Day 2 at Mission:Wolf
Where do I begin!? It's been another extremely long, work filled, awe-inspiring day. As soon as we arrived we were put straight to work, starting by moving flagstone. This wouldn't be the worst job in the world except for the fact that the ground was still entirely frozen so we had to pry the stones up with shovels and crowbars. Once we loaded all the stone to the truck we then had to unload them down the hill. Great team work made the job quick and painless. Once this was settled, we split up to work on a few different projects.
While some went to pick up firewood, I lucked out and got to help paint rain barrels. A nice, simple job. During painting however, we got to talk with one of the staff members. The staff are some of the most interesting people and all have a story to tell. This particular staff member (I feel really guilty for currently not remembering her name) is only a few years older than I am. In fact, she should be a sophomore in college but decided to take a semester off to do something meaningful. Her specialty at the sanctuary are the gardens. She has the main responsibility to tend to the many veggies they grow on their small plot and greenhouses among her other duties around the facility. Unfortunately, painting went by super fast so we joined up with the rest of the group on wood duty.
With the amount of hands helping, we were able to collect, move, sort, and stack all the firewood. Again, team work played a major role. We all have gotten so close and can work together like a well oiled machine, it's crazy. Even the staff were impressed at how well and efficient we all worked together. That was even with the mini breaks we took as we listened to Liam, an insane British volunteer, tell stories upon stories. Before we knew it, it was lunch time. It wasn't until we sat down that we all realized just how hungry we all were. And to top it off, we ate with the most amazing view in site:
Once we finished eating, we had some time to kill while the staff finished their lunch and setting up the next projects. So, we all decided to take a quick siesta and soak up the sun!
Eventually, we did get back to work. So, yet again, we broke off into two groups: the road fixers and the cage cleaners. I happened to be in the cage cleaning group and its just how it sounds, not glamorous at all. We were cleaning up after the wolves - poop, hair, and bones. It sounds just awful, but it really wasn't. In fact, none of these jobs have been bad at all. Sure, they're tiring but they're fun and so worth it once you look at the big picture. Again, my group finished first so we joined the other school in their fire mitigation work. By this time we were all feeling the days work begin to wear us down but we kept at it. We walked up and down a slope removing dead branches and stumps to help prevent a wild fire (the main concern facing the sanctuary due to the heat and drought). It was tough, but much needed. Once all the branches were at the bottom of the hill and in a huge stack, we went back up to the main part of the facility and got to the best part of the day - wolf visits.
Like the day before, we went into the pen with the three ambassador wolves - Abe, Maggie, and Zeab. However, once finished with them, we then got to go and visit two more wolves - Farah and Sengret. These wolves have such diverse personalities. It's incredible to see the differences. These visits are by far, one of the best things of the day. To say that I touched and interacted with a wolf is an amazing feeling.
Zeab standing above Collin - they have become quite good friends
Maggie enjoying a nice belly rub from Kent
Sengret - one of the most playful, funny, and photogenic wolves we've met
Sengret giving Kent a high five
Sengret with a majority of my group - Terran, Kaleigh, Collin, Alexis, and Janet
Sengret trying to play around with Kent
I know I keep repeating myself in this, but this experience is truly hard to process. There is so much going on, so much amazingness to comprehend. I wouldn't trade one minute of any of this experience, sunburns and all.
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