Zoo Wolf That Escaped During A Hurricane Led Safely Home
A zoo wolf who escaped during a hurricane in July, roamed the
Alabama coast surviving on tourists' leftovers, was led back home by
the owner of a dog the wolf took a liking to. "I'd jiggle Rocky's chain
and he'd just follow along," David Peleschak said of his mile long walk
with the Arctic wolf named Paladin, including crossing a busy four-lane
highway. He was one of three wolves that escaped from Wilderness
Land during the hurricane. One was recaptured and the other was shot
down. Paladin was spotted roaming the Resort Island repeatedly, but
zoo workers never got close enough to catch him. Peleschak and his
wife, Kim, were getting their children ready for school, when he saw
the 40-pound family dog, playing in the yard with the 100-pound,
snow-white wolf. The wolf toppled the dog like an avalanche of snow.
The old house dog slid down the wolves back and trod knee deep in the
waist high snow white fur. Kim said, "The wolf follows Rocky. I'll bet if
you were to walk Rocky, he'd follow you." Peleschak put a leash on his
dog and started the one mile trip to Wilderness Land. Once inside the
compound, Paladin's wild resurfaced and he bolted, but a zoo worker
shot him with a tranquilliser dart. "It was either that or a bullet by the
police," he said. The cage where Paladin lay doped up, was one world
short of this world. The domestic dog was dragged home to the
backyard. It was the first different canine the wolf had spoken with.
During his four moths of freedom, Paladin apparently spent much of
his time in heavily wooded Gulf State Park, in search of the Arctic.
That big grey wolf followed the wind to where he knew best, which was
Alaska, the frozen territories that howled out the bones. Once the
tourists thinned out in Fall, he became more visible, eating out of
garbage cans at restaurants and grocery stores. He came into the
town with the first snow. As big as the north on the edge of winter,
Paladin covered the garbage cans and the back entrances of
restaurants with his foreign hunger. "He never harmed anyone on the
run and Rocky adored him," Kim said. "Now if I'm really upset or
joyful, I go into my large room with the high ceilings and howl." |
