WILD EXPERIENCE

At the end of July I had the pleasure of going camping with one of my best friends. We went to Gardner MA where a wonderful man and his equally wonderful wife runs an educational wolf center called Wolf Talk. At this center there lives four wolves, one is nearly 18 years old, and a 2 month old pup named Oso, pictured above with yours truly, who is destined to become a much valued ambassador for the education and preservation of wolves world-wide.

It's been nearly three weeks since this awesome trip and I still can't get out of my mind the sound of the wolves howling at night or the memory of walking in the woods with the pup's uncle. I am always looking at my digital photos and bugging everyone who will listen with my tales of that great weekend. I learned a lot too about the differences between domestic dogs, coyotes, and wolves along with all the misconceptions people have about wolves. Did you know that there has been no documented/confirmed case of a healthy wolf attacking a person ever in North America. The attacks that occur in which people say it was a wolf was in fact a feral dog or hybrid or wolf that was terminally ill. But there are still a lot of people out there who believe wolves are the servants of the devil.

Some of you who are reading and like me tend to love animals more than people might be thinking that the wolf center is wrong because animals deserve to be free. In the perfect and ideal world this would be true. But this is reality. Everyday animal and plant species are becoming extinct, whole wildlife populations are becoming displaced, and the occurrence of human/wildlife encounters are increasing do to humankind's encroachment on the environment. Such places like Wolf Talk, nature preserves and sanctuaries, zoological parks, etc...are necessary for the continued education of wildlife issues. These valued places are also necessary for the continued success of wildlife preservation and they provide us with the opportunity to experience a truly wild experience.

For more information about how you may experience Wolf Talk like I have please visit their website at www.wolftalk.net