Volunteering at Wolf Run Wildlife Refuge has been an incredible experience! The amount of team work, time, dedication, care, and love that is involved in this organization is overwhelming. There is not a single person that works with the facility who is not completely dedicated to the care of the animals. Everyone pitches in to get the animals fed, watered, and well cared for. The animals, especially the wolf dogs, are always excited to see their human friends. They are welcoming of people into their enclosures and are always excited for some interaction even if it takes them some time to decide if they want to interact. The past couple of times I have assisted with pulling weeds and cleaning a meat freezer. It's very rewarding to see the pile of weeds that have been removed from in and around the enclosures; it makes me want to do more and try harder. Even though these animals are obviously not able to give anything back other than the occasional affection, its extremely satisfying and motivating to take a step back and notice the large difference of the removal of the weeds. The animals look at us in a funny way; its almost comical. Sometimes we make up things of what they would say or think about us and it makes for a good time, especially when the weather is less than desirable. The wolf dogs are pretty entertaining in their interactions; last week Char and I went into an enclosure with two wolf dogs and a coyote. The coyote and the male wolf dog never interact but the female wolf dog will come pretty close and likes to watch us. So when we went in the female ran up to Char and wanted to play with her until she looked at her face and realized Char wasn't the person she thought! She just ran away but it was like one of those awkward moments when you see someone you thought was your best friend and you go to give them a high five or hug and then its actually some random person. This same wolf dog also enjoys watching us from the top of her shelter. She lays there with her paws crossed as if she is looking over her kingdom and we are her slaves yet she will not lower herself to us and actually interact but we are acceptable from a distance. Watching the wolf dogs interact with us and each other reveals a lot about how society works in the real world. It has been a great learning experience so far.
I enjoyed reading your blog post! Volunteering at Wolf Run seems like it would be a fun and interesting experience. What kind of volunteer work do you conduct at Wolf Run, and are you able to have direct contact with the animals?
ReplyDeleteThank you! We do get to interact with the animals, not constantly,but we get to interact with them and help to socialize the younger ones. A lot of the animals have been abused or are too wild, such as the coyotes, to have human interaction.
DeleteThis is such an interesting place to volunteer! Reading your blog post makes me want to learn more about Wolf Run and to potentially volunteer there in the future outside of our service learning class! It seems like such a unique experience, and to think that at the same time you are helping all the animals. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is a very unique opportunity as I would have never been around wolf dogs without this experience. We also get to feed and pet deer that they have on the property! I was surprised how friendly they are. It's extremely rewarding to help these animals who were once wild and independent and now rely on humans for their life.
DeleteThis is such an interesting place to volunteer! Reading your blog post makes me want to learn more about Wolf Run and to potentially volunteer there in the future outside of our service learning class! It seems like such a unique experience, and to think that at the same time you are helping all the animals. Great post!
ReplyDelete