Sanctuary Update

Winter is an absolutely beautiful season at the sanctuary. The animals are all in their full fur and look spectacular. Frequent snowfalls make the scenery breathtaking. The animals seem to enjoy the cold and snow even more than the humans. They love to frolic in it and a number of them do what we call the snow-plow. They stick their noses about four inches into the new snow and run, plowing a small furrow as they go.

Unfortunately, winter is when there are fewer volunteers coming to the facility due to the road conditions and winter break at Colorado State University. This is also when there is more that needs to be done because of the snow and cold. Snow shoveling needs to be done frequently and water buckets require much more attention. Therefore we undertake fewer outside projects both at the facility and in regards to rescue in general.

We were however, able to finish the enlargements on three of our older and smaller enclosures. They now have well over a quarter-acre of space and an emergency containment area. The emergency containment area is a smaller segment of their total enclosure, which is set up to help us capture animals more easily when evacuations or medical procedures are required. Many of the animals at the sanctuary must be darted in order to capture them. Darting in a smaller area is much more efficient and safe.

The quarterly volunteer meeting was held on February 20, 2005. Wolf volunteers attending received a course in Canine CPR. At the next meeting we will offer a class in Emergency and General Physical Examinations. We are also making arrangements to have a speaker from the Division of Wildlife to keep us informed on the Colorado Wolf Management Plan. Please update your contact information with Brandy so you can receive notification of future meetings and events. You can call her at: 970-224-1295 or email her at: brussell02@msn.com.

Most of the animals are doing great. Some of our older residents give us scares from time to time, but are hanging in there. Nanook is just about 12 years old and has been diagnosed with neuropathy. He does not appear to be in any pain, but does get somewhat embarrassed at times when his back end does not cooperate. Our two oldest residents, Ashley and Jasmine at 17 years old, don’t show any signs of slowing down. Even though Jasmine is almost totally blind, she still gets around great and does not appear to be suffering at all. Ghost, at 13 years old, has developed some skin and coat problems along with arthritis, but with supplements and extra care he is doing good. Although we know they age must faster than humans, it gets very difficult to deal with at times.