Night fell hours ago on the home of the Sawtooth Pack: Wolves of the Nez Perce, and camp is quiet other than the wind through the Ponderosa and the crackle of my wood stove starting to heat my walled tent. I have made my home here for the past month and can't even believe that I will be leaving it at the beginning of March to head back to the east coast. The remainder of the pack, siblings Piyip and Motoki, have already surpassed my expectations for hands on learning, and the staff of the Wolf Center has been more than accommodating to my goals of my internship with the organization.

My name is Leah Kramer Heyman, a recent graduate of the Audubon Expedition Institute of Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My fascination of wolves started in my hometown of Sharon, MA at the age of twelve when my class was required to read the book "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craige George. The book is about a young independent Inuit woman who runs away onto the tundra of Alaska and is saved by a pack of wolves. While the story is fiction, the description of the pack hierarchy and bond would shape my life and peak my interest for years to come.

Now ten years later I still find myself fascinated with the pack, within the 20 acres of the enclosure and beyond. This week I am joined by Jessica Collins, a former intern here for a visit, and Hilary Zaranek, a practicum student. My education through Jeremy and other Wolf Center members grows each day even when I am the lone intern. Between learning how to maintain camp and participate in public educational activities, I am learning how this organization works and about the west's growing wolf population.

Political conversations with staff and locals has shed a whole new light on what was only a written reality in my world, reintroduction of the wolves in this part of the county. Sitting in the well-insulated cook shed, talks of wolf behavior and the workings of the hierarchy and pack management spurs questions and stories that are enlightening. But it is the direct contact with the pack that has had the most impact on me.

A month after my arrival I am taking my first steps, with Jeremy and the other girls, into the enclosure. We are very cautious and as Piyip and Motoki approach; I see them for the first time without the fence between us. While they do not greet, their presence is overpowering. Piyip walks several feet behind me as we break the trail though the meadow. Hilary and I examine first hand the size of one of twelve dens in the enclosure. Even in the cold of the Idaho winter, the sandy home is away from the wind, warm with its sunny southern exposure. Hidden trails and meadows open up as we continue to explore and ask questions, and before we know it, we are walking through the fence back to camp.

I still have two more months to explore new ideas and ask more questions, but I wonder if that will ever be enough. From the first night to the last morning I am looking forward to hearing the pack howl me awake and asleep. While the snow continues to fall I hope that each person who I encounter over the next few months here at Wolf Camp will be as touched as I am by these amazing creatures and will go away with a better understanding of their biology and history, past, present and possible future. I leave this update of wolf camp with a writing call "Wolf Credo" by Del Geoetz 1988:

Respect your elders
Teach the young
Cooperate with the pack

Play when you can
Hunt when you must
Rest in between

Share your affections
Voice your feelings
Leave your mark

Smile.

Leah Kramer, Winter 2008 Intern