The Pups
Blessing Spirit and Merlin's Story
May 1st, 2008 was the day that Ladyhawke chose to bless this time-space-continuum with three new little wolves. They were subsequently named Spirit, Blessing and Merlin. Spirit and Blessing were chosen as the new ambassadors for the Foundation. Well, chosen is a poor choice of words as they were chosen out of their own curiosity. They were the ones closest to the edge of the den that Ladyhawke dug as her birthing suite. Merlin, the shy brother, stayed at the back in the dark and thus remained with Ladyhawke and Shone.
The whole affair was closely watched by Mom and Dad, in another pen. Mark not being so foolish as to tempt fate with Mom &Dad's protective instinct, had moved the parents to an adjoining pen before starting the 'Quest for Ambassadors'. Thus Mark retained all his fingers, toes and extremities intact and with no more scars than they contained in the beginning of this adventure.
Time does not stand still for us, and neither for wee wolf pups. Eye dropper feedings every few hours makes for sleepy, sluggish, keepers. The pups mission: sleeping, eating, and most importantly growing. They did with vigor and great enthusiasm. The midnight feeder(s) rejoiced when solid food became the normal diet mode. Spirit and Blessing soon outgrew their first home; a surplus cardboard box, and graduated to a commercial dog kennel. That too, failed to hold off wolf pup growth rates and soon was replaced with a larger wood wolf-house.
Sad Eyes in the Foundation
Blessing, sister of Spirit and Merlin and daughter of Ladyhawkee and Shone, left us suddenly on Monday, July 14th. Her human dad, Mark Johnson, had taken her to the vet when she started losing the use of her legs and was in pain. He was given the strength to gently let her leave this earth if she could not run, jump, and play as a wolf should.
In the short time Blessing was with us she spread joy, touched our souls with her affection, puppy spunk and wonder, and became a friend to all who were privileged to know her. The wolves and humans at the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Foundation are grieving her passing and missing her earthly presence. Those who share our admiration and love for animals understand how precious each of the wolves is and how great is the gift of their complete trust and steadfast, unconditional love.
Spirit, The Blue-eyed Minx
Now for a bit about the other half of the Foundations ambassador, Spirit. As with her sister, growth to near adult size by the time they are 6 months old seems to be the only job take seriously. Play seemed to be their next most important task! Nothing was sacred, Mark having lost several lengths of leather shoe lace, replacing the laces with bones, rawhides, and other more suitable toys.
August 2008, the young blue eyed miss has grown, oh my how she has grown!! No longer with eyes of blue, but a penetrating yellow, her coat has started losing the 'puppy fur' and is transforming into young wolf. Spirit's new silver-black 'fur' wardrobe is a precursor to the adult that she will be.
Even at this early stage of her development the wolf instincts are hard at work and quickly boil to the surface. Those who have intimate knowledge of things wild always remind us that under all this 'cute' lies a wild animal. This is so true even of these young pups; the wariness that females exhibit toward strange males in the wild, be they human or wolf, finds itself on the surface. Spirit, only 3 1/2 months old, is extremely cautious around men she does not know well. Children, her favorite are just other wolves on two legs and are companions of choice after Mark who brings food. Women also seem to elicit joyful play from Spirit, as testified by garments with new arrangements after an encounter. While Spirit allows adult men entrance to her pen, she is never really still, constantly in motion ever alert and wary. The picture to the right testifies to this behavior, one can seem to see her ready to dart in the opposite direction. The calming hand and arm shown here is the solace that stopped her constant pacing while the photo was taken.
The Elusive Merlin
Click Photo to Enlarge
A very rare photo of the camera shy Merlin. He has become even more reticent as time goes on. The most one sees of him is a black blur as he darts for the den. This is a rare shot of the young male; hopefully this will change in time. Your challenge when you visit is to capture a second photo of this shy wolf.