Indigo

sex: male
born: 22 May 2001
birth place: Indiana
champions: Thom Whaley

deceased: 20 August 2008

Almost every animal at Wolf has had a champion,  someone who connected with them and their plight. A special person who went the distance to find them a home at Wolf .

given sanctuary: 02 June 2002

Indigo's Memorial
see Newsletter - Summer 2008 (click)

Indigo's Story

Indigo is one of seven siblings rescued by Thom Whaley. Thom runs a small rescue in Florida. The owner of Indigo's parents worked for the Forest Service and lived on State Forest land in Indiana. The birth of Indigo's litter violated some sort of State law and officials were threatening to confiscate and kill the entire litter. The owner put out an emergency plea for help. But nothing happen. Thom fortunately heard the final placement attempts and, although couldn't believe that there wasn't someone closer that could help, made the trip and rescued the entire litter, who were approximately 7 weeks old at that time.

He was then challenged with trying to place the seven high-percentage pups. Luckily, Thom does not take placing animals lightly. He is very comprehensive in his attempts to make sure that they go to qualified locations. Therefore, at the end of a year he still had two of the pups that had not been placed. This is when Wolf found out about Indigo, and the fit seemed ideal for one of our animals, Spirit.

Cheryl Budler and Steve Wolfsong, two of our excellent volunteers, left Wolf for Florida on Friday evening for the 52 hour whirlwind trip. They were loaded up with darting equipment, a kennel, and everything else they would need to accomplish transporting Indigo back to Colorado. Because Indigo would be stressed from the move, it would need to be a quick trip.

All went well in Florida, and Cheryl and Steve made it back to Colorado on Monday. The Great Spirit watches over us, and this trip was no exception. Four blocks from where Steve works as a master mechanic in Denver, the truck broke down. This is not really surprising as all of the Wolf vehicles are well past their prime. In this case it was the alternator. After emergency repairs, they continued their trip to Wolf .

Indigo was placed in the isolation run for a few days to be sure he was healthy and to give him a chance to adjust to his new surroundings. After two attempts, Indigo was placed with Spirit, who was grieving the loss of his companion, Cheyenne, and not eating. The best thing for a grief stricken animal is a puppy, as all wolves love puppies and will readily accept and raise them. They bonded very well, and Indigo mimicked Spirits every move. Spirit, as we knew he would, was teaching him how to behave like a wolf. It was truly wonderful to see them together, running and playing .

In 2003, construction was completed on our 1-acre enclosure intended for Kiki, Matoskah, Spirit, and Indigo. Everything went very well on moving day, and the four animals seemed to enjoy their new space and company, but only for a short time. Kiki, the female, had decided Spirit would be her new mate, and she made no secret of the fact that Indigo was not welcome. To avoid any issues, Indigo was moved out of that enclosure, and placed with Sabastian, another male that was currently alone.

Sabastian and Indigo were the best of buds for a couple years. They played hard all the time, and Indigo became more confident with humans after watching the very social Sabastian get love and pets from anyone who came into the enclosure. He still won’t let humans touch him, but eagerly eats goodies from your hand. He is infamous for trying to play with the humans, and attempting to steal their tool. Unfortunately, he is a very good thief, and many volunteers have lost things to him. Sledgehammers, used for breaking ice out of the water buckets in winter, seem to be his favorite. In 2005, Sabastian became ill with mouth cancer. Indigo stayed with him to the end, but lost his bud to the disease, which left Indigo alone.

After a few weeks of letting Indigo grieve, and trying to figure out what would be best for him, we decided to try putting him in the House Pack with Shaman. The gates were shut to all other enclosures, and the two were allowed to meet in neutral territory. But nothing happened! The two had no interest in each other. So on to Plan B. We put Indigo into the enclosure with Whisper, prepared to break up any uncomfortable situations. Yet again, nothing happened. Whisper would not even get up from her spot to come greet him. Okay, onto Plan C, but what is Plan C?

The next day, Indigo was brought into Sky and Nuggets’ enclosure. We were concerned about Sky, who had always been the omega of the pack until Ahzeem’s death. Now the Alpha, would he be able to accept another male and possibly the omega role once again? Humans again waited to break up any necessary situations. But this introduction went substantially better than the last two. Nugget, the alpha female, excitedly accepted the newcomer with tail wags and kisses immediately. Indigo made it very clear very quickly to Sky that he was to be the alpha male now. Fortunately for all involved, Sky accepted Indigo as the boss, and the three began to bond as a group.

Indigo’s pack remains a favorite of all the volunteers. Nugget will sit in you lap for love and smother you with kisses. Sky will come up for attention only from those he trust. And Indigo, aka Indy, will come to people for food, play, or to steal a radio out of your back pocket. You have to watch out for the boys when in their enclosure. Especially in winter, they will tag team a solitary human. One will stand on each side of you, and try their best to steal whatever tool or bucket you have as you turn back and forth telling them no. They have bonded very well together, and we hope to never have to move Indy again after all he’s been through. He still remains happy and healthy, although a little on the chunky side, at the Wolf Sanctuary.

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