Howling Woods Farm in Jackson, New Jersey, is not your average farm. If you’re brave enough and you love animals, this place makes for a great day trip. Don’t worry, it’s not actually scary. However, you won’t see your typical farm animals at Howling Woods. The farm is a wolf preserve that rescues and adopts wolf dogs.
Visitors can take a tour and meet and learn about several of the animals. The ones you’ll meet are not 100% wolf. If they were, people would not be allowed to interact with them. Each wolf has a mixture of dog in them. They’re considered “wolfdogs.” This makes them slightly more domestic. The farm has high, mid, and low range breeds.
Before interacting with the wolves, all bags and items that could dangle are left behind. It is also strictly enforced to not wear fur.
The high bred wolves are the ones with 95% wolf in them. Since they are mostly wild, there are more rules to follow when interacting with them. To pet them, they have to come up to you. If they walk away, it is advised to not go after them. These aren’t golden retrievers after all. The mid bred wolves are a little friendlier. They like more attention. However, they are still around 60% wolf. The lower bred wolves have around 25-50% wolf in them. The largest wolf dog, Samson, is typically mistaken for a high breed although he is a low breed. His paws could be compared to that of a bear’s.
After meeting the wolves in each enclosure, pictures can be taken with them. The trainers get the wolves to cooperate with their leverage…cheese cubes. Believe it or not, wolves are hungry for cheese. The only way they would hop up on their wooden platforms and pose is if they were rewarded with a tasty snack.
The farm holds many more wolfdogs as rescues. They even have a coyote. However, the public cannot interact with those animals.
If you live in NJ, spending some time with these striking creatures is an activity you don’t want to miss out on.
All photographs courtesy of Julia Marnin.