Caledonia Argus

Houston Nature Center to house mounted wolf

Posted: 1/28/03

A wolf shot and killed in Mound Prairie Township on November 15 by a teenager who mistook it for a coyote is being prepared for display at the Houston Nature Center.

HNC acquired the animal after a panel of experts ascertained that the animal was, in fact, a wolf and not a wolf-dog hybrid. If it had turned out to be a hybrid, the teenager and his family could have kept it, but tests at the DNR office in Grand Rapids verified the wolfís authenticity.

Initial plans made by the Houston Nature Center to display the hide and head of the wolf have been abandoned in favor of a project to have the entire wolf mounted and displayed in a glass case.

ìEveryone was very adamant that it needed to be made into a mount,î said HNC Naturalist Karla Kinstler. ìFor cost, space, and time reasons, I planned to have a skin and skull done from the animal, then at the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce meeting last Thursday (January 16), it became very obvious that just about everyone in town wanted a full mount of the wolf. It was too special to be displayed as a just a hide.î

Kinstler anticipates a minimum cost of $1000 for the project. Those interested in making a donation can mail a check made out to the Houston Nature Center to PO Box 667, Houston, MN, 55943.

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