The Cold is Coming

It has been quite a while since my last update, for that I apologize but it has been very busy/quite hectic with the wolves. The puppies, as they grow older, are showing more want to dominate and 'out-do' the other to see who will rise to the higher ranks. This in tune puts those wolves within the main enclosure under stress, though it is normal. There are five puppies under the watchful eyes of Nina and Weeble, and both Nina and Weeble have been wonderful parents. However, as the puppies are now in their teenager phase, they are rowdy and like to push the boundaries that are expected of them. Weeble and Nina have been disciplining the pups, but again, this is normal. It is the same thing if you have a rowdy family member at home who is not doing a chore or acting in a way they should not: it needs to stop, and if it doesn't in a timely manner, punishment will soon follow.

As the cold air is coming in, those at Wolf Hollow, Ipswich anxiously awaited to see what would happen: would the wolves get their winter coats on time, or early? Last year, they began getting their winter coats the beginning of September which is -very- early, remember the winter New England had last year? Not fun. Heavy snow and ice, and a lot of it. Glad to say that the wolves were seemingly on schedule with getting their undercoats around October 1st, which hopefully means we are in for a much less harsh winter.

The pups have seemed to fluff up in a matter of weeks, and have gone from lanky looking creatures to the fluffy wolves you normally see in textbooks. They are full of energy, always seem hungry, and want attention.

The following is a photo of Argus, remember that little bear-faced pup in my lap? Look at him now:


As you can see from the photograph, Argus has gotten a lot more fur all around. His cheeks are fluffier, and that carriers over onto his body I assure you. His eyes are stark gold against his coat, which has developed with him as he has aged thus far. Argus is still very loving towards me, as well as the other volunteers at Wolf Hollow. Although when the other pups rough-house, Argus usually doesn't participate right away, He, instead, lays in wait for the opportune moment, crouches, and then springs forward to join the fun.

Cold weather approaching also means the oncoming snow, for which I am excited about. This means I will have another year of wolf-snow photos, and will be able to capture the beauty of the prime golden light available this time of year with stark contrast against the snow. This, however, will only happen if Nina, the alpha female, will allow me to take photographs of the other wolves in the main enclosure. That's right, I said allow. Nina, as the puppies have aged, seems to not want to share my attention when I enter the enclosure. She stays near me and keeps others clear away. She has also challenged the alpha for affection, which ended in snarling, snapping of jaws and circling. But please, do not take this behavior as hostility, Nina is being protective, and affectionate. She and I share a very close bond, I think she wants to make sure the puppies, nor the alpha, changes that as the puppies grow and family dynamics change in the main pack.

Bear, Osa and Jelly are doing quite well as well, to not have them be lost to the background. Bear is still a bulldozer who loves scratches while Osa still peeks from afar. She is shy, but still test how close she wants to come to me, she is patient, just as I am. Everyone knows when it gets colder, Jelly's behavior can change. I suspect this is due to breeding season (being during winter months), but she is her own individual self and that we cannot hold against her. I was fortunate enough to go into her enclosure a few weekends ago and she was ecstatic and enjoyed the scratches I gave her. She even leaned on me for support to enjoy the moment.

All in all, the wolves are doing wonderful. Wolf Hollow in Ipswich, MA is now in the winter season, meaning Wolf Hollow is open for Sunday presentations only (unless by group appointment), same time same place. Come visit the wolves during their favroite season and captures great photos of them in the snow. Just wear your winter coats as they will be wearing theirs.

~Jess

Growing like Weeds

Life has been hectic, inside and out of the wolf enclosures. I'm pleased to say I've finally finished my first draft of a huge project of mine and that has been why there has been some delay in my post time (over two hundred pages of writing can do that).

Enough of that, onto the wolves!

The puppies have taken life in the main enclosure with stride, although Weeble would rather still be retired. He, I would say, tolerates them. But I suspect as they grow Weeble will become more forceful in his verbal displays of "show respect and don't bother me." Nina is a wonderful mother but has gotten rather annoyed with the puppies when it concerns belly-rub time. The puppies seem to think it is a free for all play time when Nina tries to roll on her back for some rubs from me, and she disciplines them as she should. They will learn in time.

As the puppies have grown, my style of photographing them has grown as well. I've had to learn to adapt quickly to wolf pup situations, although (thank goodness) they are now losing interest in trying to eat my camera. Argus, of course, is always a perfect model for me. I had a sense from when he slept on my lap and camera bag on the way back from Indiana that he would be the pup of the bunch that would let me get up close and personal.

Boy was I right.

With Argus I've successfully photographed something I've never been able to before: a wolf eye/half facial. Now, you would think this to be easy with Nina loving me/being my "girlfriend." However, Nina -knows- I want a close up of her eye/eyes, and she plays games with me. Argus, however, has given me a most fantastic photographic gift that I will treasure forever. I've continued to photograph his eyes and the other puppies as they have warmed up to me. Soon I will have a great comparison to show of who might have lemon eyes and who might have amber.

To make up for lost time and posts, I have created this panel for you. From left to right shows:

Arrow, Argus, Nevaeh, Linnea, and Grendel



Here is something a little fun, an eye chart showing eye color changing from slate gray to blue, blue green to green, then green/yellow to gold in Argus' eyes!



Enjoy!

~Jessica Novak

It is Time...

Just as the fateful words were spoken at the close of The Lion King, we at Wolf Hollow, Ipswich know that, “It is time.” It is time for our five young pups to venture from the small stature of the holding pen, to the wide expanse of the main enclosure to join their parents Weeble and Nina at last, and from now on. As acting surrogates parents for the past two and a half months, those [humans] at Wolf Hollow know this is a huge step, and an awesome one at that. Weeble and Nina will officially take over as the primary source of parenting, discipline, and security for the pups within the main enclosure.

The pups are due to embark on their journey into the main enclosure this coming Sunday, the 17th, after closing. As far as I know, due to the initial stress this event may cause on the pups/Weeble and Nina, this event will not be available to be viewed by the public, however, there are many volunteers (inluding me!) who are anxious to document this experience to share with everyone so fear not! This means that for those that wish to see the puppies up close and personal before two fences are in between you and them, come and see them this Saturday and Sunday! We look forward to seeing you during this marvelous weather!

As this special day comes closer and closer for the puppies, I found myself both lucky and honored to have been part of their journey from beginning in Indiana (thanks to those Chester faculty who allowed me to go of course!) to now. I have taken so many photographs already, and will continue to do so. There will, unfortunately, be no photos this week as I have been working on a side project relating to the photos. For those who saw my senior project and attended, you saw the photographic mosaics of Weeble, Nina, Osa and Bear. Well, this is my official note to the public that I am beginning to plan/compose mosaics for each pup, however, I have a lot of photographing to do until I can start forging initial “mosaics sketches.”

You may also be wondering, “Hey Jess, what is with the long absence?” Along with photographing the puppies, I have been writing a specific amount of pages everyday on another piece of writing, so far I have over two-hundred so I've been a little preoccupied. So while some of you may have been beach hopping, I've been writing and photographing, so I think that's even, right?

I will definitely have a new post up after this weekend, with more text and some images, that I promise you!

Until next time,
Jess

Wolf Puppy Progress

The blog has been quiet and for good reason, but also good news. As a personal announcement, in case you haven’t heard by me or seen it in my Facebook page, I’ve started the rough draft of the sequel to my novel. Book two is well underway and it is very exciting. There is a lot going on so between writing, working and wolves I have been very busy. So do not fear, the blog will continue with updates though they may not always be right after my returns from Wolf Hollow.

In Wolf Hollow news, the puppies have met their parents! Through the fence (and slowly, through short meetings in the holding pen) but Nina and Weeble already show qualities of being amazing parents. I am so proud of my Weeble boy and my Nina girl, they will love the pups as if they were their own babies.

As a bit of fun this week, I thought instead of a few choice photos I would create a small panel of facial shots from a pup that seems to be the focal point of my camera every weekend.

Above is a “baby panel” of Argus, the assumed-to-be future alpha male someday. As this panel shows (though note I don’t have a photo from every week of life as they were born the end of April, but the photos average about every other week) that wolf pups/wolves in general grow extremely fast!

Enjoy!

Jess

Blue skies and blue Eyes

Another weekend of wolf wonder has passed and I must say it was fantastic. To make it special my brother who just recently returned from being overseas in the army came to visit with my parents so he could see what his little sister was up to while he was away. A special thanks to Joni, who allowed me to come in between the fences with some additional treats and scratch-time so he could see Weeble and especially my girl Nina come over for attention. My family was so happy to have my brother be “honored” and perhaps slightly embarrassed by having him stand up at one point during the presentation to be recognized for returning home from overseas but hey, what is family for right? In all seriousness, a very special thanks to Wolf Hollow, especially Joni, for welcoming my brother and allowing him to come and see what his little sister loves.

Now for some new puppy information! The fifth once “nameless” pup is now Arrow! The name was chosen through the naming contest and the naming contest winner had her photo taken with Arrow. Although he is the runt of the little, I believe he will prove to be a contender with his namesake (also, play on words Arrow for arooo-sound of a wolf howl?).

You can already see the puppies begin to get lanky. They are loosing their baby-face roundness and are bounding around, playing, howling and displaying traits of dominance. Argus is giving Lineaa a run for her money in the size department, however, all of the puppies are sporting gorgeous blue eyes. Argus’ eyes are in the banner, what baby blues he has.

The puppies defiantly have changed a lot since their trip back from Indiana. After this next weekend I am hoping to get some more facial/full body shots to then create some comparison sheets for you to see how much they have grown/changed in such a short amount of time.

For now, enjoy a couple of my favorite photos of Argus from this past Saturday!

~Jess




Argus and his baby blue eyes. The banner I used at the top were from the same series as this photograph, I just took out the color in the photo except his eyes, and of course, he was looking at the camera a little more in the banner photo. I loved the pose of his face in this photo.



Argus howling right at my camera. What an interesting and new angle! Howl away my boy.

Puppy Photos

Below are just a few of the photographs I took on this past Saturday. Trust me, there were plenty more (and I am glad I took so many! The pups may be small, but they are fast thus caused quite a blur!).These are just a few of my favorites.

Please note that yes, there is a copyright notice on these images (also another reason why they may not be the largest size) but Wolf Hollow, Ipswich always has permission/use of my photos as I consider it an honor to be part of the Wolf Hollow family. You may even see some photos up on a Wolf Hollow blog-

Back to the photos. They are as follows:



Nevaeh having the most serene and calm look on her face. Her personality reminds me of a baby Nina. I love her eyes in this photograph.



Linnea and Nevaeh, the girls being together. Linnea is definitely the dominant one of the two, Nevaeh is such a sweetheart. Loved the expressions on their little faces.



Linnea giving an amazing puppy howl. I think she knew I wanted a proper photo of a puppy howl, thus made sure to be right near me.

As I have said too many times. They are adorable. You should come and visit Wolf Hollow in Ipswich, MA, moreso that the weather is so nice and the sun is no longer hiding!

Information about Wolf Hollow, hours and directions can be located on Wolf Hollow's website: http://www.wolfhollowipswich.org/

~Jess

Memorial Weekend Love

Yesterday, Saturday, was a fantastic day of Wolf Hollow fun and love. After going into the main enclosure with Weeble and Nina I could not feel more loved by such a beautiful and noble creature. Both of them obviously missed me as it had been a couple weeks since I had gone in with them, but regardless, it was lovely. They are still both shedding their winter coats like crazy. They don't seem to mind when you pull away the “tufties” as it eventually will cool them down a bit (I would suspect).

The puppies have gotten so big! They have gone from crawling, to wobbly, to walking around/bouncing around so fast. Amazing. They are also showing personality traits as well. It is obvious that the two blond pups, Argus and Lineaa, own the roost. Nevaeh is a sweetheart, Grendel is Mr. Anti-Social, and no-name (puppy who will be named via puppy naming contest) loves attention.

I took so many photographs yesterday, I'm part way through editing them and got some great facial shots of them this week. Stay tuned for some close views of the wonderful wolf babies!

~Jess