's pretty much a full day of hanging out with the wolves and wolf dogs they bring with them! I am excited to be able to share my experience with my peers after break is over.
Day 19
(3/21/2015)
The Dirt Day
Wow, today was a very busy day, I couldn't believe how much we did today. I think their were about twelve volunteers today, which was very much needed due to all the work that we needed to do. We were split into different groups, one group had to give the animals medicine and tranquilize the ones that needed to be tranquilized, another group had to go around and feed and clean pins, and the group I was in needed to get buckets of gravel so that we could use them to carry into pins to cover cow paneling that was sticking out on the bottom. We have thirty two pins to go to and I think we only got three done today.....so there is still quite a bit of work to do tomorrow. We could of got more done but after lunch we lost some people because they had to live. So we regrouped into a group of eight so we could help Paula and a vet, Dr. Wagner, give some animals shots that couldn't get tranquilized. The way we helped was by getting segments of chain linked panel and using them to corner the wolf/wolf dog that needed to get a shot, it was quite the operation. We are continueing tomorrow and it is also my last day tomorrow, can't believe how fast three weeks can fly by, it's been an awesome experience.
Day 18
(3/20/2015)
Very Productive Day at The House
Today was an off day from being at the refuge, which I actually didn't mind to much. Through out my internship I couldn't believe how easy it was to get lost in my internship and just be so focused into it that I sometimes forgot that I had to actually do some school work as well. So today was sort of a catch up day, which I think I benefited a lot from. I was able to finish reviewing and revising some things in my written version of my mentor interview and finally post it. I am also very close to finishing my project, which is taking longer than I though it would, I still haven't heard from the Durango Herald about being able to post my article about the truth of wolves but I plan to get a hold of them again by Sunday. Overall today was a work oriented and just good day of reflecting back on the three awesome weeks interning at Wolfwood. Tomorrow I will be back at the refuge, Paula has called tomorrow a DIRT day because we are going to be doing a lot of moving dirt. She said we have to put more dirt on the bottom of the fences, it sounds easy but it actually is not. I guess they have to move a lot of wolves, which means tranquilizing them but some you cant tranquilize because they have faster metabolisms. So what I have heard they do to the ones they cant tranquilize is each volunteer gets a sheet of metal and forms a lane for the wolf to walk through. So on top of all that we also have to feed all of them and give them water. I am actually pretty excited to be experiencing this process even though it seems like it's going to be a lot of hard work. So my goal for tomorrow is to work hard and learn more!
Day 17
(3/19/2015)
Med/Mentor Interview Day
I would have to say today went pretty well, I was able to finish my mentor interview and I got to help give out medicine to the animals. I learned a lot from doing the mentor interview, it gave me more background knowledge about not only my mentor but as well as Wolfwood Refuge. It's really incredible how Paula has overcome so many obstacles, she is probably one of the most hardworking people I know. Paula also gave me another documentary to watch called, Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators, By reading the back it looks like it will be talking about the importance of top predators in the web of life. I am actually pretty excited to watch it. Tomorrow is going to be crunch time, I will need to finish my Link project and get prepared for exhibition. My next and sadly my last days at the refuge are on Saturday and Sunday, I hope they last.
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Day 16
(3/18/2015)
Another Great Day at the Refuge
Today was another great day at the refuge, especially since Aldo finally let me pet him! It has taken awhile for him to get used to me but he finally isn't shy towards me which I feel like is a huge accomplishment. A tour did end up showing up at the refuge today but it was very small with only two people so Paula just told Ben and I that we can get started on giving the animals water as she gives the tour. She also told me after I got done helping Ben I could go interact with any of the animals I wanted, which was really nice. I hung out with almost all of them, it was quite the exercise going to every pin but it was worth it. It's just unbelievable how this week is flying by, before I know it I am going to be back at school. Which I guess won't be too bad since I will be able to share my experience with my peers. Though I am going to miss hearing the howling that you periodically hear when working at the refuge. I have my mentor interview set up tomorrow so it should be a day full of just gaining more knowledge about my mentor and how Wolfwood Refuge came to be what it is today.
Day 15
(3/17/2015)
One of The Longest Days at Wolfwood
Today was yet another beautiful calm day at the refuge and it was one of the busiest and longest days yet. Even though we had a lot to do today it still was not bad, we had a lot of volunteers today so all the work actually flew by super fast! We had to do our regular routine of feeding and picking up their wolf feces as well as resupplying the storage room with dog food and dog treats. I can't believe how much bags of dog food they go through! In the fall they had the storage supply filled with I think Paula said 3,500 pounds of dog food and now they are reduced to a quarter of what they started out with. I also got to interact with a bunch of the animals today and they all seemed to be in a good mood, though some of them are still shy towards me. The wolves and wolf dogs that I got to hang out with the most was a trio of I think wolf dogs named Druid, TJ, and Vesta, they resemble a small pack of arctic wolves. I also spent a lot of time with Trinity and Aldo, ha,ha, I still can't get Aldo to let me pet him but when I pet Trinity he does like to go up behind me and sniff me but right when I turn around he just runs away! (sigh) oh well I'm getting closer. Today was awesome and admittedly way better than reading about wolves through the books I have at my house. Tomorrow is a day where their should be a tour visiting the refuge but Paula said, "You never know, it might just be you again." Which is totally fine with me, she said if their is no tour tomorrow than I can just go and interact with the animals for as long as I want! So until tomorrow comes I will continue to work on my project for the rest of the day.
Day 14
(3/16/2015)
Day at The House
Today I made great progress on my project for my internship, I plan to have a rough draft done by tomorrow. I also contacted the Herald to see if they would be able to publish it but still no word back from them, I am hoping they will be able to. Tomorrow I am back at the refuge and I am excited as ever! Feels like I haven't been there in forever, can't wait to see all the wolves again. Overall I can't say anything super exciting happened today, hopefully tomorrow is more eventful.
Day 13
(3/15/2015)
Another Slow Day But Productive
Today was another day not at the refuge but I was still productive, I have started on my rough draft for an essay I am writing on the truth about wolves and how media portrayal has made the image of the wolf into something vicious and scary. I also got interviewed today, which was nothing to be worried or nervous about at all, It actually went pretty smoothly and I am glad I got to share my experience at Wolfwood. I can't believe I am already going on to my third and final week of my internship, I really don't want it to end, this has really been an awesome experience!
Day 12
(3/14/2015)
Slow Day
Today was a slow day brainstorming how my Link project is going to be set up and contacting the Durango Herald to see if they would be willing to possibly publish it when I am done. I honestly did not learn anything new about wolves today other than key differences that a wolf has when compared to a dog, which is a wolves canines are more curved to allow them to grab on their prey better, wolves ears are always up, where as a dogs ears are floppy. Also another key difference is they are way bigger and stronger than a dog. Tomorrow I am finally having my interview with a guy named Dale who is from the Durango Herald to talk about my internship, I didn't talk to him today because he got caught up on some other work. Overall today was a good day but I still can't wait to be back at the refuge.
Day 11
(3/13/2015)
Busy Day at Wolfwood
Today felt very busy but at the same time it felt like everyone that was volunteering today was working slow, just enjoying being outside. Even the wolves and wolf dogs were acting pretty mellow (maybe it's because of the change of weather). I also finally met my mentor Paula's husband Craig, who is as nice and as hardworking as Paula. I guess it probably only felt busy to me because a photographer from the Durango Herald came to the refuge today to take pictures and a video of me at the refuge doing work and interacting with Trinity and Aldo. I am also scheduled to do an over the phone interview with a guy named Dale from the Durango Herald tomorrow which is pretty cool, I keep on thinking about the questions he might ask me to try to be somewhat ready for it. Other than that I would have to say today went pretty smoothly and I finally have an idea of what I want to do for my Link project that I will start tomorrow since I will be off. Goals for tomorrow is to get my project all planned out and look at requirements for my Link exhibition so I can set it up a little bit.
Day 10
(3/12/2015)
Off Day
"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."
By: Pablo Picaso
Today I watched a documentary called, "Radioactive Wolves, Chernobyl's Nuclear Wilderness" Which was pretty much about how the Grey wolf population and just mother nature herself has found a way to flourish even after the radioactive fall out from Chernobyl's nuclear power plant created a "dead zone" for humans, affecting everything that was in the vicinity of the reactor. I found that the quote above by Pablo Picasso is closely related to the events that unfolded in Chernobyl because even though the destruction of the nuclear reactor made life too hazardous for humans to live in, the reactors destruction created the possibility of wildlife to take over and bring a part of the Soviet Unions land back into it's natural state. Creating a post nuclear Eden for animals that lived their before human interference, like the beaver, bison, horses, birds, fish, falcons, and wolves. Watching this video also gave me a new perspective on us, humankind and the various ways we are destroying the natural ecosystem of our planet, it helped me come to a realization that even if we somehow end up disappearing on the face of this planet by means of getting wiped out by a meteorite or we just leave because the planet has become to hazardous to be safely inhabited, the Earth will find a way to go back to it's natural state. Though I don't believe it will ever come to that because of the education future generations are gaining and how aware we have started to become about these kinds of problems. Well another day has come and gone, tomorrow I am scheduled to go to the refuge! can't wait to see all the wolves again!
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Day 9
(3/11/2015)
A Day at The House
Regrettably today was another one of those days at the house but it wasn't to bad, I was still able to further expand my knowledge on wolves through one of my books my mentor Paula let me borrow. It's so amazing how smart wolves are, their brain is thirty percent larger than the domestic dog! They have learned to become more active at dusk and dawn because it has learned to operate when their biggest predator (humans) are less active. Also they are crazy strong and powerful, wolves are known to track their prey for up to one hundred miles a day and bring down prey ten times their own size. Today I also brainstormed some ideas for my Link project but still cannot decide on a project that will best give back to Wolfwood Refuge.... I can't believe my second week is already almost done, time really does fly by fast, It feels as if i'm just getting started. I hope by the time Friday is done I will have a lot more progress accomplished for my Link project.
Day 8
(3/10/2015)
Another Beautiful Day at Wolfwood
Today was a very clear day with mesmerizing blue skies, I can tell spring is coming (hopefully). It was a very short day at the refuge today because my mentor Paula had to go see the doctor but it was still enjoyable as always. I was graduated to being able to have my own set of keys to open up the wolf and wolf dog pins, yay! It means I can pretty much go to any pin and interact with them during feeding time, except the pins with orange flagging tape because the wolves in their aren't very trusting to strangers. Aldo who I believe is a wolf dog finally got a little closer to letting me pet him, I hope to get closer to him before my internship is over. During lunch today I found out something really interesting about wolves and their relation to the ravens that hang out at the refuge. It turns out ravens and wolves have a symbiotic relationship, meaning whenever a wolf kills a caribou or bison, the wolf will actually share it's food with the raven and not bother trying to kill it or scare it away and vice versa. The raven will help the wolf locate a herd of caribou or bison to hunt down, who would of knew that kind of relationship between a canine and a bird would exist! I would have to say a highlight for today was being able to interact with more of the wolves and wolf dogs and gaining more trust from Aldo. It's so hard to remember all the other wolves names but I also hope to gain more trust from the rest of them as well. I won't be back to the refuge till Friday but I am going to see if I can go to the refuge on Thursday to take pictures and bond more with the wolves, my goals for tomorrow is to brainstorm an idea for my Link project and learn more about wolves!
Day 7
(3/9/2015)
Boring Day at The House
Today I can't say anything super exciting happened since Paula did't schedule me to come in but I did continue reading one of the books that Paula was so gracious to let me borrow called, "Wolves, Capturing The Natural Spirit of These Incredible Animals" Which helped me further expand my knowledge about wolves. Interesting fact, it turns out that the females in the pack are actually the ones that do most of the hunting because of how small and fast they are compared to the male wolf who is slower and bigger. Though the male wolf does help hunt when hunting for larger prey like bison. I am looking forward for tomorrow because it's another feeding day and Paula has scheduled me to come in, my goal for tomorrow is to see if I can convince Paula to let me come in on days that she doesn't have me scheduled in so that I can mingle and bond more with some of the wolves.
Week 1 Reflection
"I can only hope that we can now come to accept the wolf for what it is, rather than live in fear for what it is not."
by: Shaun Ellis
The first week interning with Wolfwood Refuge was both informative and fun, I have met and worked with eight other volunteers so far who were all nice and shared the same kind of love for wolves as Paula. I did a lot of manual labor work during my time at the refuge but it was worth it because I was also able to interact with a lot of the wolves and wolf dogs, plus thankfully their was a lot of help. I also read a few books and watched a documentary about what other people around the world are doing to help protect these beautiful animals. It's amazing how far people will go to protect them, from going out into the wild to actually live among them to learn their ways and learn their importance in the world, to creating a refuge for them to keep them safe from people that might want to do them harm. I am surprised by how important wolves actually are to an ecosystem, I didn't realize their role in the web of life until now, through my understandings of what Paula has taught me and from the numerous readings that she gave me. Some of the successes that I think I had this week was acquiring more knowledge and understanding about wolves, how in the past we have been fearful of them mostly because of old myths and media that portray them as a vicious blood thirsty animal that attack little girls in red hoods, when in reality they are like any other living organism on this planet, just trying to survive on the resources this planet has given them. I have realized that everything has a place on this planet, It's like a gigantic puzzle, all life is it's own puzzle piece that has it's rightful place to be and If we end up missing a piece to the puzzle than it just won't look right. My goals for this upcoming week is to continue on learning as much as I can from my mentor and the people working with me and to hopefully gain more free time with the wolves and wolf dogs, to interact with them more. I also want to gain a solid direction on what I want to do for my Link Project and hopefully have a rough draft of what it's going to look like by the end of this week.
Day 6
(3/8/2015)
Very Small Tour
Today I woke up excited for a tour that was expected to have at least four other people attending but once I got up to the refuge and met up with my mentor Paula it turned out two people canceled because they forgot about daylight savings and the other two people ended up never showing, so it was only me. It was still fun though just taking the tour by myself with Paula because I was able to gain even more knowledge about Wolfwood Refuge and the differences between a wolf and a dog. I was also able to finally meet the six pack, which is a pack of pure wolves that the refuge got from Alaska when they were just pups. I met their alpha by default, Oakley and I say he is their alpha by default because in the wild Paula told me he actually would never be the alpha because he doesn't have the skills to lead a pack but since he is so much bigger than the rest of his pack he is looked up to as the leader. I was only able to get some interaction time with Oakley and none of the other wolves of the six pack because they weren't used to me yet but since Oakley is so nice and pretty much gets along with everyone Paula let me interact with him. Before going in Paula warned me that Oakley is going to go for my face, ha,ha, I am not going to lie, when Paula told me this I got a little nervous about what she meant by that but she then said that it won't be out of aggression, that it will be out of affection and playfulness. Oakley was very playful and would not stop licking my face and giving me what is known as the wolf rub and from my understanding of what Paula was telling me about the wolf rub is that it is what a wolf will do to show that it trust you, a sign of friendship or to mark it's territory. The wolf rub is when a wolf rubs against you using it's neck to get their scent on you and they are able to do this because their is a scent gland in their neck that enables them to. Today was pretty awesome learning more about wolves and wolf dogs and finally being able to meet the six pack and I am looking forward to the next time I am back at the refuge.
Day 5
(3/7/2015)
Feeding Day
Today was just amazing! I got to meet and interact with most of the wolves and wolf dogs in their pins. Each one was very friendly, especially their ambassador wolf Trinity who is probably the friendliest animal you will probably ever meet. Some of them were shy but everyone who was volunteering today told me that after awhile they will just come up to you by themselves. I can't believe how many wolves their are, Paula told me she has about 61!. I did some manual labor jobs today as well but they weren't to hard because their was so many people to help so it went by super fast. Through out the day I found myself thinking to myself, "why would anyone want to get rid of these beautiful animals?" I mean I know the wolves and hybrids Paula has are more domesticated than wolves that are in their natural habitat but still just seeing pictures and videos of them in their natural habitat still makes you wonder, "why?" they just don't have that look that makes you fearful of them, it's more like they should be fearful of us. I'm excited for tomorrow to come because I will be taking a tour that will help me learn even more about wolves and the mission that Wolfwood Refuge and so many others like their organization are on.
Day 4
(3/6/2015)
Day at Home
Today was yet another uneventful day, I watched a documentary about the reintroduction of wolves into New Mexico that Paula was so kind to lend me. It was very interesting to watch because it talked about how important the wolf is to an ecosystem, how they are a key stone species in the way they keep the deer population in check, helping them migrate in turn helping plants grow in turn helping the beavers and so on. This reminds me of an idea we studied in Humanities before leaving for our internship, the Gaia hypothesis, which states that all living organisms are interconnected. It also talked about the relationship between farmers and the wolves that have started to be reintroduced and how the farmers are actually helping out by implementing "smart farming," which means they move their herd of cows or sheep away from the pack of wolves when they know that they are near so that the wolves are not tempted to eat them. They say that one of the most important key elements for getting the wolf population to rise again is to educate kids about the importance of them and teach them that wolves are not as vicious and evil as the little kid books like Little Red Riding Hood portray them to be. On a different note I am ecstatic for tomorrow because I will finally be able to go back to the refuge and actually interact with the wolves!
Day 3
(3/5/2015)
Day at Home
Another day at the house, I decided to start on another book called In Praise of Wolves By R.D.Lawrence. So far it's an interesting book that is about R.D.Lawrence himself and his encounters with a wolf shelter in Michigan. I haven't gotten to far into the book because it is a pretty long reading and I have limited time but just the thought of being able to study wolves and see their natural state, to be able to see how they interact with each other and humans would be awesome to experience. Now that I think about it my internship is pretty much doing that! Maybe not as long as Lawrence did but still an awesome opportunity to gain real life experience on wolves outside of just reading about them through books, the anticipation for Saturday continues to grow.
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Day 2
(3/4/2015)
Day at Home
Today was a day of reading at my house to gain more knowledge about wolves, I started a book called, Wolves, Capturing The Natural Spirit of These Incredible Animals by Shaun Ellis. All I have to say is wow, wolves are amazing animals who are very intelligent indeed. Their is so much to them than what myths and legends make them out to be. I never knew how communicative as a species they are and how complex their pacts are. It's amazing how in their pacts they have established and are loyal to the different rankings within and how each rank plays a important role within the pack. Like how the pair of alphas are the leaders and are the only ones allowed to breed and also protect the pack from rival packs by simply having a strong enough scent to keep them away. The betas who are pretty much the security guards or the second ranking wolves who pass down orders from the alphas to the lower ranking wolves. The mid ranking wolves who's primary duty is to create the illusion that their are more wolves in the pack than there actually are. The elder wolves who are highly respected and have a role to teach the pups how to hunt and communicate within the pack. And finally the omega wolves who create peace and harmony between members of the pack by resolving conflict between members. It is all very interesting and just out of this world how wolves can create such a complicated system. I now wonder how little kid stories like little red ridding hood or myths and legends like werewolves even came to be because through reading parts of this book I have learned they are not ferocious beasts but more like calm, cunning, and loyal spirits from nature that I think us as a human race can learn a lot from. I am now more excited than ever to interact and work with the wolves at wolfwood than I was before. I can't wait for Saturday.
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Day 1
(3/3/2015)
First Encounter With My Mentor Paula
Today was my first day meeting my mentor face to face, I didn't know what to expect, I have to admit I was a little nervous but I didn't even really know why. Maybe it was the fact that I was about to jump into uncharted water. Today was nice though due to the fact that I didn't have to be at the refuge till 2 in the afternoon so I actually got to sleep in but it did mean I was going to miss actually interacting with any of the wolves. When I did finally get their all my nerves had dissipated and it was nice meeting my mentor Paula, she was super nice and very informative and what to expect being an intern at wolfwood. My first day wasn't as action filled as I thought it would be but I am still looking forward to days to come, Paula let me take some books with me to help me get a better background on wolves seeing as she doesn't expect me to be back till Saturday so I shall read on till Saturday comes and hopefully in the process gain a better understanding of not only Paula's ideals but other peoples ideals on wolves.