Spirit

sex: male
born: March 1998 (est.)
birth place: Colorado

given sanctuary: 07 August 1998

 

 

Spirit's Story

Spirit’s story begins many months before anyone at Wolf ever knew he existed. Born at a wildlife photography preserve in Colorado, Spirit’s life began as do all wolf/wolf dog pups: safe and warm, lying close up against his mom’s furry belly, feeling her warm tongue cleaning his own fuzzy little body, and the taste of warm milk in his mouth. Life for Spirit and his siblings would have gone well, except for fate.

The owner of the preserve had been forced to move his facility to another state. While in the process of setting up the new facility, he hired a full-time caretaker to run the old facility and care for the wolves, mountain lions, bears, and foxes that lived there. The owner of the refuge put his trust in the caretaker, but trust is not always rewarded in kind. Pups were born at the facility, and it is believed that some of them were stolen by the caretaker. Several were sold to a photography preserve in Montana, and two were kept by the caretaker. The pups were basically “wolf-napped”. The caretaker kept them at his home in a small enclosure without shelter, and was remiss in their consistent care. As the pups grew, it became apparent that the caretaker had no options for the further use of them.

In July, 1998, the owner of another rescue that we had worked with in the past contacted us. It seems that she had received a phone call from the caretaker. He said he had two pure wolves he needed to place. This person refused to give her any information about where the pups had come from, who the real owner was, or anything else. He just needed to get rid of them. This lady runs a reputable rescue and education facility, and she was concerned about the legitimacy of this person. She contacted Wolf to learn if we knew anything about this situation. Wolf personnel did know something of this situation, and informed her about what we believed to be the full story. It will suffice to say that the Colorado Division of Wildlife became involved, and the caretaker eventually lost his license to maintain wildlife in this state. One of the pups was taken to the other refuge, and Spirit came to live at Wolf. Spirit was 5 ½ months old at the time.

Spirit’s story continues with one of those amazing little miracles that often seem to happen where wolves are involved. Shortly after Spirit arrived at Wolf, we received a phone call from a lady who wanted to visit the facility and spend some time with the animals. We receive calls of this type all the time, and sometimes it is just curiosity on behalf of the caller, but there was something in her voice that Frank picked up on, and a time was set for her to visit the facility.

When the lady arrived, Frank greeted her and was talking to her about which enclosure she would be taken into. Frank was shocked when the lady said:“Oh, I know exactly which enclosure. I need to go in with Spirit.” The woman saw the shocked expression on Frank’s face and started to explain. “You see”, she said, “I have known Spirit since he was a few weeks old. I just didn’t know where he was until very recently.” The woman continued her amazing story. “I used to take care of him and his brother when they were kept next door to where I live (the caretakers home), and then, one day, they just disappeared.” She went on with her story:“The man that kept them would not tell me what had happened to them. Then, very recently, my 18 year-old son was killed in a climbing accident.” Everyone present was stunned and, as you can imagine, at a loss for words. The woman looked at us all with very gentle eyes and continued to explain. For the past three months, since her son’s death, she had lost all interest in living. She had been going through the motions: getting up, going to work, eating and sleeping. She seemed to have lost all love of life; she even refused to open her mail. Nothing held her interest. Then, one day while at work, she felt an overwhelming urge to go out to her car and go through the mail she had been ignoring for months. As she leafed through the stack that had accumulated on the front seat, she came across the Wolf newsletter. A voice, she truly believed was her son, told her to open it. She listened to the voice, and to her amazement there on the front page, was a photo of Spirit. Tears came to her eyes, and she believed her son had directed her to find Spirit, in order to help her on her healing path.

And so we bring you back to the Wolf facility, where this woman is now approaching the enclosure where Spirit lives. As she approached and was let inside the enclosure, she called out to Spirit, now at least six months older than the last time she saw him.

Spirit’s reaction to Kari was truly one of the most amazing things ever witnessed at Wolf.  Everyone present was in tears, as this magnificent animal and the person who had cared for him as a pup were reunited. I still get goose bumps remembering how Spirit and Kari cried, laughed, and rolled on the ground, full of joy at having found each other. They gave each other kisses, and all present shared in their happiness.

We are happy to tell you that Kari still visits Spirit at the Wolf Sanctuary, where Spirit lives with his companion animal, Cheyenne. Spirit, as of this writing, is about 2 ½ years old. It is still a joy to watch the interaction between Sprit and Kari.

As for Kari herself, she, of course, still grieves for the loss of her son, but knows that he is with her. She has been able to continue on with her life and thanks Spirit for helping her on the path her son pointed out to her.

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