Nutmeg's Zooniverse

This morning I went to the first of two photo sessions I'm doing at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY. (www.nywolf.org) There were about 15 people there, but some of them were couples sharing one camera. There were three guys with professional equipment (::pauses for a moment to turn green::), several (including me) with digital SLRs, and several with small digitals. Everyone was very nice, with the exception of one of the pros, who several times asked me and at least once asked another woman to move from where we were so he could get the shot he wanted. Yes, he drove up from Philadelphia, but hey, we all paid to be there and no one was hogging the various cutouts in the fence or the towers, and everyone else was willing to wait their turn. Interestingly, I didn't see him ask any of the men to move - and certainly not the men whose cameras rivaled his. Wanker.

But I digress.

We were there for two hours, free to wander between two enclosures, one with a group of three wolves: Apache (the Alpha), Lucas and Kyla (the Omega, and she really did look worried and sad a lot, but she's also twelve and wouldn't even be alive in the wild, and the staff make sure she gets her share of food), and one with a lone male: Atka. The angles and light weren't as good at Atka's area, so I mostly concentrated on the pack. Atka's all white. Apache has a lop ear (it was chewed by an older wolf when he was a pup) and is also all white. Kyla is gray with a black facial blaze, and Lucas is brown and gray with striking blue eyes. Just so you know who you'll be looking at.

It was freezing, but they had hot cider for us. There were only a couple of tiny patches of snow, so I'm hoping for a storm before my next trip (Feb 2). And now...the pictures.

These first two are of Atka, and I cropped them to get rid of most of the fencing.




Here's Apache. He did a lot of howling.




These shots give you a sense of pack interaction. Though it doesn't exactly look like it in these shots, this is Kyla showing submissive behavior to Apache.




Here's Kyla on her own. She had a very sweet expression, though I'm not sure I really caught it.








I love this shot of her running. Look at the way she's leaning.


Lucas was absolutely gorgeous. I took a lot of pictures of him, so here are some favorites.










I cropped that last one so you can really see his eyes.


Here he is loping.


And pouncing!


I really enjoyed myself, though the walk up the hill from the parking area was hell on my knees and pneumonia-ruined lungs. Still, it was well worth it, and I'm really looking forward to going back in a few weeks.