A Howlfest

Baby Dog has claimed an old round patio table (see picture) that came with the cabin, and which is now shoved into a corner of the back deck, as her own special spot. When she’s on it, she can see over the deck fence and into the woods. Since the deck is 6-7 feet above ground level, she can’t jump out.

When Dog was an only dog, and had the cabin to himself, I hardly ever heard him howl. But now that Baby Dog has joined the household, I am treated to a howlfest at least once a week. Sometimes a visit to the front deck by mama and baby raccoon will start it off. Sometimes it’s the arrival of a delivery truck. Last night, my neighbor came home from work after dark, drove past my cabin and up to his own, and that set them off.

Sometimes a quick word from me will break their concentration and end the display. Other times this doesn’t work, and they just have to howl themselves out. The howling doesn’t usually last very long, just a minute or so. Actually, I kind of like it, as long as it doesn’t go on for too long. Their howling is a very primal sound, very wolf-ish. It takes me back to what it must have been like when packs of wolves ran the forests of the Appalachians.

I’ve heard the deep howl of wolves in the Yukon, and I’ve heard the “yippier” and higher pitched howls of red wolves in North Carolina. I wish Dog and Baby Dog would howl, at least once, when I am some distance away, perhaps over by the new pond. I would like to hear their howls echo through the trees. That’s as close as I’ll ever get to hearing wild wolves in Pennsylvania, but I would like to have the memory of hearing something close to that sound, just once.