International Wolf Center Adventure

Ely, Minnesota

September 2018

I was given an unexpected treat this past weekend.  It was the Women, Wolves, and Wine weekend at the International Wolf Center in Ely near the BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness).  Eighteen women were brought together from all areas of the Midwest (the furthest being Illinois).  I attended with my Sister-in-law and niece.  I was not originally supposed to go but due to Hurricane Florence my sister-in-law sister was stranded in DC and could not make it as planned.

Waiting for Stimulating treats (this time it was shrimp frozen in ice cubes)

Our weekend started on Friday afternoon as we headed north in Minnesota.  We had decided to travel through Duluth for some variety and because we did have a little extra time.  We stopped in Two Harbors at the Castle Danger Brewery.  It’s a just drinks Brewery so you can bring in your own food.  My sister-in-law had picked up ribs and chicken so that’s what we ate.  Before leaving town, we stopped at the 3M birthplace museum.  As I am retired from 3Mer, it was funny to see a museum all about my past 30+ years.

We made it!

After lunch, we continued our drive north to Ely, Minnesota.  It was a wonderful day and the trees were just starting to show peaks of color.  When we got to the International Wolf Center we entered and looked around until it was time to meet up with our group.  We met in a conference room in the center.  As the group gathered it was quiet as we all wonder what was ahead of us for the weekend.  We ended up getting back into our cars to head to the Northern Tier High Adventure Camp.  There, we were ushered to our rustic cabins where we would spend the night.  We set up our sleeping bags and soon we were off to dinner at a willing participants house.  There we had yummy foil dinners and wine of course.  It was actually wine from South Dakota, I was surprised.  As the evening slid on we all got to know each other a little better and the group was not so quiet anymore.

The antenna for tracking the Wolves

Later that night we returned to our rustic cabins and settled in for a raining and a little rumbly of a night.  The next morning brought us a cloudy sky and a bit of misty day.  After breakfast we donned our raincoats and headed out into the wood in search of wolves.  We had a device that was able to pick up a signal from a wolf that had on a collar up to a mile away. As we stood on top of a rock, the highest point around, we listen for the beep.  It was a no go on this day, but it was cool to see the equipment.  Then we took a walked through the woods to Flash lake. Once there was not much to do as everything as a bit wet from the night before. As we continued, the weather was still holding out even though for the entire week the forecast had been for down pours and thunderstorms.  We were glad things were working out.

2 Second padding instruction and off we go

Out on Moose Lake

The “Swim”

We headed to lunch after our walk.  It was great to have hot soup as the temperatures were still below 60ᵒ.  It was definitely a weekend for layers and jackets.  As planned we went canoeing out on Moose Lake.  The hole area was in the Superior National Forest, but half of the lake was also in the BWCAW. The weather continued to hold and actually turned out quite nice.  My sister-in-law even insisted on going swimming. So, it couldn’t have been too cold. After a quick wardrobe change we headed into Ely for supper at Insula. After an excellent dinner we headed back to the International Wolf Center for a program called “What’s for Dinner”.

At the beginning of the feeding

I think I ate too much!

“What’s for Dinner” was a program that showcased feeding the wolves once a week. A once a week feeding simulates what happens in nature.   For dinner there was a roadkill deer.  The Wolves could tell what was coming because they were getting very excited, frisky, and were running around.  The caretaker of the wolves brought out the deer and the wolves started eating immediately.   At first, they were all eating then the largest wolf took control and started chasing the other wolves, all except one of the younger wolves.  It was interesting to see the interaction between the wolves.  There was definitely a chain of control and it was obvious who was submissive and who was going to fight back.

Later in the evening it started raining finally, there was over 2 ½ inches of rain overnight.  One of the wolves continued to eat throughout the storm.  Wolves eat 20% of their body weight at one time, once a week.

Although this adventure is now over it was a fun experience and I learned a lot about wolves.

Smile!

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