And raven flew overhead . . . wolf looked up

[Steve Foss]

Hey all:

I was looking through captive wolf images at the International Wolf Center and realized I had a couple of Maya, one as a pup and one as an adult, and in both she's ducking a little bit and watching a raven fly overhead.

Interesting how things change, but stay the same.

[Lisa Almquist]

Wolves captivate me! I'm so glad you posted her-thank you.

[DeeDee]

She's beautiful. I would love to have enough land so I could sit on my back porch in the morning, drinking coffee and watching wolves, deer, ect just doin their thing.

[finnbay]

I like the color in both of these. So many times when you happen to see a wolf in the wild, it's there for so little time and you're so taken aback by "seeing a wolf" that you don't see the coloration that is in the face especially. Unless it happens to be an all black wolf......

[89Bronco]

Those are very cool. Thanks!

[mmeyer]

Those are very cool Steve. It's neat to see the comparison between the two.

[yakfisher]

You were really able to capture the spirit of this wolf. I like how you can see in the face and eyes that it is the same wolf. I also like the way she is not paying you any attention

[Steve Foss]

 Originally Posted By: yakfisher

I also like the way she is not paying you any attention

yak, that's no problem. Females have been ignoring me for a LONG, LONG time.

And thanks, everyone. Captive animals don't necessarily make photography easy, because they can be uncooperative (you can't tell them how to pose and where to stand and all that), but they sure make it easier. I haven't been to the IWC for quite awhile. It's hard to go there. I could sit all day at the windows and just watch the wolves, forgetting about my cameras and everything but being in that moment. Never get any work done THAT way.

But I hear there are new pups coming this summer, so it looks like there might be a good chance to do some fresh work.

[mountaindew]

Those are awesome pictures! Very cute! Love the first one! Thanks for sharing!

[MN Shutterbug]

Those are very nice wolf shots. I love their expression. The IWC and also the bear center, are 2 places I'm going to stop at late spring or early summer. I wonder when the pups are due. BTW, were these photos shot thru glass? It's been quite a few years since I've been there, and the only way to view them, was from inside the center.

[Dbl]

I really like these shots Steve, as others have commented the looks really sell the photos.

[Steve Foss]

X, yep, shot through glass, although I have other shots from within the pup enclosure and through the chain-link fence area not open to the public from when I was with the newspaper. I'd been there a few times. Both adult Arctic wolves licked my hand through the fence the day I was introduced to them. They don't take to everyone. I felt a surprisingly warm rush of acceptance. Very hard to describe that feeling and that moment. I remember it as clearly as the day I first held my infant firstborn son.

As for the glass, it's very high quality glass and the staff works hard to keep it clean, but you have to constantly fight the reflections from interior lights and wooden walls. Lots of shots, no matter how careful you are, come back with an amber cast unless you're very aware of glass reflections before you shoot.

Not much for fill flash opps there, either.

And as far as I know the only way to view the wolves for the general public is still from inside the glass.

Last time the pups showed up in late spring or early summer and were gradually acclimated to the other wolves and introduced completely in August or September. My memory's a bit hazy on that, but I remember they had volunteers to work with the pups and thoroughly socialize them, and they took their time incorporating the pups into the pack. The shots I took of this pup were in mid August, and at that time they were spending some of their time with the adult wolves in the main enclosure.

Even with all that care taken, one of the partially grown pups was wounded so badly by the other wolves it had to be put down. It was just after the pup had been spayed, and I believe the stitches were still in when the attack took place. That happens. They're captive animals, born and raised in captivity, but the wild instincts and unpredictable behavior can't be removed with a generation or two of captivity.

I'm not sure how the bear center is doing things this next summer. When I was there as they got the bears, there was an open-air corridor just outside the glass doors/windows protected by electrified fence we stood inside and took pictures. Probably that's been eliminated for liability reasons, but I'm not sure about that. There also is a balcony the length of the building on the second floor that's open, but of course you're way up high and it's hard to get an intimate shot of a ground animal from 15 feet off the ground. It's not quite that bad because there's a significant hill in front of you that's not too much lower than the second story. But maybe the center folks left other possibilities from ground level. It's definitely worth a call in advance. I'm sure they get lots of inquiries about photographing the animals.

[brassman]

I had to got the IWC for a college class and man was that a fun day. I really like the arctic wolves, so huge and yet graceful, seeing them that close really gives you the perspective of how big and built they really are. not like my 75 pound puppies in my avatar.

[finnbay]

I've shot at the IWC a couple of times, and as Steve said, shooting through the glass is for the most part pretty good if you can get an angle without reflection from the inside lights.

Grizzer: