Home Page / Wolf Centre / Adopt-a-Wolf Membership / WWUK Wolves / Join Wolf Watch UK / Visiting The Sanctuary / Payments & Donations / Contact Us / Wolf Videos / Q&A / History / Wilderness Goods For Sale / Notice Board / Meet The Team / What People Have Said / Photography Days / Links / Wolf News / Loopy Files / Notes From Tony / Wolf Learning Course On reflection 2009 was a busy year - losing Nouska after many years of enjoying her company was a marked low point in the calendar but the visits from several hundred members and a number of outside talks have helped compensate for the loss. Guide Dogs For The Blind Association, as always, have brightened up many days this year as did a visit and talk to their new Northern branch in Atherton. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Kerry Ash, their Training & Development Employee Officer, as a new patron to Wolf Watch. Madadh and Kgosi, now ten years old are both fit and have enjoyed many days in the big enclosure, often following the scent of deer which occupied the same space only minutes before them and then having even more fun rolling in that which created the scent. The pleasure of seeing them running in this large open space never fades and is always a reminder that wolves, as all animals, were meant to have their own space on the planet. We have still not found a companion for Pepe. Despite a minor foot injury earlier in the year, he is extremely well and a little more tolerant of my presence in his enclosure. When it suits him, he will take food from my hand and occasionally respond to a howl from Madadh or myself. Foot injuries are quite popular this year and from personal experience, I can recommend avoiding them. Following the felling and 'planking' of a number of trees in the wood, I used the Kawasaki mule to transport some of them back home to season them in the barn. However, in the process of unloading, around fifteen heavy planks slipped unexpectedly off the truck on to my left foot, triggering off an otherwise unheard of description of the said cargo and a spontaneous floral type dance around the yard finalising in a trip to hospital, a ride in a wheel chair and a short period on crutches! Fortunately I had been wearing safety boots! I hope the wolves enjoyed the spectacle as much as a friend who was doing some building and almost had to taken away on a stretcher having suffered some ten minutes of uncontrollable stomach-bending fits of tearful laughter. The unexpected also had much influence on the closure of 2009. From the 18th December for one month we were literally 'snowed in.' Although forecast a few days before, its severity and duration caught us a little unprepared. The Kawasaki mule and a good friend with a helicopter proved to be a life line. At one point, heavy snow brought down our electric supply so much good use was made of our wood burning stoves and small generator. This year is a good time to reflect that 2010 represents 30 years of Wolf Watch keeping rescued wolves. We intend to recognise this occasion in some form and have a number of ideas. If any members have any thoughts on this then please let us know. I would like to finish by saying ' thank you' to all of our supporters, past and present. If wolves could speak our language, I know they would to express the same sentiment. Tony, Wolf Centre Director   Email WWUK Photography by Chris Cray / Tony Haighway © Wolf Watch UK Home Page / Wolf Centre / Adopt-a-Wolf Membership / WWUK Wolves / Join Wolf Watch UK / Visiting The Sanctuary / Payments & Donations / Contact Us / Wolf Videos / Q&A / History / Wilderness Goods For Sale / Notice Board / Meet The Team / What People Have Said / Photography Days / Links / Wolf News / Loopy Files / Notes From Tony / Wolf Learning Course