alexinwords.com

by Alex Russell

I’m not sure if it was the coyotes or wolves, but it was a chorus a half-mile away behind glass and electric wire, first one dappled cry then another until a cascade of wailing echoed through the trees. This is why I don’t go camping. This is why the closest I’ll get to wild animals is a place like NW Trek, a wildlife park about 25 miles from Tacoma, WA.

The park itself is just over 700 acres full of black bears, grizzly bears, caribou, moose, mountain goats and even bison. While their zoo-like enclosures hold wolves, coyotes, gold and bald eagles, even cougars and bobcats, the centerpiece of the park is it’s free-roaming area where you can ride a tram to be out there with the wildlife. As we rode along our driver/guide told us stories about the animals, how there are only herbivores in the free-range area because if there were carnivores there would not be herbivores for very long. We passed 3,000-pound buffalo lounging in the grass licking their noses. We saw deer graze in the fields. Mountain goats in the road paced us as we passed them by.

The highlight of the ride came when our guide jolted the tram to a stop and jumped out of her seat, shouting with joy, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, look!” Near the base of the hill was a fuzzy grey baby goat curled up next to its mother. Everybody in the tram rushed to the windows to get a look.

“Sorry about that,” said our guide, a little embarrassed. “It’s just I heard there were little goat babies and I haven’t got a chance to see them yet.” We all watched starry-eyed as mother and baby made their way up the hill away from us.