WORDS FOR WILDLIFE ARTICLE #21 - Cub Scouts Meet Wolf Cubs

(Left to Right) "Stella" the hound dog, wolf cub "Ky" , and one year old juvenile wolf "Bear" mingle with Cub Scout Pack 90

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Words For Wildlife
by State licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator, James Orr

CUB SCOUTS MEET WOLF CUBS

Pack 90 of the Huntsville Cub Scouts visited Pack Wolf at the Witter Wildlife Refuge. The packs were fairly equal in size with Pack 90 hosting 13 humans and pack wolf 10 wolves.

Representing the scouts were; Cub Master Steve Bercher, Webelos Leader Paula Jones, Assistant Weblos leader Donna Spalding, Bears Leader Lenora Martin, Caleb Jones, Page, Cyndi and Jacob Kale, Aaron Bercher, Curtis Martin, Devon Westbrook, Blake Weaver, Dustin Bennetts, Linise Martin, and Jared Spradlin.

Representing the Wolves were; Alphas leaders Bubba and Cherokee, Beta wolves Dakota and Apache, Omega wolves Warrior, Shilo, Bear, and Feather and wolf cubs Ky and Sage.

The scouts arrived about 6:00 PM Monday. They were met at the cars by
Bear and Feather the two juvenile “house” wolves. “Wolves are very smart”, I explained, “Much to my dismay, Bear has learned how to open doors by turning door knobs. If I close off the doggie “wolf” door when he is wet or muddy, he just goes to the front door and let’s himself in. I guess I’ll have to start locking it but knowing Bear he probably already made a copy of my key”.

The scouts began their encounter with an orientation on wolf rules. I explained that we would be greeted at the wolf enclosure by the two Alpha wolves, Bubba, the male and Cherokee “Kikki” the female. “None of the other wolves will come meet you until the Alphas are finished with their greeting. If another lower ranking wolf tries to introduce itself out of order, it will be scolded by the Alphas. Even Bear and Feather know to leave us alone until the Alphas finish their personal hello”.

During the orientation one of the scouts decided to play with Feather by making a growl sound. She responded with a deep growl of her own. “What did you say to her?” I asked. “Nothing” the scout responded “I was just playing”. I interpreted, “In her language I think you just challenged her to wrestle, I do not suggest you try speaking “Wolf” unless you know what you are saying!”

Wolves have a very stringent hierarchy of leaders, Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. They generally see people as Alphas but are sometimes confused as to how small people (children) fit into the ranking.

One last point I made before we began the trek up to the wolf enclosure was to point out that the wolves had never been visited by so many people all at one time. I was not sure how they would react to a mob.

There is no known case of a wild wolf ever killing a human in all of North America and I was not anxious to see the record broken by an over anxious scout toop charging the pack.

The encounter went very well, as expected Bubba and Kiki greeted the group through the bars of their enclosure while the Betas watched from the distance and the Omegas hid from sight. After a few minutes of Alpha wolf style handshakes (rubbing, licking and.... let’s say squirting) the Beta wolves were permitted to join the party. The Cub Scouts were accepted by the Alphas and those who wanted got a friendly wolf lick and or body rub through the bars. The Omega wolves stayed hidden until the group started to leave at which time they made an appearance from afar.

After the wolf encounter the scouts hiked down to the pond where animal tracks were identified. I pointed out the difference between wolf prints and that of Coyote and dog tracks. Coyote and dogs both have curved, hooked claws that make indention's at the tip of the claw, Wolves have straighter claws and do not leave as much of a tip indention in their tracks.

As a grand finale the scouts got a chance to examine the capture tools used by me as a wildlife rehabilitator. They each got a chance to shoot a practice dart from a tranquilizer blow gun at a target.

DONATIONS NEEDED If you would like to help any donation amount it is greatly appreciated. Donations should be made out to Witter Wildlife Refuge and can be sent to P.O. Box 1118, Huntsville AR 72740.

See web page under "HOW YOU CAN HELP" for specific ways you can help us help wildlife