The Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, Lucerne Valley, Calif.

Please plan on attending if you live anywhere near Oxnard, CA... We need your support and it will be a great event!

The wolves still have the sniffles from all the smoke they inhaled due to the Butler 2 fire.. :(

Blue's eye is not getting better. We have not given up yet, he is still on antibiotics and eye drops... If you are a REIKI master, please call Tonya at 760-248-7818 and come up and do a healing on Blue, he REALLY needs it.

Istas, brat that he is decided he wanted the shorts Tonya was wearing the other day when she was cleaning the pen and guess what? he got them.... Yes, good ole' Istas grabbed her shorts and ripped them off! As Tonya tried to cover herself, Yawto had to goose her..... Those two are tons of fun!!! LOL

The wolves winter fur is coming in very thick this year, hopefully that means a good cold winter. They are at their photo finest so please come for a visit to see them.

The latest project at WMS is a visitor restroom. We have been renting a porta-potty but it is too expensive at $125/month. A toilet has been donated and Mitsubishi has donated the cement for the slab. All we need is some lumber and an experienced person to build it..... If you know of anyone, please call Tonya...

That's all for now folks, got to get back to getting ready for the show this wkd!

Well the "Butler 2" fire is finally contained. Tonya and staff spent a week helping people evacuate horses, cats and dogs. It was pretty scary at the fire got within 10 miles of the sanctuary. The smoke was horrendous and the wolves hated it....

Doug Shumway at Mitsubishi Cement was on stand-by with water trucks in case the fire got near the sanctuary to keep us safe... Thanks again Doug, you are always there for us!!!

Blue still has glaucoma in his eye and the vet said they may have to remove it, please pray for Blue..

Summer is always tough for us as it gets so hot that visitors do not come to see the wolves.

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Sorry I have not been updating this weekly story. I have been very busy with WMS and helping some friends in Dog Rescue.

We have implemented some new fundraisers, the Wolf Bottle Pendants and Wolf Pictures for sale on www.digitalsbydanna.com. Check them out. We will be listing them on EBay soon.

We are trying to get some grants and I have been working hard trying to find them. If you have any info on grants we may be able to get or can help with grant writing, please send me an email at wolfmtnsanctuary@yahoo.com.

This summer has been hard on WMS as they always are. The wolves and the staff have to deal with the triple digit temperatures and it is hard. There are not many visitors during the summer so if you can help out and send a donation that would be greatly appreciated.

Work is going slow on Tamaka's pen. Fencing companies are not wanting to work on our HARD ground as it breaks heavy equipment. We have one company that is lined up but not until the hot summer is over as they are booked solid. We have got some work done on it by using a jack hammer that is being donated a few days at a time by a staff member's father. He has to use it in his business so we can just use it when it is available. The fencing is waiting for us to get done. Tamaka is doing well and is eating and keeping his weight good. He seems to be over the grieving period.

The pups are all grown up and they have all have their roles in their pack. Wanagi is the alpha female. Yawto is the alpha male. Istas is the beta and Wacipi is the omega. Wanagi and Istas are mates and in love. :)

Apache is getting older and older. All he seems to do is lay on the cool grass and sleep. Tonya is giving him herbs to help him. It is getting harder and harder for him to get up. He walks very slowly but still considers himself the WMS alpha. He still checks the different compounds from outside each day and goes into his sleeping compound for the night. During the day and evening he wanders the sanctuary and keeps watch in between naps. Please come and visit Apache before he goes to the sky people. When that happens it will be VERY hard for all of us, especially the wolves and Tonya.

Age is also setting in on Dakota and Segoni, though Durango still seems young. There is always a tug of war for alpha in this compound. It goes from Segoni to Durango sometimes daily. Dakota doesn't care and just wants to get his belly rubbed. *giggle*.

Niwah and Blue are doing well. The juveniles, Wakinyan, Wana and Shanta are still bad kids. They don't get tours as much as they used to as they sometimes get too excited and a little rough, so we play it by ear.

Sedona and Mireya are still separated and we will not put them together until they have a bigger area. They play a little too rough with each other.

Mishomi is still the big lover and the biggest wolf.

Hope you enjoyed the update....

Howls to you all!

Angelwolf

Happy New Year Wishes from Wolf Mountain Sanctuary!

The wolves and the staff of Wolf Mountain wish you the best in the upcoming new year.

My weekly story is about the "Tail Posture" of wolves. It's amazing how you can read a wolves' mood by the posture of his tail.

	This high tail position indicated the wolf is the dominant wolf, most likely an alpha male or female (the ones that lead the pack).

	This horizontal stiffly held tail position indicated the wolf is going to attack or is hunting.

	The wagging of a wolf's tail in this manner indicates that the wolf is relaxed.

	This somewhat drooped tail position indicated the wolf is relatively relaxed.

	This drooped tail position indicated the wolf is even more relaxed.

	This half tail tuck along with a partially arched back indicated that a wolf is humbling itself to a more dominant wolf and is a form of submission.

	This fully tucked tail along with a highly arched back shows that a wolf is extremely in fear of something (a more dominant wolf) and is another form of submission.
Thank all of you that have helped to support Wolf Mountain Sanctuary throughout the year of 2004. We could not have made it without you! You still have time to make a donation for 2004 that is tax-deductible! Come and visit if you can.... it's an experience you will never forget, you get to interact with the wolves... Adopt a wolf for 2005 and help a rescued endangered noble animal have a better life! Remember, be careful when you look into the eyes of a wolf, you will see your soul.... Photos & text of wolf posturing By Karyln Atkinson Berg - www.timberwolfinformation.org )

Wolves have a very good sense of smell; it is about 100 times greater than humans. This sense of smell is used in various ways for communication amongst the wolves. Wolves mark their territories with urine and fecies, which is called scent-marking. When wolves from another pack smell these scents, they know that an area is already occupied and not to proceed. Pack members can recognize the identity of a pack mate by the smell of its urine, which is useful when entering a new territory or when pack members become separated. Alphas or Dominant wolves may scent mark through urination every two minutes. When they do so they raise a leg, this is dominant posture which communicates the hierarchy of this particular pack member. Wolves also use their sense of smell to communicate, click here to see how.

The wolves have scent glands on the toes, tail, eyes, anus, genitalia and skin. For example, a male is able to identify a female in heat by a particular scent present in her urine and they will only try to mate at that time. Lastly, their sense of smell also tells them when food or enemies are near.

Wacipi is one of our female cubs. She is 6 months old and weighs about 70 pounds. Last Sunday morning, November 14th, I had some quality time with her. We just hung out together sitting quietly on the wood lean-to the wolves have for shelter. Wacipi was a little frisky and I was playing with her mouth. As I handle them, I have to be able to put my hands in their mouths and be able to take food from them. Wachipi was interested in my long nails, still painted black from Halloween. She was nibbling on them. I became very interested in how big and how white her teeth were. We do brush them. LOL… So I took a few shots with my camera.

"The wolf has very strong jaws. They have a "crushing pressure of perhaps 1,500 (lbs/square inch) compared to 740 (lbs/square inch) for a German Shepherd.

"Wolves have forty-two teeth: twelve incisors, four canines, sixteen pre molars, and ten carnassials and molars. The canines of the wolf are 1-inch long, strong, sharp, and slightly curved. These are the teeth used for grabbing prey. The wolf does not chew its food, using its carnassials to scissor off a piece of meat that can then be swallowed in a manageable chunk. Having strong jaws allows the wolf to crush bones to get to the soft marrow; it also helps the wolf eat most of its prey leaving very little waste." (Info from WolfCountry.net)

This is how wolves use their teeth in the wild. Unfortunately our wolves do not get to hunt, they are fed by us. It is sad that they cannot be free but as a rescue we give them the best life we can. They are happy, healthy and LOVED.