A day well spent at the Wolf Connection in Palmdale, CA tucked away just of the Angeles Forest Highway.
The wolf connections offers a unique experience bringing people and wolves together through direct relationship with rescued wolves for the purpose of empowering us to become authentic leaders and stewards of the earth. Here, groups reconnect with nature, learn to be of service by responsibly caring for another being, and work towards becoming the kind of person they want to be.
The ranch offers a monthly community hike that includes a tour of the ranch, an introduction to the wolf pack and a guided hike through the Angeles National Forest. Each event last approximately 4 hours.
Wolves are extremely intelligent, highly intuitive animals. They know who you are at your core within a matter of seconds. Whatever emotionally ails you, they’ve diagnosed it like the best doctors on Earth (it’s one of the reasons Wolf Connection works with at-risk youth)
The sanctuary houses approximately 30 wolf dogs in fenced-in areas the size of large studio apartments. Some live alone, but most have a roommate. As we walked by each enclosure, our guide shared each animal’s back story and rank in the pack. Some of their stories are horrifying (several new pack members’ vocal cords were cut by an owner afraid of neighbors calling the police due to howling), but it was interesting to hear how the animals are paired.
In each enclosure, wolves are matched based on temperament. An anxious female will be placed with a grounded male. One who is more playful will be with one who is less so. An Alpha will be with an Omega. They work together to maintain balance.
The average foot size for a wolf is about 4 inches wide by 5 inches long. While dogs have smaller, rounded feet, wolves have extra large feet! Their feet are also webbed, which helps with swimming, traction, and walking on snow and they have two very long, protruding middle toes. With that, they can spring off of their toes, flex their longer ankles and keep their elbows together to spring at incredible distances. That’s how a wolf can conserve energy and travel much farther compared to a dog.
Wolves are wild carnivores, members of the dog family (Canidae). They are believed to be ancestors of the domestic dog, which evolved separately more than 20,000 years ago. Researchers say that the lack of wolves is one of the main reasons why the coyote population in Southern California has been expanding rapidly over the last 50 years.
For more information and how to book a tour visit Home – Wolf Connection
