An Encounter with Wolves at Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue

A friend shared with me about a wolf encounter  that she has in Brookville, Indiana and I immediately became obsessed with crossing a wolf encounter off of my adventure list as soon as possible. The power of an adventure suggestion is very strong, and once I hear about something unique to try, I have instant tunnel vision.

Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue is located in Brookville, Indiana about an hour away from Cincinnati. Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue has been open to the public for over 10 years and is dedicated to rescuing wolves and educating the public about these amazing animals. It started with rescues and then a few wolves were born at the habitat.

We were guided through the habitat with one of the volunteers who told us about the social dynamics of the wolves.

The wolves operate a bit like the social ladder in high school. There are the cool kids, the Alpha male and the Alpha female and then there is the kid that gets picked on who is the Omega. It was interesting to learn how the others treat the Omega as lowest on the totem pole and yet if the wolf was out of that pack, he would still want back with his community even though he was treated as the lowest. It’s just the order of business in the animal kingdom where the strongest survive.

There are 5 different packs but only one of the packs does encounters with visitors. All of the wolves in the encounter but two have been bottle fed.

I learned that there are some misconceptions about wolves. Wolves kill to eat. Coyotes kill to kill. With that being said, wolves still do not make good pets. The reason there are rescue wolves is because people think they can have a wolf as a pet while it is little but as it grows they realize that wolves are wild and cannot be domesticated. That is where Wolf Creek Habitat comes into the picture.  They give these animals a place where they can be part of a pack and live as normal of a wolf life as possible.

Another interesting fact that we learned was that wolves don’t get fleas. They also don’t get baths. They roll around in the grass and the enzymes from the plants help keep fleas away.

Here are a few rules that you should know before your wolf encounter.

Safety was top priority during our wolf encounter. All of the staff were trained to constantly be watching all of the wolves and their behavior towards the visitors. Don’t bring in any big professional cameras and wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

My son went from saying that he didn’t want to play with the wolves before we arrived to constantly asking us when we were going to play with them as we watched them from the observation area. There were several staff assigned to ensuring that my kids were safe the whole entire time.  We did not feel scared or in danger during our encounter.In fact, I had to keep reminding myself that they were wolves because so much of their behavior was similar to a dog.

A wolf came over and sniffed my youngest son’s hands and then began licking his face while resting his paws on his shoulders. It was just like what a big dog would have done.

We were told to let the wolves approach us and that one of the wolves really enjoyed styling hair.

You can watch a little bit of my hair styling session.

When you pet the wolves you want to pet the sides as a sign of submission. You also need to dig your fingers in a little, otherwise they won’t really feel it.

We even got to hear a little howling during our visit.

We had an incredible time at Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue. This would probably be on my list of top 10 adventures which says a lot. It’s not every day that you can say that a wolf played with your hair!

They are open year round and the best time to see a lot of wolf activity is during the winter.

Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue is located at 14099 Wolf Creek Rd., Brookville, Indiana

Call for hours and check out the website to plan your next adventure. 513-312-9143