Just when you thought Mojo couldn't POSSIBLY get ANY cooler (uhhhh, you WERE thinking that just now, weren't you?), Mojo has gone back to her private vault of experiences to bring you her tenure at what used to be "The Wolf Sanctuary", more formally known as the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center at Wash U's Tyson Research Center in Eureka, MO. Being the charming lass she is, Mojo got permission from various Authority Figures (heh heh--suckers) and spent many an hour communing with wolves, well before it became oh-so-super-trendy to do so. (And eventually Mojo accepted the simple fact that the wolves, as noble wild creatures of intelligence and discernment, have no particular desire to commune with HER. Which is a lesson many a nature-lover has yet to learn, it sometimes seems.)

(The WCSRC has since changed its name to the Endangered Wolf Center; you can see what they're up to (and, hint hint, donate!) at http://www.endangeredwolfcenter.org.)

Due to a combination of checking out the performance of my new computer AND some occasional housecleaning as well as a goodly dose of boredom and ennui in general, I decided the other day to re-digitize a buncha clips and throw them up on YouTube for your enjoyment. Because Mojo is THAT kinda gal.

All of these clips were shot in the early 1980s using a giant camera and 3/4" tape. This was our "field" equipment--camera and deck together probably weighed a good fifty or sixty pounds, each twenty-minute tape was about the size of a hardcover book, and--Mojo being Mojo--she was always taping in places where she had to hike everything in. Which is why Mojo tends to get just a wee bit snarky when these kids today start complaining that their ten-ounce camcorder is "too heavy".

Amusingly enough, the screen shot above of me in the pen with a pair of red wolves is from footage I can no longer find. I probably have it on some old 3/4" tape somewhere. In the meantime, if you MUST see this particular footage, I will upload all I have of it, which is an old QT movie that you can find HERE.

My whole YouTube wolf-themed playlist is here for your perusal, but to demonstrate the excitement of Wild Canid Research I offer you this brief clip of wild red wolves in their enclosure:

Not exciting enough for you? Want some REAL action? Okay. Here's a Mexican wolf, doing what wolves do in the wild. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Still want more? Here's the whole playlist. Enjoy!

Mojo