Druid

Born on April 18, 1995 at Mission: Wolf
Passed away on May 16, 2009

Sex: Male
Lived with Ned Ludd, Katimik, Bowdie

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Druid’s Story

Druid was a striking black wolf who was always outgoing and even a bit rowdy around people. As a lifelong omega, Druid remained as playful as a goofy puppy, while his pack-mates were forced to grow up quickly and take on the stress of leadership.

Druid was born at Mission: Wolf on April 18th, 1995 in quite unusual circumstances. Normally, when mother wolves are ready to give birth they dig a den or clean one from the previous year. Druid’s mother, Whisper, attempted to make a den but ran into a huge boulder that prevented her from digging any deeper than a foot or two. Instead of finding a new spot, she birthed her puppies in a small depression at the base of a tree.  Whisper was an inexperienced mother and frequently left the pups exposed to the extremely cold April weather.  Of the five pups born, only three survived: Druid, Kawh, and Merlin.

Druid was raised by an adult female wolf named “Granny” Raven along with two other male pups named Mowgli and Ned. As the boys matured, Mowgli took over the alpha male position in the pack, while Ned became the beta and Druid became the omega. The four wolves lived in relative harmony for years, impressing visitors with their close-kit family structure. However, when “Granny” Raven passed away in 2000, the boys were thrown into turmoil. Mowgli managed to keep his alpha status, but Druid and Ned weren’t quite as content with their roles. During the winter of 2003, Druid and Ned ganged up against Mowgli and challenged him for leadership. Had they been in the wild, the boys would have dispersed from the pack and avoided any conflict with Mowgli. But because they were in a fenced enclosure, Druid and Ned were forced to confront Mowgli head-on. They chased the terrified Mowgli into his den and held him there. We were able to separate Mowgli from the triumphant Druid and Ned to treat his wounds and give him a new enclosure next door.

While Ned established himself as the alpha of their small pack, Druid enjoyed the comparative freedom of Ned’s laid-back leadership style. The two boys’ lives soon changed again with the introduction of Katimik, a female wolf from the Wolf and Grizzly Discovery Center in Montana. Katimik immediately started flirting with Druid and quickly bonded with him. While Katimik only lived at Mission: Wolf for a few years before she passed away in 2007, she greatly enriched the lives of both Ned and Druid.

In 2005, Ned was diagnosed with sinus cancer. Through homeopathic treatments and specific vitamins added to his diet, Ned’s cancer went into remission in 2006. During all of this, Druid picked up on Ned’s weakness and began to challenge for the alpha spot. After spending nearly twelve years as a team, Druid and Ned were separated. Druid lived the rest of his life peacefully at the sanctuary, passing away in 2009 at the elderly age of fourteen.