As if on cue, the howling began as Lauren Gaulding, the education and conservation specialist at Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary, began her introduction. The culprit was Raksha, a black phase gray wolf, flirting with her neighbor Meeko, a wolf dog. “Someone’s partner is getting too flirty with the partner across the fence,” Gaulding says, filling our group in on the “soap opera” between these neighbors during a tour. General daily tours happen six days a week, but September through May visitors have the opportunity to join a Howl Night tour, or even continue their stay overnight to camp with the wolves. Hot dogs, s’mores, and the promise of being serenaded are included, so of course my kids and I chose to camp.
Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary
6731 Pavlock Rd., Navasota. 936-894-9653. saintfranciswolfsanctuary.org
General tours cost $15/person. Discount Days (the first Wednesday of each month) cost $12/person. Howl Nights cost $35/person. Camping with the wolves costs $75/person.
Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary, which moved to its 15-acre property in Navasota in 2020, is the only USDA licensed wolf sanctuary in Texas. They currently house 11 wolves and wolf dogs (wolf dogs are the product of human-led breeding, creating conflicting instincts in a breed that both cannot be domesticated, nor can be released into the wild). The sanctuary began in 2002, somewhat by happenstance, when the founder Jean LeFevre opened a 3-acre property in Montgomery after taking in a rescued gray wolf named Mystery. Opening on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi—their namesake and patron saint of ecology and animals—the nascent sanctuary also helped house five other victims of illegal captivity found with Mystery.
Before we arrived, I mistakenly imagined a sprawling savanna where we’d have to squint to see the wolves in the distance. However, the wolves and wolf dogs at Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary live in tidy enclosures, and we were able to see their distinct characteristics clearly from our view on the tour deck. During her introduction, Gaulding filled us in on the phenotypes of wolves and wolf dogs, their mating habits, and the conservation status of wolves. She explained our common knowledge about wolf packs in the wild is mistaken and comes from research on captive packs.
In the wild, wolf packs are just families. When the resident wolves and wolf dogs of the sanctuary are about 2 years old (most wolves enter the sanctuary at about 6 months), the animal keepers let them date and choose their own partners, then the partners choose their neighbors. Unlike a human reality series, the process takes time, often a year of dating followed by six months of play dates. Wolves are socially monogamous.
A couple of the current wolves lost their partners. One, Ryu, lost her 13-year-old partner last year. He had lymphoma and died quickly, which meant the animal keepers did not have time to prepare her for the loss. While wolves typically grieve 6 to 8 months, Ryu was still grieving a year later. Thankfully a new pup, Beau, helped engage her, and she’s taken a maternal interest in him. Because the residents of the sanctuary cannot be rehabilitated, they also cannot have pups of their own.
Rewilding efforts are working to bring back wolf populations once on the brink of extinction. Red wolves are native to Texas, but there are only an estimated 17-19 red wolves left in the wild. The entire existing population lives in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Manteo, North Carolina, where the Red Wolf Recovery Program has helped rewild the endangered species.
As dusk settled, we walked over to the tour deck to meet the residents of Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary. Gaulding regaled us with facts, both broad and specific to each enclosure’s resident and their unique personalities and social dynamics. We met Calypso, a wolf dog, and, “my best friend in the entire world,” Gaulding said. After Calypso entered the sanctuary with anxiety resulting from previous abuses, Gaulding slowly won her over by having a picnic with her and reading to her while she ate.
Lapua, a full blood tundra gray wolf, demonstrated a high five, which also serves to help get blood samples. All the training cues have a purpose. Going sideways to the fence allows them to get their vaccinations once a year. Trained to know what to expect from a vet, they don’t have to be sedated for general checkups, and the sanctuary also includes an on site vet clinic.
As darkness descended, we moved around the campfire to roast hot dogs and s’mores, the bare branches of the trees reaching up to the full moon. While it took some effort to get some post-dinner howls, howling came easily throughout the night, gently waking me at 1:51 a.m. and then 5:53 a.m., right before we were formally roused to pack up and head out for the day. “That sleep was nice. The best one I ever had,” my youngest announced, as she emerged from her sleeping bag.
Once our tents were packed and the first morning light broke, we were invited to walk the tour deck once more. Shy Calypso regaled us with morning howls. A fitting goodbye.
