What's Going On at Wild Spirit?

July 15, 2008


Talking Talons Wildfest Head over to Tijeras for this year's annual Talking Talons Wildfest! Our outreach team will be there with one of our wolf ambassadors and merchandise table for you to take home a wolf-themed souvenir. There will be several other animal organizations, including birds of prey and reptiles. There will also be magicians, face painters, dancers, a car show, a Star Lab from UNM observatory, and music. We hope to see you at this family-fun event! Date: Saturday, July 26th Where: Roosevelt Middle School 1179 Highway 337 (South 14) Tijeras, NM Time: 10 am - 4 pm Website: www.talkingtalons.com	Although it is a little dated, we were able to put up another video. It is a birthday video of all the Arctic pups when they turned two years old. Check it out on the Videos page!
	It is going to be a VERY busy weekend for our ambassadors and the outreach team. We'll be spending three days at the Fire and Ice Motorcycle Ralley, with Forest probably spending the most time there. Forest will grace the grounds for sure on Friday, and the rest of the week will play by ear. We have another event going on: the Torreon Wild Fest in Show Low, Arizona. Storm will be attending Torreon on Saturday, and may make an appearance at Fire and Ice on Sunday. This coming weekend should be exciting and full of fun, and we hope to see you at either one of these two events!
The Tale of a Tooth For several weeks, we noticed a problem with Lakota. He would develop a lump on his nose that would last a few days. Then, it would seem to pop or lacerate, in which case it would grow scabby. Finally, after a week or two later, it would disappear. This happened three times! The first time we saw it, we imagined it was just a scratch from a branch. The second time, it was becoming cause for concern, and we watched it more carefully. After the third time, we knew Lakota should visit the vet. We took him in last week, not knowing what the problem could be. Was it just an absecess? Or perhaps an early sign of bone cancer? The vet looked him over, and after a few minutes of probing, she found a fragment of tooth lodged in the nose. When Lakota's surgery was all done, an entire front canine was extracted from his nose. Although we do not know for certain how it got stuck in there, the vet imagined that somehow, Lakota's canine broke off and became lodged in the roof of his mouth. Slowly but surely, the tooth, trying to work its way out of the body, traveled up to Lakota's nose. The good news is that the entire canine was fully extracted, and now Lakota is spending two weeks in our isolation enclosure in the one-acre. (This is where Sunbear was staying, but he has fully healed from his surgery and is happily back in with his love, Luna.) Once Lakota has his stitches removed, we will place him back in his enclosure. Send good thoughts to Lakota! I Need a New Home! When Doc lost his companion, Whitney, we were trying to find him a new girl to go in with. We tried both Shakti and Lycea, but they proved too dominant for the poor submissive Doc. He remained by himself while we searched for a new girlfriend. In the meantime, we picked up a Momma dog and her three pups. Their owner asked for a consultation, and when we arrived, we decided to take the family and find them a good home. The three pups were adopted out, and Momma was placed in with Doc to give him company until we could find him a more permanent mate. The good news is that if everything goes according to plan, Doc will have a girlfriend in August. What about poor Momma? She was removed from Doc's enclosure after they got into an argument, and now lives in one of our smaller pens by herself, only being visited by one of her pups every now and then. She is awaiting a new home! Momma is probably a very low content wolf-dog, but is very sweet. She loves attention of any kind and seems to get along with the volunteers and other visitors. She is around 50 lbs, and although she is spayed, has not had all of her shots. We are guessing she is at least six years old, but we do not know her age for certain. Momma would be a perfect companion in an adult home. If you have any questions or would like to know more about Momma, please call us at (505) 775-3304 or email us at info@wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org	Our volunteers are still extremely busy on all the different projects being juggled around the Sanctuary. Josh, Matt, Jay, Adam, and Josh are working on the fox enclosure, and are currently working on the back wall, which will when complete, look like a rock formation. Taylor, along with occasionally another volunteer, are working on the fountain in our courtyard. It is looking better every single day! Mary is diligently rebuilding Nimoy and Rain's house in their enclosure. If it works according to plan, the house should end up quite cute! Swing by the Sanctuary and see all of the work we have accomplished yourself!
	A trip to town on Monday made us remember how much we are wishing for the Dymo Stamps Desktop Mailing Solution. After traveling around Albuquerque all day, we could just not find a post office to save our life. When we were finally making progress, it was after five o' clock, and our hopes for mailing off some sponsorship packages were shattered. The DYMO Stamps Desktop Mailing Solution would allow us to print off our own mailing labels and USPS postages. We would pay for shipping online, and then send it right from our mailing box without even wasting an ounce of gas! DYMO Stamps would be a dream come true. Check it out on their site http://global.dymo.com/enUS/Stamps/default.html, or learn more about it on our Wish List.
	"May May Ali Gets in on the 'Geronimo Sign' Act" Visited the sanctuary and have a great picture to share? Send your photo to webmistress@wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org and have your photo featured as Photo of the Week!
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? We are going to receive a fox! A zoo in Davenport, Iowa, is shutting down and is looking for new homes for their animals. We received their three wolves, and soon, a red fox named Romeo will be heading our way. Before he can arrive, we have to build him an enclosure, which is already under way. When complete, it will have a fountain and stream, a rock cave den, plenty of bushes and brush, and a secured back area complete with a guillotine gate. This endeavor is going to cost around $3,000. We could use your help in raising money for this enclosure!	Another way for a wolf to breed is to stay with its natal pack and try to become apart of an extra breeding pair. This is very rare, and only seems to work if there is enough prey to not only support two litters, but to ease tensions with plentiful food sources.