A quick bringing up to date.

I have been very busy recently, too busy in fact to keep the blogs going in any sensible way. To bring things up to the present I am going to the seminar in May, having been given a ticket "for old times sake" so I am looking forward to seeing the wolves again. I met Mai and Mosi when I took my dogs to the woods for a walk and arrived before they left. Both girls remembered me very well.

I am saddened to hear that taking the wolves to shows by the UK Wolf Conservation Trust may be coming to an end. It was something that was held to be a most important part of the work of the Trust. Attendance at shows meant free access for the Trust to some of the biggest and best shows in the country and gave volunteers a chance to talk to people not actually interested in wolves, with a view to getting them interested. It enabled the Trust to be part of the wider conservation community as the stand was usually put in the "conservation area" at shows and were among the bat, badger, county wildlife and all the other organisations that go to make up the wildlife conservation ethic of Great Britain. In the parlance of today it "put the Trust out there" in a big way.

The volunteers met some of the movers and shakers of British conservation; like Chris Packham, Derek Gow who is a big player in the efforts to re-instate beaver, Pauline Kidner and her team from the much televised Secret World who do so much for badgers and other British wildlife, the team from Porfell in Cornwall that helps old and unwanted zoo and circus animals, and many more, too numerous to list here. It even extended to that sometimes overlooked area of conservation, rare breeds. All these contacts extended horizons and gave a much less parochial view of things.

It was also an opportunity to meet professional animal keepers and to talk to them about their animals and problems. During visits to shows the Trust built up an enviable reputation for it's animal husbandry among the vast majority of people in the industry and visitors alike. Of course there were a few dissenting voices because there will always be someone who disagrees with something. In the main however volunteers were able to talk to these people, and in most cases satisfy their concerns. When Alba, the European wolf broke his neck, the Trust was applauded for its efforts in rehabilitating him, a fact that in the view of many people set it aside from other, less caring organisations.

It was a challenge, but wolf conservation, or any conservation for that matter, will always engender controversy. At least we only faced verbal comments, some conservationists have people shooting at them and even killing them. Thankfully these people are made of stern stuff and do not back away from the threat as they work for their particular project, be it wolf conservation or protection of the rain forest.

I often hear the wolves howling as I slave in my vegetable garden and it helps to keep me digging as I remember the good times, because no matter what has been taken away, no one can take away the memories.