Exhibit Pack Update – 8 November 2024
Despite temperatures beginning to drop, we still have had a fairly warm/mild fall. This was a relief, as we have had quite the eventful October! Our facility has undergone some much needed TLC. The building has been freshly stained — both on the public side and the wolf side — and the shingles on the roof replaced. This took a tremendous amount of planning, re-planning, and planning again in order to complete both projects while still meeting the needs of the wolf ambassadors and our visitors. A special thank you to the guests who put up with some rather loud roof work, and to our incredible team for ensuring the safety and comfort of our Exhibit Pack.
As you can imagine, the wolves had to be in holding while the staining was done. While several hours is longer than the wolf ambassadors are used to, they took everything in stride and handled it all very well. A week later, they had to be in holding again while the roofing crew began demolition on the old shingles; this was for the safety of our Exhibit Pack, as this process was incredibly messy with a lot of plastic, nails, screws, and shingle pieces falling on the ground inside the enclosure. Again, the wolves impressed us with their tolerance in holding, even with noisy roof work going on! We had members of the wolf care team with the Exhibit Pack the entire time they were in holding to provide distractions and comfort when needed.
After the old shingles were removed and a thorough sweep through the yard for debris was completed, the wolves could return to their enclosure for the remainder of the roof work. However, wolf care team members still needed to stay in the enclosure while the roof crew was installing the new shingles so that we could retrieve anything that fell into the wolf enclosure right away (before Blackstone ran off with it). This meant many long days of sitting in the enclosure from sun up to sun down.
Overall it was a bit of a chaotic and stressful few weeks, but we are happy to say that the wolves did absolutely wonderful throughout all the many iterations of plans! Watch the most recent couple of Exhibit Pack Updates for an additional look at the ambassador wolves’ reactions to these projects.
On a separate note, Give to the Wolves Day is on November 21, 2024 with early giving starting November 1! When you donate now through Give to the Wolves Day, your donation will be doubled thanks to the generosity of our Board of Directions and several incredible donors, who have pledged nearly $70,000 in matching donations. Learn more or donate today to make twice the impact!