Introducing Wolf Daddy

The night sky was full of a thousand stars. It was pitch black and the beam from my wind up torch was starting to fade. I passed the abandoned trailer, ready to turn in for the night. Branches crackled ahead. A chill ran down my spine. Could the Coyote have returned? How far is it to my yard? Do Coyotes attack humans? These questions poured through my mind as I raced through the exposed wilderness. My heart thumped in my chest. I could swear eyes were following me. I raced through the gate. Locked it. Raced through my door. Now, this is the point where most of us would laugh at our stupidity, “There was nothing out there!” High pitched huffing screamed through the night. The wolves howled in response. The Coyote had returned. It had been watching me. I wondered, how close did it get…

Having a wild Coyote prowl outside my home was another one of the unexpected parts of the trip. The other night, I heard the alien howl just after I’d gotten up to use the facilities. I stepped outside and saw a Coyote about 20 meters away, near the outhouse. I’m now at the end of a very long week, although tomorrow I still have to be up for 8am rounds! I finally feel settled and am staring to get a lot more responsibility. Today we we’re left in charge to feed the dogs and loaf raw meat to make wolf food. Tuesday is test day, and if I pass I’ll be able to move on to rounds testing, and then I’ll begin animal training. This means I’ll finally get to go inside one of the habitats and start interacting with an assigned animal! Eventually I’ll be able to take my wolf or wolf dog on walks.


Nikki and Maki - No putting fingers through or you'll loose them!



This trip is full of surprises!

Another unexpected part of the trip came when Layton asked me and Katie to help him feed the dogs. “You’re the one who went to film school, right?” My ears pricked up at the opportunity. Layton is in the process of expanding the Wild Spirit name to help get more funding to better care for the wolves. He’s mostly doing this through YouTube videos. One of his various projects is very similar in nature to The Dog Whisperer, called Wolf Daddy (and in fact, he’s had a few meetings with Caser). I filmed the feeding. Layton was sat by the fence with several dogs around him. I tried best to capture his interview and close ups on the dogs. If I pass this test I’ll be able to do more filming and possibly some editing. An amazing opportunity to help on an up and coming project with potential (Layton is presently attempting to get a series on Animal Planet).


Tomorrow we’re going into Grants to check out the WalMart and see what else is around. It’s amazing to think that the first biggish town is at least an hour away! I look forward to having a bit of time to myself, just to adjust to the new environment and take it all in. Hopefully I’ll pass my various tests in the week and get onto some more serious animal interaction soon.