Paws first

Saturday morning Jen and I got up early and headed to find a place to eat.  We ended up at the Chocolate Moose for breakfast.  I had eggs, ham, hash browns and cranberry wild rice toast.

The International Wolf Center was our first stop as they opened the earliest.

Wolf Sculpture

Jen at the Wolf Center.  It is her birthday today!  A number of years ago she was born  and once reaching 40 she declared she was going backwards instead of forward… Happy Birthday Jen!  Thank you for the adventure!

The International Wolf Center is an educational center, they understand that there is much controversy about wolves. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. 

There were only four other people in the viewing room at various times.  The wolves were out the entire time we were there.  They have a 1 1/2 acre enclosure.  All photos were taken from inside through the glass.

They have five wolves on display and two wolves in a retirement area who are not viewed except on camera.

A Northwestern Gray Wolf this guy is the largest wolf his name is Denali. He is one impressive wolf.

Great Plains Wolf or Timber Wolf…the kind we have here in Minnesota. This is Boltz born in 2012.  He was more standoffish than the other wolves.

Arctic Wolves these two are characters they are young and playful. They were born in May of 2016 in captivity in Canada. They are brothers Axel and Grayson.  (Boltz in the background.)

The other Northwestern Gray Wolf Aidan who was born in 2008. Aiden is the leader of the pack.

All of the wolves are males and they have all been neutered.

The Arctic Wolves playing. In this photo you can see how the wolves vary in color.

Arctic, Timber and Northwestern wolves. 

I really enjoyed watching the wolves and learning a bit more about them.  Did you know they only eat once a week?   At the Center they eat deer…road killed deer.  We were fortunate to see them, one of the volunteers said many people don’t see them at all as they are elsewhere in the enclosure.

Next stop in Ely Minnesota is Claws!