Happy 18th Birthday to my youngest brother! He absolutely loves wolves, but in order to pet, visit or interact with wolves most places require you to be 18, well since the 15th was his 18th birthday you better believe we took him to go see some wolves. Colorado has a few options for visiting wolves, most of them are in the Colorado Springs area, however, we ultimately decided to go with Colorado Wolf Adventures and boy did they deliver! They take you on about a mile long, easy hike through the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The entire time you get to walk, pet, pose, and generally interact with the wolves. In total it was about an hour we got to spend with 2 wolves, Spirit and Ghost. Pure bred wolves (I believe, however, I could be wrong) are not allowed to interact with the public in such an atmosphere, so these wolves were 95% and 99% pure respectively. However, they carried every other wolf trait, general temperament, looks, and instincts. We avoided other people and especially dogs, however other hikers found the wolves fascinating and often didn't stray too far from our group so they too could see the wolves. Included is a photographer who gave us over 300 pictures of our family with the wolves at the end of the trip, no wait time on the pictures. They are high quality and really capture the time we spent with them. They begin by letting you know the wolves temperaments, their personalities, how to walk them and work with them, introduce you to the wolves and then you're off. The volunteers are very knowledgeable about wolves in general as well as the ones you are walking. There wasn't a question I had that they didn't have an answer to. They give you facts about how to take care of them and what their facilities are like. Wolves are a pack animal and need to be housed in a minimum of pairs, if not more. They need to live outside, with a 6 foot tall fence as well as 3 feet of fence below ground, and require 5-7 pounds of fresh meat a day per wolf. They are very intelligent and can escape any other enclosure, they also get bored and will destroy any home they are kept in, they cannot be potty trained or taught any of the usual tricks (sit, stay, shake). They are very smart and know what you want, they simply don't care to do what you say. They are not domesticated, a dog lives to please, they have spent thousands of years around humans and we thus have created a bond. This is not something a wolf possesses. These wolves have been around humans since they were born so they are as safe as you can be, however you do need to keep in mind they are not dogs and they demand a level of respect. If you know this and can keep this in mind while interacting with them, you will have no problems whatsoever. They were perfectly happy to let us pet them, walk them, sit with them, etc., we simply respected their boundaries. Spirit is a total love bug and adores belly rubs and ice apparently, we found ice on the trail and he was extremely happy to eat it. Ghost was the talkative one and would howl for us if we all howled with him. We all had a chance to walk one of the wolves, my parents and one brother walked Spirit, while my other brother and I walked Ghost. They made sure to take group shots as well as individual shots and action shots of us walking them, like I said, we received at least 300 pictures at the end of the hike. This was an absolutely wonderful experience, it's not every day you get to pet a wolf, let alone walk them or get your picture taken with them. The wolves are happy to go for a walk, just like any canine, and you can really feel the love and knowledge for the wolves by the staff. We had a fantastic time and would certainly recommend this adventure to anyone who has an interest or love for wolves! It helps support this rescue as well as further education about wolves and their importance to the ecosystem, and their need for proper care when kept in captivity. Make sure you check out Colorado Wolf Adventures, tell your friends, and next time you plan to go to the Garden of the Gods, make a reservation to walk with the wolves, you won't regret it! www.coloradowolfadventures.com Much Love, Jess (PS: The photos in this post are mine)
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AuthorJessica Marie Cunningham - Intentional lifestyle blogger, aspiring author, and podcast host. All things Slow Living, Books, Writing, Art, creativity, Christianity, and personal stories. Archives
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