Page 53 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

booked through the weekend. We went to the Chamber of

Commerce and the nice lady there called a few places and found
us a two bedroom, housekeeping unit at a resort on the outskirts

of town.

We also spent the morning calling all over the place trying to find

out what to do about our recalled tires. There is no place in Ely
that sells tires. We contacted a store in Virginia (the town, not the

state) and they will be ordering a set for us. We will have to drive
down there tomorrow to have them changed.

We made it to the Wolf Center shortly after opening. They had
been hand raising two adorable Arctic Wolf cubs and today was

the day they released them into the enclosure with their 3
resident adults. All of them were having a great time getting to

know one another. The lady that had hand raised the adults 7 and
8 years ago, also hand fed these cubs. She was in the enclosure

with them all – rubbing tummies and scratching ears and making
sure that there was no aggression towards the newcomers. All

their wolves there were born in captivity.

There are many, many free wolves in this part of the country. The

local farmers are compensated for any livestock they lose due to
predation. The wolf advocates are trying to work with the

stockmen to develop habits that will cut back on even these few
incidents of predation such as not leaving dead carcasses out in

the fields to attract the wolf. Burn or bury is the rule.

The Center is a non-profit private organization that works with

other environmental groups to help preserve the wolf.

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