Colorado Wolf & Wildlife Sanctuary: Running with the Pack

July 15, 2021:

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The sun rose over the towering peaks of Denver. The blue twilight and rolling hills seemed to intersect at their zenith. It was the start of my first morning in Colorado. Just 84 miles Southwest of Denver in the small town of Divide, which lay just west of Colorado Springs, I could already hear the beautiful and melodic howling of wolves. They were calling me like a siren’s song. A ferocious cry that drew me closer and closer as I sped down the interstate and into the mountains. I had first learned of this place a few years ago thanks to YouTube and Facebook. While perusing animal videos, as one does on social media, I found myself amazed at a video called “Kekoa Kisses for Danielle.”

As I sped thru Colorado Springs and into what seemed like a picture out of an old west movie, I found myself carefully careening through the small town of Divide until I saw my destination in the form of a hand-carved marquee entrance. I carefully approached the main entrance but passed the main parking area and accidentally drove onto a private driveway behind the guest house. Oops!

With my bad parking behind me, I got acquainted with my tour guides and was given a brief rundown of rules in the form of a neat wristband the signified that I was a VIP guest. I began my tour of this wildlife Xanadu with a visit to a fox corral. Until this moment, I had NEVER seen a fox in person before. As a kid, foxes normally were unfairly portrayed as dishonest antagonists in fairy tales and fables; not exactly fair-minded role models and wildly inaccurate from real-life. Then again, what do you expect from a society that constantly associates these crimson-furred cuties with thievery and trickery? Either that, or everyone in society owned a freakin’ chicken coop. Sheesh. Ok, the trickery thing might be a bit on the nose, but there was more to these pointy-eared creatures than hunting and stealth. One look at these curious critters and I could easily see why the furry community adores them. For starters, I kinda envied their bushy tails, which are technically called a brush. They also, interestingly enough, do not howl and rarely bark. The sound they make is something akin to a hyena laugh, albeit more high-pitched mixed with a puppy whimper and a cat’s meow. So if Ylvis is still asking what does the fox say, tell him it is what happens when a hyena, a puppy and a cat get together to do karaoke. They were, did I mention, SO cute! I loved their little paws, the color of their fur, and how soft it felt. I just trembled with joy as I fed them and fought back not to laugh out loud as they licked my hands. I asked any of them if they personally knew Robin Hood or Nick Wilde. They said no, but they said they were fans of The Animals of Farthing Wood, Vuk and The Bluffers. Apparently, we humans and foxes do have much in common: we all love cult-classic animation from Europe involving talking forest animals. Look it up, kids.

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After my vulpine encounter, one I am still feeling a high from, I ventured into the heart of the wolf den. Or pen. Or wooded area. Either way, my heart was racing but it was from excitement. I was introduced to two giants of the forest: two timber wolves (aka grey wolves). One had black fur with hints of grey around his torso and legs with a small tuft of fur on his head. The other was a more traditionally colored timber wolf with a grey/beige shading that blended in with the forest. All I was told was to keep quiet, crouch on my knees, accept any movements from them, and that they really liked to be scratched around the armpit area. The large black one slowly approached me and wasted no time making friends. He licked my face with such enthusiasm; in those first few seconds, I felt a real connection. I had been around big dogs before like St. Bernards (a favorite breed of mine) and Alaskan Malamutes (another one of my favorite breeds) and I always noticed that they are very affectionate probably due in part to their size and temperament unlike smaller dogs which can be more aggressive and noisy. These wolves, however, looked more like huskies that got swole and pumped! Then again, they aren’t so different. Their fur, unlike foxes, was bit thicker, probably due in part to them molting their winter fur which just fell off like giant balls of lint. They also had a musky scent that was, and I still maintain, was not as unpleasant as I thought it would be; it just seemed to fade away into the air. The ambiance, by the way, was too perfect. I was being smooched by a pair of wolves under a clear sky, under a canopy of pine trees while the sound of birds chirping in the distance made this furry tableau all too wonderful for words.

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To wrap up my lupine love-fest, I was introduced to two more wolves: one was a timber wolf with a light-grey texture and an arctic wolf that had bright white fur with a dark pink nose. Much like the black one, the Arctic one wasted no time befriending me with its long, wet tongue. But rather than go across my face, this one went straight for my ears and knew just where I was ticklish. If I was feeling a rush of excitement before, this wolf took it to a whole new level. I had gained a whole, new appreciation for wolves after that morning.

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Prior to this, I had gained a love of them through the CWWC’s YouTube videos and Facebook page. Oh, and Netflix’s hit anime, Beastars, based on the best-selling manga series. This show introduced me to Legoshi, a large grey wolf who, un-stereotypically, is not ferocious and is a quiet, gentle, somewhat-introvert who keeps to himself until he falls in love with a rabbit named Haru which challenges his feelings as well as his carnivorous instincts. If you haven’t watched it yet, please do so. Think of it as an R-rated version of Zootopia or an anthropomorphic soap opera from Japan.

To top it all off, I left that place smelling of nature and leaving with an armful of souvenirs including a giant stuffed fox. Think of it as a gift. From me… to me! AWWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!