Wolf Mountain holding October Festival Sunday
SMYRNA – This Sunday, patrons will climb up a weaving Smyrna trail to the approaching sound of howling wolves at the Wolf Mountain Nature Center, which is holding its annual Pumpkin Festival.
Wolf Biologist Will Pryor and his partner Sophie Belanger decided four years ago to dedicate their 70 acres of land along with their time and money to build a wolf and fox refuge center atop the rolling hills in the Town of Smyrna.
“I reached that point in my life where I’m living my dream,” said Pryor.
A strong wildlife advocate, Pryor has worked closely with other-non profit groups and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to create a center which now houses five gray wolves and two arctic foxes.
“This is made solely possible through donations, public support and volunteers,” he said. “No one gets paid anything at Wolf Mountain,” he added.
Volunteer Katie Fox help to socialize the wolves when they were puppies and now creates burned carvings and leads hikes for the center.
“It’s a good place that leaves you with good feeling and it educates the public,” she said.
The center is also completely off the grid, solely powered by solar and wind energy.
National Wolf Awareness Week runs from Oct. 11-17 and the center’s Sunday programs runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The day’s activities will include a guided nature hike, a demonstration on solar and wind power, story telling and a magic show for kids and programs featuring the site’s animals. The DEC will also be on hand with their canine unit for a presentation. The afternoon’s activities conclude with a solar-powered music concert at 2:30 p.m.
This event is Wolf Mountain’s largest annual fundraiser.
“We want the public to receive on-site education about wolf-related issues, such as wolf biology, communication, social structure and greater environmental issues many animals are facing,” said Pryor.
Pryor said he was appalled by the mythological standing wolves had been given in European folk lore, where they are often depicted as violent and vicious.
“For thousands of years, people and wolves lived together on this continent and were revered by the local Native American cultures, but the colonization of the country by European influences wiped out those cultures and replaced them with their own, which was much more hostile to the wolves,” he said.
New York State once boasted a thriving wolf population, but today not a single wolf is left roaming its wilderness, explained Pryor.
Wolf Biologist Will Pryor and his partner Sophie Belanger decided four years ago to dedicate their 70 acres of land along with their time and money to build a wolf and fox refuge center atop the rolling hills in the Town of Smyrna.
“I reached that point in my life where I’m living my dream,” said Pryor.
A strong wildlife advocate, Pryor has worked closely with other-non profit groups and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to create a center which now houses five gray wolves and two arctic foxes.
“This is made solely possible through donations, public support and volunteers,” he said. “No one gets paid anything at Wolf Mountain,” he added.
Volunteer Katie Fox help to socialize the wolves when they were puppies and now creates burned carvings and leads hikes for the center.
“It’s a good place that leaves you with good feeling and it educates the public,” she said.
The center is also completely off the grid, solely powered by solar and wind energy.
National Wolf Awareness Week runs from Oct. 11-17 and the center’s Sunday programs runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The day’s activities will include a guided nature hike, a demonstration on solar and wind power, story telling and a magic show for kids and programs featuring the site’s animals. The DEC will also be on hand with their canine unit for a presentation. The afternoon’s activities conclude with a solar-powered music concert at 2:30 p.m.
This event is Wolf Mountain’s largest annual fundraiser.
“We want the public to receive on-site education about wolf-related issues, such as wolf biology, communication, social structure and greater environmental issues many animals are facing,” said Pryor.
Pryor said he was appalled by the mythological standing wolves had been given in European folk lore, where they are often depicted as violent and vicious.
“For thousands of years, people and wolves lived together on this continent and were revered by the local Native American cultures, but the colonization of the country by European influences wiped out those cultures and replaced them with their own, which was much more hostile to the wolves,” he said.
New York State once boasted a thriving wolf population, but today not a single wolf is left roaming its wilderness, explained Pryor.
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