Raven, Howling Reporter (Summer 2009), image reprinted with permission from Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, photo © 2009 by Jan Ravenwolf. All rights reserved.
There on the cover of the new issue of the Howling Reporter was a giant close-up of Raven, his muzzle tinged with silver, eyes piercing, posture regal. My eyes drifted down to the right-hand corner, RAVEN 04-04-95 – 04-12-09, and I called to Jim. “Oh no! Raven died.”
We have Ms. Kimball to thank for the fact that we got to known Raven. Dee’s 4th grade teacher assigned her students and their families to take a field trip somewhere they’d never been in New Mexico. We picked the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, west of Albuquerque, through the Navajo village of Ramah and down a long gravel road, in the isolated mountain community of Candy Kitchen.
It was a Friday in January, 2006. We stopped for breakfast at a mission-turned-art-gallery in Grants, then hit the Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave in the Zuni Mountains. We marvelled over Inscription Rock—at the El Morro National Monument—where travelers have been leaving writings in the soft sandstone for centuries. But the best treat of all was seeing the wolves.
We arrived late in the day, and as we scrambled out of the Subaru into the winter air we heard a chorus of howls coming from what seemed like all directions. Thrilled by the eerie wailing, we rushed the front door of the hogan that housed the visitor information and gift shop.
Next tour was at 4p. We wandered the warm cave-like space, letting the girls each pick out one item. Dee chose a small pouch of wolf hair, Em a frog fetish.
A young woman named Angel was our guide. We were the only people on the tour. We started with the oldest wolves, in the earliest enclosures, the ones that went in when the sanctuary was young and could afford only to set aside small areas for the wolves. Over time, as the sanctuary grew the enclosures began to encompass the natural surroundings. Raven’s area was expansive and incorporated trees, brush, and rocks that were already in the spot where the enclosure was built.
Angel told us how each animal was characterized by how much wolf content it contained. Some were pure wolf; high-content wolf-dogs were mostly wolf and low-content wolf-dogs mostly dog. We even met a pure dog that a previous owner had mistakenly identified as a wolf-dog and abandoned. Raven was a black Timber wolf, ebony in his youth but increasingly silver around his face as he aged.
A lanky man with disheveled brown hair, I think his name was Ian, joined us as we admired Raven. Raven was imposing yet friendly; he came to the fence to see us. “Want to howl with Raven,” Ian asked. “Yes, yes,” we chimed. “OK, on the count of three.” Ian started howling, then Raven, then we joined in, the steam from our breath rising like smoke above us.
Ian asked if Jim wanted to formally greet Raven. “Sure,” Jim said. Ian walked along the fence line with the black wolf, so closely that Raven’s fur touched Ian’s leg and hand and vice versa. “See, we’re rubbing fur,” he told Jim, “You try it.”
Jim walked to the fence and stood waiting. Raven, understanding what was happening, walked to Jim and rubbed his fur along Jim’s leg, then circled back and did it again. “Cool.” Jim was grinning when he turned in our direction.
We left the sanctuary reluctantly, as the light was leaving the day. Driving home in darkness, we said hardly a word. Raven, the other wolves, the entire field trip left us full and content.
The next day, Saturday, Jim went to Western Warehouse to buy a new pair of work boots. He saw a crowd near the entrance to the Sunflower Market next door. As he approached he suddenly noticed a big black wolf on a lead, straining through the crowd in his direction. People moved aside to let the wolf stare, like a pointing spaniel, at the thing grabbing its attention. Raven, recognizing Jim’s scent from the day before, wanted to say Hello.
“Raven’s at the Sunflower. Hurry, they’re leaving soon.” It was Jim, calling on the cell phone. Em and I arrived just as Raven’s handler and director of Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, Leyton Cougar, was loading Raven into a white van. We pulled up next to the van and jumped out of the car, explaining that we’d met the wolf almost exactly 24 hours before. Leyton let us pet Raven while he finished loading the van. Raven licked Em’s face.
We saw Raven a few other times during his ambassador trips to Albuquerque. The last time I saw him was at Whole Foods. By then he had retired from big engagements. Someone said that he’d become sensitive to loud noise and crowds. I came back to the house gushing in dreamy tones about Raven. He had the power to make you fall in love every time you saw him.
We all cried as we read Leyton’s tribute to Raven in the Howling Reporter. Angel also wrote a moving piece, as did others who had the honor to live and work with this amazing creature. We learned that Raven came within days of being euthanized at the age of two, after his owner suffered a heart attack and couldn’t pay the cost to transport Raven to the sanctuary. A visitor to Candy Kitchen, hearing the plight of a wolf that would be put down if someone didn’t intervene, wrote a check for her last $400. Because of her, Raven was able to live twelve more years and teach young and old about the true nature of wolves.
Jim and I will make a donation to the sanctuary in Raven’s memory. We hope you’ll learn as much as possible about this incredible place and consider visiting it some day if you ever get a chance.
He was almost two years old when we met. He had midnight black fur with silver tips and a white flash on his chest. His presence was commanding. His eyes, like amber fire, reflected his energetic, electric personality.
I will never forget our first encounter and the shiver of fear that ripped through my body as he grabbed me by my right arm—the same arm that just three years prior, had been ripped open by an angry wolf-dog, who put me in the hospital for eleven days.
Raven didn’t hurt me that first day. He gave me something…or perhaps he flipped a switch inside of me. Whatever it was, it began something beautiful, a unique relationship between a man and a beast. Raven was born an ambassador for the wolf world. He was the go-between, sent to teach humans the truth about wolves. He dispelled the myth that wolves are the big bad beast that will run amuck and eat your children. They are family oriented social creatures who love and respect each member of their pack. He told the world that wolves are not a threat to man and are a necessary, intrinsic and intricate part of nature and our ecosystem.
~Leyton Cougar, Director of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, excerpted from the Howling Reporter newsletter, with permission
Raven & Leyton’s Last Day, image reprinted with
permission from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, photo
© 2009 by Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. All rights reserved.
To read the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary memorial to Raven, click here. To meet the sanctuary’s wolves, click here, and here to meet the wolf-dogs. If you’re interested in making a donation in support of wolf rescue and care, please click here.
yb,
What a beautiful and sad memorial to such a majestic wolf. in one way I envy you for having met and interacted with such a unique animal, and in another I am saddened that this ambassador has left our worldly realm. Thank you for sharing the story of this friend with us so the impact of his life could be felt beyond your local area.
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this brought me to tears. what a beautiful spirit!
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Carolee and R3, thanks for reading and leaving comments. I wish the Howling Reporter newsletter were online. The tributes written by those who loved him and cared for him give a much greater sense of Raven’s beautiful spirit than I could capture here.
Here is an excerpt by Dick Thayer, a board member who remembers seeing Raven working as an ambassador with a group of schoolchildren:
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yb, how sad. I remember Raven from a post you wrote about the first visit & how Jim was able to make that bond that most of us will never have the chance to experience. This was a lovely tribute. Thanks for sharing.
I too am concerned for the wildlife that man has taken from their natural habitat because of greed. The amount of deer, etc., that I used to enjoy in our back yard seems less & less each year. We, as humans, have run them out of space to survive. D
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Thank you for reminding me about that. I knew I had done a Writing Practice that included memory from the visit, but I couldn’t remember where the WP was. I assumed it was something I’d done with QM and our other writing partner (and the visit impressed me so that I wouldn’t be surprised if I wrote about it multiple times).
Here is the link to that WP:
PRACTICE: Wolf Moon – 15min
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diddy, you live up against a pretty wild area, yes? I’m sorry to hear that you’re seeing and feeling this loss in such a dramatic way. Do the deer or other animals return to your place? I’m curious, since you’ve mentioned the bond that Jim was able to experience (and talk about bonds, that between Raven and his various caretakers, but especially Leyton Cougar!).
Up at Jim’s family cabin, his grandmother would keep a salt lick at a distance far enough so the deer would actually approach it. Had to be pretty far away from the cabin. You could sit at certain spots surrounding the cabin and watch the deer.
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Beautiful, Roma. Thanks for introducing us to this wonderful wolf.
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Oh gawd, what an amazing story. Made me cry. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
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Thank you Ybonesy. So touching to hear of your connections to this very alive and aware animal.
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Thank, you, Lisa, and Simonne, treestreet. I do believe Raven was an aware animal. The director wrote about how the two of them could communicate to one another. Certainly Raven communicated to so many.
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What a beautiful wolf. Your tribute brought me to tears. Thank you for introducing us to Raven and telling us his story.
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ybonesy, I just had a few tears after reading your post, then going to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary link and watching a video slideshow at the Raven’s Memorial Pond page (LINK). Having just lost an animal in our household, it really hit home. There is a bond there like nothing humans can provide. Completely different connection.
I took my time reading and went to the links in your post. It was like taking the trip through New Mexico with you. Candy Kitchen Ranch, 7,500 feet up in the Zuni Mountains; The Mission built in the 1920’s, first protestant church in this area that goes right by Route 66 and helped people during the Depression; the petroglyphs at El Morro; Ice Caves that never rise above 31 degrees F; 10,000 year old, 800 ft. deep Bandera Volcano. I love it. It makes me want to visit New Mexico again soon.
It’s pretty cool that Raven licked Em’s face. I bet she never forgets that experience as long as she lives. What did Dee do with her small pouch of wolf hair? (Like that Em chose a frog fetish, too.)
I’ve always wanted to visit the Intl Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota (LINK) but never have. Maybe I’ll make an extra effort the next time I’m up that far North again.
BTW, I love the last two photographs of Raven. The expression on Raven’s face in the color photo is amazing. Gratitude to the sanctuary for permission to use them.
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yb, yes, our wildlife still visit, but each year the numbers seem fewer & fewer.
Raven was beautiful & a great ambassador to his & other wildlife that are suffering due to losing their habitat. Again, this was a touching & wonderful tribute.Thank goodness for sanctuaries & the loving & caring people who take care of them.
BTW, this tribute also made me shed a few tears & I have lit a candle for the life & spirit of Raven. It is still burning today. D
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We live so separately from most of nature now. It’s heartwarming to hear of the relationship Raven had with your family. Beautiful animal, and with such a sensitivity. Wow!
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What a beautiful story you’ve shared with us. It brought tears to my eyes.
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[…] Good-bye To Beautiful Wolf Raven […]
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