Of Wolves and Mohonk Mountain

Mohonk Mountain House is a resort that seems to have sprung from the pages on an old fairytale book. The sprawling Victorian hotel is built atop a Shawangunk Mountain ridge at the foot of the Catskill Mountains where they roll off into the Hudson River Valley to the east. The founding Smiley family still owns the 2200 acre resort and nature preserve. 25,000 protected acres adjoin it, creating a wildlife corridor that feeds west into the Catskills.

Mohonk Mountain House is designated a National Historic Landmark. Many visitors come from the New York City metro, 100 miles south, drawn by the high quality service with an accent on simple and natural. Its guest register is studded with notables of more than a century. All 250+ rooms are filled with authentic antiques.

When the Smileys acquired the land in 1869, the area was nearly depleted of timber and wildlife due to the rush of trapping, logging, and farming that had taken place in the 1800's. Ironically, the family had to restock deer. Their main predator, wolves, were not restocked. Today's overpopulation of deer in the northeast is a cash crop for fish and game agencies, but a cause of endless vehicular collisions and injury, as well as overbrowsing and crop damage.

I did the first wolf program with DVD at Mohonk Mountain House nearly ten years ago. That became a regular schedule of around a dozen programs per year. House guests would turn up after dinner and listen to wolf stories - sometimes next to a cheery fire in a huge native bluestone fireplace, sometimes by french doors open to the summer breeze. Some wolf teachings were for the children's summer schedule.

Eventually I booked Mission:Wolf and live wolves Rami, Maggie and Raven into Mohonk's October Halloween weekend. That's prime time, when autumn in New York attracts a crowd. Not surprisingly, the wolf program has proven to be a popular draw. Some people return every fall to commune with the missing wolf spirit and to help dream back the wolf.

The Mohonk weekend comes at the end of Mission:Wolf's northeast educational tour, so it refreshes wolves and crew before the homeward trek to Colorado. Their weekend stay includes plenty of excellent food and a couple of mellow programs. Also the chance for everyone to romp unleashed in the safety of tennis courts in a wooded setting next to Alpine Lake. - Pam Brown - January, 2008

 

The puppy playfulness of wolf/husky Abraham gets some photogenic responses from the usually serene Maggie!

Special thanks go to Jeff and Anna Kollbrunner for the use of their beautiful pictures. Please be sure to check out their web site: http://www.jknaturegallery.com/