[OVR] Rabbit Overrun

With the coming of fall, it meant that the harvest season would soon begin. Wolf Hallow Preserve was located in the small town of Wolf Hallow, North Dakota, a very farming rich community. Even though the preserve was a couple miles outside of town and owned a rather large expanse of fenced forest and prairie land with some lakes and streams running through it, there was farm land almost all around it. As the farmers began to come in with their tractors and start to harvest the fields, the wildlife which had come to call the fields their home and safety began to flee towards the preserve.

Rabbits soon came to overrun the prairie, not only coming from the fields but also as the pregnant females began to give birth to their young and others began to mate. The preserve was still small with limited numbers of wolves, meaning the rabbit population quickly boomed as the prey greatly outweighed the predators.

At the moment Wolf Hallow Preserve only had 5 confirmed packs. Their first pack being the Grey Wolf pack consisting of Killian, Faolan and their son Skoll. The pair had whelped 2 small litters, only retaining one pup while the others were sent to other zoos to help with their programs. Their second pack consisted of a sister and brother pair of Ethiopian wolves. The female, Ryla was nearing the end of her pregnancy, she had been bred by an outside male and Ares hoped her brother Rufus would take to the pups. He had hopes of eventually bringing in more to pair with the siblings. The third pack was a pair of Dire wolves named Ghost and Nemeria. The fourth pack was two Maned Wolves named Fenrir and Amalthea. The last and newest pack were the two Vancouver Island wolves[previously Alexander Archipelago wolves], Alexander and Alexandria. The pair had bonded nicely and eventually made it out from the quarantine pens into the open preserve. There was also a lone Arctic wolf male named Art roaming the preserve.

With the rabbit population booming as such Ares decided it was time to really start searching for some new animals. He put some feelers out into the online zoo-esque community and soon got a message back from a facility that was looking to sell some of their hybrids and grey wolves. Ares got in contact with them and ended up purchasing a blue female grey wolf named Hati, a female grey wolf and ethiopian wolf crossing named Freyja and a female grey wolf, ethiopian wolf and coyote hybrid named Sulfur. The three wolves were quickly transported to Wolf Hallow Preserve to go through their quarantine before being released into the preserve.

Iliana, Ares’s wife had also been contacted to help assess animals rescued from an exotic animal sale ring and ended up bringing home three dingos and a grey wolf with her to live at the preserve. They had seemed the most likely to do well at the preserve while others were taken to other facilities and some to be prepped back for release. The preserve was slowly growing and hopefully new packs forming or at least growing in numbers whether by accepting the newcomers or with litters. Only time would tell though, however for now Ares and his brother Perses hoped the new additions would help with the ever growing rabbit population. By the end of the harvest season the preserve was absolutely overrun with the burrowing buggers. As well as with mice in the buildings.

Killian gave a low huff to his mate Faolan as they headed towards the prairie where the rabbits were. They’d been coming here since they’d learned about the abundance of little critters. Though they were fast and sometimes got into their holes before being caught, between the three wolves, as their son Skoll was trailing behind, they caught enough to fill up. Soon enough though the other animal as the preserve had noticed the abundance of prey here and had begun frequenting as well. At the moment though the prairie was free of other predators, the three grey wolves had the area for themselves for the time being.

The trio stalked forward in the grass which almost touched their bellies. They quickly sighted their own targets and began the hunt. Killian weaved through the grass, his paws light on the ground as he followed the scent of a rabbit. As it grew stronger he slowed, lowering his body trying to gain sight of the creature as he neared it. It was currently unaware of the approaching wolf as it munched on some grass. Killian stopped watching the rabbit, anticipating his attack, suddenly he lunged forward landing on the rabbit before it had a chance to react. He didn’t dare to howl his triumph at the kill as he didn’t want to mess up his mate or offspring’s hunt.

While the trio hunted the rabbits, two other grey wolves had decided to come to the prairie in search of food. Tapioca, a tan point female who was rescued from the sale ring, had joined up with Hati, the blue female purchased from the other facility. They had quickly become friends as they had been released around the same time and started traveling together.

They had entered the large prairie on the other side of the family and began their hunt. Unknowingly the two groups began to work towards each other as they headed towards the middle. Killian was the first to scent the pair, he stopped his eating of his rabbit to lift his head and get a better smell. Faolan had stopped eating her rabbit as well when she noticed her mates demeanor change, he too scented the wind and smelled the two females. Skoll though was still in pursuit of his rabbit which had taken run and he’d quickly given chase. The young male had not yet noticed the two females nor the fact that one was approaching, or more had also seen the rabbit and gotten caught up in the chase she too hadn’t noticed Skoll.

Tapioca, the tan point female, soon accidentally ran into Skoll, a tan point male, almost like fate. The two went tumbling though, crashing through the grass. Both were instantly on defense once they gained their footing and had a chance to come to their senses. Though Skoll was the first to break into a playful bow. He was lonely without his siblings, his parents didn’t play much and he missed playing. The wolf was still young, not even a year yet. Tapioca stood for a moment, eyeing the male carefully, she too was young. She had just turned a year old, but the female soon returned his bow and all thought of the hunt was lost as they began to play and romp about.

Killian took this as his chance to approach the other female who had stopped to watch Tapioca and Skoll, making sure the male had not been a threat. She did not seem to mind the fact that her friend had found someone to play with, or perhaps someone else to pester. Hati was a bit older than Tapioca at almost three years old. She lifted her head as Killian neared and watched him closely. Killian had brought his half eaten rabbit with him and dropped it on the ground, nudging it towards Hati before taking a few steps back and giving a low whine. Hati moved forward and took the rabbit, starting to eat it. Killian wagged his tail and whined a little more, prancing in place. Hati glanced up at him and started to wag her tail as well. He moved forward sniffing the female and soon licking her as she ate.

By the end of the evening the two females had decided to follow along with Killian and Skoll, joining the older males pack. Though it was traditional for packs to only be made of family members and for the lead pair to be the only breeding pair, Killian had seen the fences and lived here long enough to know this was not the wild and the same laws did not apply. He was happy to have more members in his pack and even happier one of them was Skoll’s age so the young male would stop pestering his parents. Killian did feel for his son though, he too missed his pups, that was another indicator that the same laws in the wild did not apply here. Killian had come from the wild and though he was taken at a year old, he still remembered much of his beginning.

Skoll and Tapioca walked close by each other at the back, chatting as they went, sharing their story. Killian led the pack while Faolan and Hati walked next to each other, talking as well. Faolan kept an eye on the female, though Killian was her mate, she felt a worry this new female may take him from her. As if sensing that worry, Killian fell back for a moment to give his mate a loving nudge and lick before taking a turn, heading towards their den for the night. Their bellies were full with the rabbits they had hunted today and the pack had grown by two members.