Of Wolves and Dogs
Kirsty has a great interest in wolves. She regularly gives talks on the Evolution of the Modern Dog and other related topics. She has been out to Bavaria on several occasions. She has been fortunate enough to study with Ray Coppinger and the late Erik Zimen. Kirsty has now written a course on Wolf Behaviour and Ecology and together with Dr. Peter Neville, tutors it.
This is accredited to the Open College Network and can be accessed through www.coape.org and scroll down to C06. She is also co-tutor on the Qualifying Entry Course for students interested in studying Companion Animal Behaviour which can be found through the same website.
Each year Kirsty and Alan travel out to Yellowstone National Park to continue studying the wolves, their impact on the ecology of the area and their behaviour. In 2006 they found a beautiful house near the Park and bought it. Now they have a base close to the wolves and other wildlife - sometimes right on their doorstep! See the page on Silver Peaks for more information on the house and how you can rent it for a holiday of a lifetime. Having a great team in the UK means that business and home runs on smoothly in their absence.
Winter Wolf Discovery
Every February we fly out to Montana and explore Yellowstone National Park with the help of the Yellowstone Association Institute. We take a maximum of ten people with us to enjoy this unique experience.
In February 2008 we are planning a slightly different adventure. We will fly into Bozeman, Montana and from there travel to Chico Hot Springs at Emigrant. Here we will base ourselves for four days. Three of these days will be spent wildlife watching with our friend George Bumann, a naturalist and sculptor, who works with the Yellowstone Association Institute. George has worked with us over many years now. Visit his website at www.georgebumann.com for his notes and see his magnificent sculptures. The other day will be spent out dog sledding in the Absaroka Mountains. This will be a full day with a barbeque lunch of bison steaks or trout cooked on the trail.
We will transfer to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and from there have a daily choice of wild life watching, snow shoeing, x country skiiing, tracking and more. At the end of all this activity we will return to Bozeman for the last night when there will be time to shop for souvenirs and to enjoy our farewell dinner.
We normally see wolves whenever we go looking for them. It is however important to remember that this is a truly wild environment and sometimes they are hard to find. We have seen wolves on every trip to Yellowstone National Park and have been fortunate enough to watch some incredible wolf behaviour.
Yellowstone National Park has so many diverse points of interest that it soon weaves its magic around us all and though most of us have gone looking purely for the wolves we soon become aware that the wolves are just a part of an enormous fascinating unique environment. Yellowstone National Park covers some 2 million acres of land and is a wild environment. The land is not owned or farmed in any way. There are not a great number of roads. It now boasts approximately 140 wolves.
Warm clothes are essential as temperatures can be as low as -20c but unlike the UK it is a dry cold. These trips are very popular and can book up a year in advance. You can see wolves in wildlife parks and zoos but if you want to see them in the wild and acting in a completely natural way the only place you can do this is at Yellowstone National Park.
If your interest is also in walking then perhaps our Autumn trips to Yellowstone would be on interest to you. The important point to remember though it is harder to see wolves and we may not see them at all but we may well see the bears. For our Autumn trips (the same number of people) we base ourselves at Roosevelt Rendezvous, again with the Yellowstone Association Institute, in rustic cabins.
If you would like further information on either of the above trips then please contact us.
