Wolves of Penn's Woods

Howwwoooool hoooooowwwooooo!  Can you imagine hearing packs of wolves howling, the sound seeming to come from everywhere over the hills?  That is what I hear most days at various times living where I do in Lititz PA.  Just over the hill, live about 18 packs of wolves at the Wolf Sanctuary of PA.  Hearing them howl and visiting them was my motivation for this gourd.  ​

Wolves of Penn's Woods by Jenn Avery

​If you are ever in the Lititz area, I highly recommend taking a tour of the Wolf Sanctuary.  At this rescue, the wolves are fenced by pack, but they have lots of space to run.  The tour guides carry buckets of frozen meat goodies so you are sure the wolves come close to the fence so everyone gets a good view!  They are very knowledgeable about wolves and wolf-dog hybrids and I learned a lot there.  It is wonderful all the work they do to keep the wolves healthy and happy, and to give them a chance in life where they may have faced euthanasia.  
 

Photo taken at the Wolf Sanctuary of PA by Jenn Avery

Wolves of Penn's Woods gourd pyrography by Jenn Avery

​My other wolf inspiration comes from the pack at ZooAmerica at Hershey Park. I have visited both of these places several times to take photos, observe and draw.  These are beautiful animals and PA was once a wild enough place to be home to wolves, but the last ones seen, or possibly killed in the early 1800s.  I am not a supporter to reintroduce wolves to PA, because the land would not sustain a pack nowadays, but I was thinking back to the time before malls and paved roads, when Pennsylvania was altogether an abundant “Woods” and imaginatively what that could look like in my pyrography gourd scene.