howdy and welcome back to the Texas
bucket list you know every once in a
while here on the show we get a wild
hair and feel like howling at the moon
that was definitely the case in
Montgomery where we came across the
states only wolf sanctuary to get a look
at some amazing animals down a long
windy road
on the west side of Montgomery County
just a few miles from the Sam Houston
National Forest
you'll find a facility where you won't
mind getting thrown to the wolves
definitely a unique feature to the
neighborhood yes absolutely it ups the
property values a lot Britney McDonald
is one of the caretakers at the st.
Francis wolf sanctuary I wanted to work
with Wolf since I was 8 years old and so
to just be here is a dream come true hi
in 2002 the sanctuary got started after
a mischievous wolf named mystery was
spotted roaming the woods nearby after
being shot and captured mystery rehabbed
and lived out her days at the sanctuary
started by a local woman who really
loves all of God's creatures jean
lafitte she just had this passion for
animals and wanted to do if she could to
help now 13 wolves and wolf-dogs call
Saint Francis home so wolf is obviously
the pure form and the dog is mixed in
with dogs wolves occur naturally in the
wild where the wolf dogs rarely do the
wolf dog thing is kind of a new fad that
people created when they started mixing
wolves with their domesticated dogs to
make a really cool-looking pet that they
hope to be as friendly as man's best
friend typically doesn't work out that
way and that's exactly why we're here
popular culture has made pups of this
kind of bit of a problem we do
definitely have a lot more of them
around and not to blame Game of Thrones
but for Halloween yes very good turns
out once these guys get long in the
tooth they could be a hint they assume
that because it's mixed with dog it's
gonna have the dog temperament and the
wolf looks and that doesn't really apply
the wolf's characteristics are very
dominant that fear of humans the
destructiveness the you know desire to
escape and to do wolfy things he's given
me a new term I'm gonna go do wolfy
things yeah
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all right so this is Miko yes what's
Miko story so Miko was actually born and
raised at a zoo and from the day he was
born
the keepers hand raised him because they
thought that it would make him more
socialized and it definitely did do that
and the reason that they wanted to do do
that is because they wanted to turn him
into a kind of a photo prop for guests
that could come in and pay a certain fee
to play with him and fold him
so you'll see that he's really social
he's coming up even though they're
strangers here he's wagging his tail he
is not at all afraid of people he's my
favorite because I had this personal
connection with him but he's also just
got so much charisma and this you know I
just world personality but he'll storm I
knew it he's got wolf in him especially
when food is involved so he's a whole
package Miko shares has been with two
other female wolves sort of a wolf pack
that the sanctuary creates for each of
their wild friends
matching them up is kind of like playing
matchmaker you just gotta figure out who
likes you
yeah we sometimes call ourselves the
OkCupid of the wolf world because we do
have to you know make sure that they can
match up because having a companion is
really important for them just like it
is for people they really rely on that
social bond it didn't take long for the
social bond between Miko and his mates
to make a bit of noise during our visit
all their houses are elevated so it can
allow for airflow and they have doors on
every side so we can open it up a lot
during the hot seasons I'm scared to
look I don't know if I should look maybe
they're not doing something we want to
be tailors just correcting her bring
your child back it's almost like it's
looking for a relationship
the dude just like hey ladies hey baby
I'll get along all joking aside these
wolves depend on the sanctuary not only
for social interaction but vaccines and
most importantly meal time these guys
eat an all raw meat diets
so depending on the size of the animal
their activity level they might eat more
or less than others but we have two
animals currently that eat four pounds
of food a day and that is you know way
up there but they burn it off if you're
luckier if you plan an overnight stay to
camp with the wolves you'll be able to
hear the serenade that makes us stop at
the sanctuary Oh some of our wolves
actually howl a little bit less wolfy
than you would expect so Lapua back here
we joke that she sounds like a hyena or
a coyote rather than a wolf she hasn't
quite figured it out yet but it's
impressive I mean every single time it's
it's just this beautiful sound the
neighbors around here love it they set
out on their porch and drink coffee and
they listen for that howl and yeah it's
magical
but if you come on a full moon you'll
never know who could show up we need a
burly guy like you that's got all the
facial hair like I can play the wolf and
wolves are no longer found in the Lone
Star State but for an up-close encounter
with these magical animals with sizable
smiles a stop at the st. Francis
sanctuary in Montgomery Texas is slower
the stuff on the Texas listen
the best part is when you have an animal
that is really distrusting at people and
eventually you get to watch it grow into
an animal it has learned to forgive and
to rely on you and you build a
relationship with it
and it doesn't always happen but when it
does I mean like there's nothing better
than that that's that's what we do this
boy
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