Belated Wolf Pictures and Awesome Karst Geology

I had a lot of belated pictures from a combination of disposable cameras that needed some extra time to develop and some beautiful pictures e-mailed to me by the photographers over at Seacrest Wolf Preserve. This was truly worth the long drive and I want to go back to see the wolves and the Arctic foxes with their different seasonal coats as well as watching the Panhandle vegetation phenology.

  

  

The first pack of wolves I got to visit at Seacrest.  They were a little more shy and reserved compared to the other timber wolves I'd get to see later although the alpha female, Greycloud, did come up to us for a bit. Anything we did in their enclosures was on the wolves' terms, not ours, and that day, they seemed to be a little more reserved than usual. Then again, early afternoon is usually their naptime (and mine!)

 Nothing like a very, very curious and friendly wolf taking a close look at me. I think this was Sage, the alpha female of her pack. These timber wolves were a lot more friendly than the first group we met. Her mate, Minquah, though, would be the one I'd get to do some serious interaction with later on. The beta male of this particular pack, Earthman, generally lurked in the background very quietly, but he did make a showing just to say "hi" and watch us curiously. We didn't get to see the rest of this pack, but it was amazing spending some quality time with Minquah and Sage.

Minquah the alpha male of the more out-going timber wolf pack was getting extremely affectionate with me (and in front of his mate Sage who also got pretty affectionate with me). He's about 59-60 kg of cuteness and very strong personality. Thank you to the amazing Seacrest photographers for capturing this magical moment!

Thank goodness he can't give me a nasal inspection unlike a certain little tribble. Then again, among wolves, it's pretty standard to give a little oral inspection to say "hi" because as puppies, the muzzle licking and oral inspection is how they get fed regurgitated food by the adult wolves and they continue that behavior as adults as well.

The following weekend I was at a NASM-CPT workshop to help me improve my abilities to do an accurate overhead squat assessment, develop stabilization-endurance and strength-endurance workouts, and basically tactfully handle what would be my more likely clients instead of the outright masochistic. Afterwards, I got to enjoy a little bit of karst geology nearby, having found the place after the Seacrest Wolf Preserve tour the weekend before but timing didn't quite mesh right. My intense, passionate hatred for the idiocy that is very strongly correlated to football games (especially home games) and the mound of pure, un-adulterated stupidity and cluster-fowl (that's the ultra-mild word, by the way) known as homecoming (why, oh why, do they bother with this nonsense) did give me some nice opportunities to do some serious exploration. One of the sites I got to check out was Falling Waters State Park, not at all far from Seacrest Wolf Preserve. What can I say? I love BIG holes in the ground and seeing the *real* Florida without all the crazy glitz and tourist traps.

Wolves and Foxes!

 Two amazing wolves (Canis lupis) who were nice enough to let me get a picture with them. Later on they'd also try to get to know me. Minquah (the larger one in the front) and Sage (the female in the back) were definitely super-friendly wolves once the crowds calmed down! There's many more pictures that the tour guides took of these two interacting with me that should be coming in any time.

 Nothing like a cute Arctic fox to pet! I still have a hard time that some of our smaller dogs are descendants of wolves and not foxes.

It's really neat getting to see a grey fox (Urocyon cineroargentis) up close and in person as well as petting one. There were two others in this enclosure but the other two were darting about and chasing each other. I was a bit surprised at how little they really are but then again, after seeing the Arctic fox and the wolves and even the red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)