It's often said that there are two types of people in the world: Dog people and cat people. But there's a more extreme version of the former that you might not have been aware of: Wolf people.
Every dog on the planet owes it's existence to these majestic pack animals, and yet until recently wolves have had something of a bad rep. They're reviled in legends and fairy tales as vicious and cunning predators, and caricatured and anthropomorphized in cartoons.
Check out the moment a dog walker filmed his pet fleeing from a gigantic wolf:Nowadays, research has shown that these incredible animals are far more worthy of our respect than we hitherto imagined, and if you want to interact with an actual wolf, then all you have to do is make a trip to the wild woods of Washington state, to a place where wolves and humans can get closely acquainted with one another.
The Predators of the Heart Sanctuary is located in Anacortes, near Seattle and right next to Vancouver past the Canadian border. Home to many predatory wild creatures, the sanctuary is best known for housing a pack of wolves who have been acclimatized to human contact.
Now, this place is offering visitors the chance to enjoy their two-hour-long Wolf Encounter Experience, where you'll be so close to them that you can even pet their fur and stroke their bellies (while under close supervision of course).
The sanctuary's official Facebook page states: "Our goal is to educate children about wildlife, not only to teach the facts about the animals, but to use an approach that leads to an appreciation, affection, compassion and respect for these living creatures. To make it clear to the children that an animal's value is not determined by its similarity or services to humans."
It adds: "Our purpose is to develop caring and concern for the animals. Our aim is to help open the eyes of their hearts to see that all nature is interconnected and realize that apart from it we cannot survive."
So if you'd like to book a meeting with one (or more) of these amazing animals, then just check the dates and the prices here. There are typically two tours a day, six days of the week, and each tour costs around $200 (USD) per person.
