Mission: Wolf
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2008-07-17T02:24:58Z
Metamort
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Removed stub tag
'''Mission: Wolf''' (Abbreviated M:W) is a remote [[wolf]] sanctuary near [[Westcliffe, Colorado]]. Housing up to 40 wolves and [[wolfdog]] crosses, Mission: Wolf works to promote a better understanding of wolves in order to further reintroduction efforts and discourage attempts to keep wolves as pets. People are welcome to visit and not only see the wolves up close, but have an opportunity to touch them as well. There is a nearby meadow where visitors can camp overnight. The 15 miles of dirt road that climbs to 9,000 feet is driveable in the summer (if not wet) by normal 2WD vehicles.
[[Image:Katimik_Howl.JPG|thumb|550px|Katimik, a former inhabitant of Mission: Wolf (Now deceased)]]
==Founding==
Mission: Wolf was founded by Kent Weber and his wife, Tracy, as a remote shelter for a dozen wolves and wolf-dogs. In the first year of constructing a house, they took in several wolf puppies. As word got out, visitors came and started to help Kent and Tracy build and work, and called themselves [[volunteers]]. With more people working, more fencing could be constructed and more wolves could be adopted.<ref>Mission: Wolf Official Website: http://www.missionwolf.com/refuge_history.asp</ref> In the peak of Mission: Wolf's adoption frenzy, they had 52 wolves and wolf-dogs, before they realized that they could not possibly accept every wolf.
==Mission statement==
Kent Weber's mission goal is to eventually run himself out of business. He wants to one day be able to close down Mission: Wolf due to the fact that there will be no more [[captive]] wolves. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future, and so Kent must content himself with providing large homes, plenty of food, and company for the wolves while they live out their lives at M:W. In addition, Kent aims to educate the public in general about the behavior of wolves, and to essentially clear their reputation as '[[The Big Bad Wolf]].' He also is active in trying to dissuade people from breeding wolf-dogs and owning either wolves or wolf-dogs as pets.
===Meeting the wolves===
[[Image:Maggie_Pets.JPG |thumb|225px|Maggie being petted by a young visitor.]]Often, several visitors come up to Mission: Wolf daily for a tour. If they come at the right time, Kent may take them into one or more [[enclosures]] to meet the wolves personally. This, he says, is one of the most vital parts of his education goal, and this is summed up by a quote from a recent visitor to M:W:
<blockquote>
<p>''What we hear, we forget''<br />
<br />
''What we see, we remember''<br />
<br />
''What we touch, we understand''</p>
<br />
<p>—A Fourth Grade Student</p>
</blockquote>
It is for this reason that Kent believes in bringing people into the enclosures to meet wolves.
===Greeting behaviors===
[[Image:Raven_Greeting.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Raven, a former Ambassador wolf, greeting a visitor enthusiastically.]] Wolves use their mouths and noses to communicate and greet. When a group of people go into one of the enclosures, they sit down with their backs to the fence on a wooden log bench. Throughout the years, Kent and his staff have perfected the way to greet the wolves, and to teach them how to greet people. Most wolves greet one another by making eye contact, biting each other on the cheek and sniffing one another's nose and teeth. Over time, Kent has been able to teach some wolves, those who are more outgoing with humans, to only lick and sniff teeth while making eye contact with humans. In this way, it has become completely safe for people to go in with wolves such as Magpie, Raven, Merlin, Orion and Soleil.<br /><br />
Because human [[instinct]] makes us want to close our eyes and back away from the wolf when they come up close, Kent gives very strict instructions to make eye contact and bare teeth at the wolf. When people do look away or back off, the wolf will follow. They really want to look into the persons eye, and if the person continues to refuse, it is the equivalent of an insult, telling the wolf that they don't like them. Kent likens it to a child coming up to their mother for a hug, and the mother slapping the child away.
==Volunteers==
Many people make the journey to volunteer at Mission: Wolf each summer, and several stay two months or more to serve as staff. Staff usually receive a small [[stipend]], and are provided meals and housing. They also have access to all electronics.
===Housing===
Housing includes:
*5 Canvas [[Tipis]]
*2 Community buildings with [[lofts]] available to anyone
*2 Staff lofts, one above the office and the other above the old kitchen.
*2 Rooms above the [[veterinary]] building, affectionately called "The Puppy Palace."
==Resources==
All the buildings at Mission: Wolf were built by volunteers and with donated materials. M:W is almost completely [[self-sufficient]], using donations to pay for what they need, [[solar power]] on sunny days, and a propane [[generator]] when it is needed. Most ranchers in the area donate their [[livestock]] to the wolves when they die, giving the wolves a steady supply of feed. Satellite provides wireless internet available to anyone at the refuge.
==Wolves==
[[Image:Aurora_Howl.JPG|thumb|Aurora (White, Howling) and Rogue (Black, Lying down), two wolf-dog crosses at Mission: Wolf]]
Mission: Wolf takes in only wolves who were born in captivity. Wolves that are born in captivity can never be returned to the wild, and thus, they live our their lives at Mission: Wolf. They prefer to take in only puppies, as full-grown wolves are very difficult work with if they haven't imprinted on the staff. As of July 15th, 2008, 20 wolves and 5 wolf-dogs live at Mission: Wolf, with 2 more high dog content crosses being kept at Kent and Tracy's farm. Since founding, M:W has had to turn down over 6000 requests to take in wolves and wolf-dogs.
===Ambassador wolves===
These are the wolves which are suitably enough experienced in human relations to travel around the United States and meet people. Most have visited various schools across the country, and others will begin this fall.
Current and Former [[Ambassador]] Wolves, who still meet people although do not tour include:
*Magpie
*Raven
*Abraham
*Merlin
===Other inhabitants===
These wolves are either more timid and afraid of humans or are unable to understand how to properly greet humans.
These wolves include:
*Mowgli
*Spirit
*Orion
*Soleil
*Ned Ludd
*Druid
*Amulet
*Fenris
*Rogue
*Aurora
*Obediah
*Guinness (A former Ambassador wolf who has become unable to greet people without trying to jump on and play with them)
*Selway
*Kawh
*Tierra
*Aspen
*Kestrel
*Sashsa
*Keechee
*Sangre
*Daisy
===Wolves at the farm===
*Lucus
*Leo
===Former inhabitants===
These wolves are now [[deceased]]. [Not a complete list]
*Sabretooth
*Rami
*Skinwalker
*Polar Bear
*Ghost Dancer
*Hina[[Image:Horse_Cutting.JPG|thumb|Volunteers [[butchering]] a donated horse to be fed to the wolves for "big feed."]]
*Nyati
*Beorn
*"Granny" Raven, or Raven I
*Katimik
===Feeding===
The wolves are all fed once a day, in what is called daily feed. This practice only began in summer 2008, and is mainly used as a [[vessel]] to provide [[homeopathic]] medicines and [[vitamin supplements]] to the wolves; before that, they wolves had only received the feast-and-famine cycle of two large meals a week, similar to their eating schedule in the wild. This is now called "big feed", and still occurs twice a week, though the wolves get slightly less food, as some is stored away for daily feed. Most often the donated livestock is horse meat, although turkeys, cattle, and roadkill deer are not unheard of.
==References==
<references/>
<br />
===Personal experience===
Much of the information in this article comes from the personal experience of the author, having volunteered at M:W for over a month as of July 13th, 2008. As such, much of the information has no published source.
==External links==
*[http://www.missionwolf.com/ Mission: Wolf]
[[Category:Geography of Colorado]]
[[Category:Wolves]]