Cheyenne's Howl

Printed in Mountain Messenger on Friday May 2, 1997

Questions & Answers

---

I would like to thank all of you who came to my birthday party last weekend. I really cleaned up. I got cards and lots of food and my friends Addie and Ginger sang Happy Birthday to me. I wouldn't mind having a birthday party every weekend. The benefits are great.

Now to answer some questions that I most often get asked. No, I'm not going to tell you how old I am. It is not polite to ask a lady how old she is or how much she weighs. (Note from Dad: Cheyenne is one year old and weighs about one hundred ten pounds. She is over five feet long from nose to tip of tail, and she is thirty inches tall at the shoulder.)

I was born in Arizona and moved to Silver Plume, Colorado at four and a half weeks of age and have been working at the Visions West Gallery ever since. Say, aren't there child labor laws in this state? (Note from Dad: Cheyenne, you are a member of the family so the laws don't apply to you.)

If I had been raised out in the wild, most people probably would never see me, let alone be able to pet me. We wolves are extremely cautious of humans. Since I have met over eighteen hundred people while working at the Gallery, I have less fear of humans than my cousins in the wild. I love to play with children, adult females, and with other animals. I have licked the hands of most everyone that I have met; some have been pretty tasty, especially if they have just come down from the KP Cafe. There have been about one hundred people that have a wolf spirit and I've licked their faces and ears. These are special people and will always be part of my pack. Also, if I think you are special, I will lean and rub against you. (Note from Dad: If you are wearing dark clothing or something white, it's an almost guarantee that Cheyenne will rub or at least put a paw print on you.) (Second note from Dad: Ancient Native Americans believed that all animals had lessons to teach and had special healing or inspirational powers. The spirit of the wolf represents teaching skill, loyalty, and interdependence. There is an old Indian saying, "Pet a wolf and if you believe, you will be healed".)

If I do not like you, I will go to the far end of my chain and pace. I will not bite you, but I will do anything to stay as far away as I can. Even in the wild, we wolves seldom fight. We will stare down, growl, and bare our teeth, but we seldom bite down hard. We work things out rather than attack one another, because a wounded member of the pack can become a liability to the others. (Note from Dad: Cheyenne is cautious about going to adult males. However, after several visits and many slices of apples, she will bond with most of them. There have been approximately forty people that she has totally rejected, mostly male. Some were for obvious reasons, others I had no clue about, but I listened to her and became more observant and cautious myself.) See you next week.

Cheyenne