Wolf Stories, Peta

Peta

sex: male
born: April 1999
birth place: New Mexico
champions: Candy Kitchen Rescue Ranch

Almost every animal at Wolf has had a champion, someone who connected with them and their plight. A special person who went the distance to find them a home at Wolf.

given sanctuary: 27 June 1999

Peta's Story

Peta (pronounced pay-tah’) is one of three puppies received from the Candy Kitchen Rescue Ranch in New Mexico. They had been confiscated on 29 May 99 from a breeder who was not taking care of her animals properly. In total, 14 animals were confiscated and needed homes. Although there were five puppies in the litter, the other two were in worse condition, and were finally placed at a rescue in Thoreau, New Mexico.

When received at Candy Kitchen, all five were close to death. Only four to six weeks old, this was not a very good start at life. As the staff at Candy Kitchen began to medically treat the pups, they began dropping over. It turned out that they were all so infested with worms that they were suffering from extreme malnutrition. All of them were medicated for these parasites, and went through the three-day elimination process that followed. The pups began improving immediately, and showing the wild side of their genes. Trying to make sure that the pups received their daily medications and supplements became a test of agility and pain control. When cornered and pinned, they would fear-bite the hands that held them. Peta earned the nick-name of ‘Snapper’. By the end of June, three of the five pups were doing well enough to be moved to the Wolf facility.

On 27 June 1999, Barbara Berge (Director of Candy Kitchen) delivered the pups, and they began their life at Wolf. Very scared and skittish, they were kept in an isolation enclosure for their adjustment time-frame. Even though they began to calm down, they still wanted nothing to do with humans. Anxious to get the puppies into the large enclosure with Whisper (an adult female), we began the puppy roundup on 05 July. We were confident that, at less than three months of age, Whisper would readily accept the pups as hers, and raise them accordingly. Of course, there is only one way to find out, and that is to do it. Catching the pups was both tiring and painful; ‘Snapper’ lived-up to his reputation. However, all were placed in a travel kennel and moved to their permanent enclosure. Traumatized and anxious to get out of the travel kennel, they dispersed quickly. After noticing Whisper, they quickly ran to her and began their puppy begging and subordination routine. Whisper’s attitude began with extreme curiosity, and quickly switched to maternal behaviors. Within 20 minutes of their release, Whisper was regurgitating food for her new litter. The pups readily accepted her attentions, and began the bonding process with their new mother.

This type of quick acceptance of puppies is very normal from our experiences, and seems to personify the extreme social nature and needs of wolves. Puppies seem to be the reason for the pack’s existence. No matter which individuals we have introduced puppies to, there has never been a rejection problem. Whisper’s immediate acceptance was ecstatically welcomed, as the regurgitation process passes essential stomach enzymes on to the puppies. Getting those enzymes into puppies is important to their digestive process and helps their long-term physical condition.

Peta and his siblings have gained their health back and grown very fast. They enjoy playing and running with each other, but are still very shy of humans. They do show improvement, and are now coming to within 5 to 10 feet of some of the individuals they are most comfortable with.

Performing medical exams and giving vaccinations is very difficult with all of the animals that are not social with humans. Darting them is not an exact science, and is not as simple as it looks on Wild Kingdom. The more stressed the animal, the higher the degree of adrenaline flowing in their system, which seems to counteract the effects of the tranquilizers that are injected. We continue to refine our chemical mixtures and procedures with our vets. The darting process is getting better, but is still very traumatic for two-leggeds, as well as the four-leggeds.

Names with a message?

After receiving the three pups from New Mexico, Wolf ran a ‘name that cub’ contest. We received many good entries. In fact, so many good entries that it suddenly reminded us that we had to choose from all of the wonderful names. As we were deliberating over how to make the choice, we discovered that we had received two identical entries from two different sources. These entries were so unusual in their nature, we were convinced that they were the correct names for the new puppies.

Makoce (mah-co’-chay) for the female, which means Earth in Lakota.
Tate (tah-tay’) for the lighter colored male, which means Wind in Lakota.
Peta (pay-tah’) for the darker colored male (old name ‘Snapper’), which means Fire in Lakota.

Become A Member of Wolf