For Tigers in the Wild Adventure
Requirement 7
Our den did most of Tigers in the Wild during their camping trip. My son couldn't go because of a stomach flu. So, we made other plans!
We were so excited to go to Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary in Montgomery, TX! I LOVE wolves so I was super excited for this requirement.
I made a shirt for my son to wear that has his pack # and that he was a tiger. At the time, he didn't have his pack shirt. So he wore his "new" pack shirt on this adventure.
When you park, you have a small hike to reach your area. Then you sign a release form. Then you wait for your guide to start. As your sitting there, you can see all the wolf dogs and the one wolf they have. Beautiful! And let me tell you, right within 5 minutes you will have a favorite. My son's favorite was Big Boy and mine was Achilles.It was also lunch time for the wolves. So it was interesting to see how they were fed.
When the guide starts, he gives you some basic history of how this wolf sanctuary started. How it's run, what they feed the wolves, how people mislabel dogs as wolf dogs, and the traits of a wolf.
He asked the 2 boys there, who has a stronger bite. Shark, wolf, dog? My son said wolf. All the adults said shark. He was right, we were wrong. So the guy looked at my son and told him he had a gift for him in the gift shop. What can I say? That got my son's attention!
Then we started our tour.
Here is the link to the Bio's of the wolves:
http://www.saintfrancissanctuary.org/bios.htm
Here is the link to the Bio's of the wolves:
http://www.saintfrancissanctuary.org/bios.htm
First we saw the enclosure for Tala and Remus. And we were told how they came to be there. Remus' brother is also on the premises but separated far away as possible to stop the fights. We were also told how much wolf was in each animal. Stories of the animals that show just how intelligent they are. You gain a deep respect for each animal, if not love them.
And thats how the tour continued. You learn about the background of each animal. What percentage of wolf they are. The personalities of each one. You learn about wolf traits vs dog traits. You learn who the alpha is and how she still controls the others. Mystery is a beautiful yet such dainty alpha.
You learn about the 3 pack that they have, the first to be known in an enclosure of 2 females and 1 male. It was awesome!
Here are some pictures.
After you have seen all the wolves and learned so much about them, you get to meet and PET a wolf dog! Yes, she is of lower wolf content but who cares! Interesting fact: we went there right after it rained. When we petted Tala, the guide had us smell our hands. No wet dog smell!
Here are some pictures of Tala walking down , letting the visitors pet her.
After Tala left back to her area, we were set free to explore a little. They have a cool memorial that was set up for the wolves that have passed. My son wanted to see it and I have to warn you, its sad. But it was beautiful! Want to take a guess at who built it? It was an Eagle Scout project for a young man in 2011 from troop 928. I think he did an awesome job!
After having a quiet moment walking around and reading the names of the wolves that have passed, my son hunted down our tour guide. And this is the surprise that he had for him.
My son and I were taken aback by the Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary patch. But it was a pleasant surprise. Then we hunted down the gift shop and did some serious shopping. Did I mention I love wolves? I had to get a beautiful necklace that had Mystery's fur inside. Not to mention it is getting close to 2016, so I had to get a new calendar. T-shirts are always great to have, so my son and I bought matching T-shirts. They had grab bags, cups, beautiful pictures, magnets, Christmas tree Ornaments... I went a little nuts. LOL
But all the proceeds go directly back to the wolves. So hey, they need it, right?
And yes, they DO need it! They are in desperate need of repairing a fence. This fence will cost them $20,000. So go visit them! If you don't have time, there are many other ways to help.
Many ways to help
GoFundMe Page for the fence
Another way you can help is by going to their amazon page and buying from their wish list. Or through Amazon Smile. Anything will help.
Amazon Wish List
I hope ya'll can go out and visit. I had a blast and my son swears he did too! And you can always use cub scouts as an excuse to go visit. He just NEEDS a new badge, right?
You learn about the 3 pack that they have, the first to be known in an enclosure of 2 females and 1 male. It was awesome!
Here are some pictures.
Here are some pictures of Tala walking down , letting the visitors pet her.
After having a quiet moment walking around and reading the names of the wolves that have passed, my son hunted down our tour guide. And this is the surprise that he had for him.
But all the proceeds go directly back to the wolves. So hey, they need it, right?
And yes, they DO need it! They are in desperate need of repairing a fence. This fence will cost them $20,000. So go visit them! If you don't have time, there are many other ways to help.
Many ways to help
GoFundMe Page for the fence
Another way you can help is by going to their amazon page and buying from their wish list. Or through Amazon Smile. Anything will help.
Amazon Wish List
I hope ya'll can go out and visit. I had a blast and my son swears he did too! And you can always use cub scouts as an excuse to go visit. He just NEEDS a new badge, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment