The Amadeus Diaries

September 2001

Sept. 23, 2001
I was quite excited driving to the Conservators' Center.  A close friend, Mandy, knows the people who run this organization and thinks very highly of them.  The Center's primary focus is rescuing large cats,.  In speaking with them Mandy found out they now have a wolf and she let me know.  I saw the big guy right away, quite a spectacular image.  I met Mindy and Doug, who run the center (I met Mindy previously when she rescued a Serval from the Durham County Animal Shelter.)  We went to Amadeus's cage and the two of us seemed to hit it off right away.  If you look at the pictures of our first meeting you can see that Mindy and Doug were careful to be present and close for the meeting.  This was subtle and well done.  It was not until I looked at the pictures later that I realized how careful they had been with this introduction.  My impression of them, already extremely good, got all that much better.

Mindy took me on a tour of their facility.  I saw quite a few wonderful cats of all sizes.  Tigra Tiger is in the cage next to Amadeus.  She is quite impressive (and scary!)  Zaynah the Serval from my original meeting with Mindy is doing well, and is clearly well cared for.

Now for my two cents worth - anyone wishing to have one of these large carnivores for a pet needs to carefully examine their motives.  These are powerful, dangerous animals.  If you really want to help one, or really want to be involved with one, I would suggest sponsoring an animal at the Conservators' Center, or another similar rescue/conservatory organization.  You can be involved with the animal plus be around people that are knowledgeable and experienced enough to make the encounter much safer and the experience a rewarding one.

Now, back to Amadeus.  What a wonderful encounter.  We played and we became fast friends.  He's very young, only 6 months.  Because of his young age he's still very puppy like, and still seems dog like.  The uninformed often look at these young animals and claim they are just like dogs (which at this age they are.)  Unfortunately, they don't seem to realize that the domestication process involves breeding for animals that never outgrow this adolescent development level.  Wolves mature slowly, but by the time this guy is 18 months to 2 years old he will not longer be dog like, and may not accept new people into his "pack".  I look forward to watching him develop, and being with all along the way.

When it was time to go he was very difficult to leave.  One thing is for sure, I'll be back.

Sept 30, 2001
Another visit with this wonderful guy.  He seemed overjoyed to see me even before he knew I brought him some treats.  Our visit this time wasn't very long since I had commitments and had to leave.  It was a wonderful visit none the less.