Wolf Watermelon Party!

July 24, 2013 7:46 AM

Slideshow of wolves feasting on watermelons. The idea for the party came after park staff noted that the wolves were looking longingly at watermelon slices that the humans were eating during a July 4th celebration. [via]
posted by Cash4Lead (57 comments total)

That's awesome.
posted by xingcat at 7:52 AM on July 24, 2013

Imagining carrying a whole watermelon in my mouth like that is making my jaw hurt.
posted by dismas at 7:55 AM on July 24, 2013

Looks fun and yummy.

Waiting for the wolf pumpkin party.
posted by Wolfster at 7:56 AM on July 24, 2013

I guess I must have some sort of unknown antipathy towards watermelon, because the look in the first wolf shot as it attacks the watermelon gives me crazy-satisfaction.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:01 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Jesus, I don't think I ever realized how big a wolf's mouth is. Even if those are baby watermelons, which they are probably not.
posted by Fig at 8:02 AM on July 24, 2013

I guess I must have some sort of unknown antipathy towards watermelon, because the look in the first wolf shot as it attacks the watermelon gives me crazy-satisfaction.

They put meat in the watermelons. So there's that.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:03 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]

The first time I heard "wolf watermelon party" I was sure it was some kind of sex thing.
posted by kmz at 8:03 AM on July 24, 2013 [14 favorites]

The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary does similar things for their wolves. Present Toss! and (upcoming) Piñata Party!
posted by namewithoutwords at 8:05 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

I understand how people get lost in the moment and end up mauled by wild animals because I really, really want to scratch this guy's ears and then look in his eyes and tell him that he's a good boy!
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:06 AM on July 24, 2013 [8 favorites]

I think this might now be my favorite picture of anyone opening a present ever.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:06 AM on July 24, 2013 [16 favorites]

as long as those melons are stuffed with pig ears, cheese and dog biscuits

I know what I'm bringing to my next cookout!
posted by JoanArkham at 8:07 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]

Ain't no party like a wolf watermelon party
Cause a wolf watermelon party also means pig ears, cheese, and biscuits
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:12 AM on July 24, 2013 [14 favorites]

If I'd have known it was going to be that kind of party...
posted by jquinby at 8:17 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Awesome. The contents sound like a pretty rough concoction, but they seem to be loving it so who am I to judge.

I thought they had crazily wide jaws for a second in this photo, but it looks like they're actually just holding the wall of the hollowed out watermelon.
posted by lucidium at 8:17 AM on July 24, 2013

I think this might now be my favorite picture of anyone opening a present ever.

Basically identical to any of my childhood birthday photos except I am less hairy.
posted by elizardbits at 8:22 AM on July 24, 2013 [3 favorites]

I get that the enticement is the pigs ears (what do the pigs do without ears?), the dog biscuits and the cheese, but do they like the actual watermelon part? Do they spit or swallow the seeds?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:26 AM on July 24, 2013

Reminds me of my Siberian Husky. With a kibble-stuffed kong.
posted by sixpack at 8:27 AM on July 24, 2013

The first time I heard "wolf watermelon party" I was sure it was some kind of sex thing.

You're probably thinking of "bear lemon party".
posted by burnmp3s at 8:30 AM on July 24, 2013 [14 favorites]

I get that the enticement is the pigs ears (what do the pigs do without ears?), the dog biscuits and the cheese, but do they like the actual watermelon part?

If my standard poodle was anything to go by, the sweet watermelon is enjoyed as well.

He also loved the spines from Romaine lettuce.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:31 AM on July 24, 2013

I happen to know that dingoes like watermelon and cantaloupe.

Give 'em a mushroom, though, and the look is of disgust.

"What is that—a fungus? You're feeding me a fungus?"
posted by sonascope at 8:34 AM on July 24, 2013 [5 favorites]

I happen to know that dingoes like watermelon and cantaloupe.

Give 'em a mushroom, though, and the look is of disgust.

"What is that—a fungus? You're feeding me a fungus?"

This sounds exactly like my wife. I'll definitely be checking her for other signs of being a dingo tonight.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:38 AM on July 24, 2013 [17 favorites]

I'll definitely be checking her for other signs of being a dingo tonight.

First area of inquiry: Did she take your baby?
posted by sparklemotion at 8:40 AM on July 24, 2013 [16 favorites]

"Renki Defends His Melon" is the title of my next movie.
posted by ambivalentic at 8:48 AM on July 24, 2013 [10 favorites]

see also
posted by elizardbits at 8:48 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I guess only one of them got a cantaloupe? Maybe s/he doesn't like watermelon. Fair enough; I know someone like that.
posted by rtha at 8:49 AM on July 24, 2013

This is absolutely adorable.

Also, now I can't stop thinking about Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.
posted by BrianJ at 9:03 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think canines just fucking hate round, green things, which also explains their savage pursuit of tennis balls.
posted by invitapriore at 9:04 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I get that the enticement is the pigs ears (what do the pigs do without ears?), the dog biscuits and the cheese, but do they like the actual watermelon part? Do they spit or swallow the seeds?

If they are anything like my dogs, yep. Seeds and all.

Of course my dogs also like to eat strawberries fresh off the plant (fuckers! get out of my garden!) and green beans (worse than the rabbits!).

But my wife humiliates them by making them wear silly hats*, so...

*see profile pic
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:07 AM on July 24, 2013 [5 favorites]

"What fruit derives its name from the Italian for 'singing wolf'?" is a good question for bar trivia. It can be figured out with a little thought and is pretty surprising.
posted by painquale at 9:08 AM on July 24, 2013 [8 favorites]

That works with pretty much any Romance language, actually. I can't say I see the resemblance.
posted by invitapriore at 9:14 AM on July 24, 2013

Actually, these people are sadly mistaken. Wolves hate watermelon. What you have here, is some of the Loup Garou giving away their game. It's well-known that werewolves have an insatiable desire for melons of all sorts; they make a nice palette cleanser after a fiendish banquet of human flesh.

Strange but true!
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:15 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

I love how much these wolves look like dogs with a treat. For instance, the second pic is exactly what my puppy looks like when I give him a cow knuckle (ie, knee joint) and he paces around the house, looking for a private place to gnaw on it.
posted by lunasol at 9:21 AM on July 24, 2013

OH NO THE FLICKR PAGE HAS BABBY WOLFS THAT ARE TINY AND ADORABLE
posted by elizardbits at 9:22 AM on July 24, 2013 [7 favorites]

The first time I heard "wolf watermelon party" I was sure it was some kind of sex thing.

You don't want to know what they did to the muskmelon.
posted by hal9k at 9:30 AM on July 24, 2013

OH NO THE FLICKR PAGE HAS BABBY WOLFS THAT ARE TINY AND ADORABLE

Warning: this will break your heart with cuteness.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:30 AM on July 24, 2013 [8 favorites]

I bet bears would go for this too, big time.
posted by thelonius at 9:49 AM on July 24, 2013

Warning: this will break your heart with cuteness.

*shrug*


YOLO


*click*


SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM *dead*
posted by louche mustachio at 9:49 AM on July 24, 2013 [12 favorites]

Even further back you see them eating giant popsicles and that is basically where I died
posted by elizardbits at 9:51 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Here we have a guy foolishly disguising himself as a chicken carcass....
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:59 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Can someone please email my supervisor to let them know I can't work because I'm dead from the cute of the sleeping wolf puppy. Dead.
posted by rtha at 10:11 AM on July 24, 2013 [3 favorites]

That works with pretty much any Romance language, actually. I can't say I see the resemblance.

I'm not sure I understand this comment. Are you saying that 'cantaloupe' doesn't necessarily derive from Italian? The slideshow mentions that they were likely grown in the Italian village of Cantalupo, which was probably named after wolves in the area.
posted by painquale at 10:12 AM on July 24, 2013

No, I'm saying that you can reason your way through that question without necessarily knowing Italian, since every major Romance language has something that sounds like "cantare" for sing and "lupo" for wolf.
posted by invitapriore at 10:17 AM on July 24, 2013

How long do you think I could keep a baby wolf in my pocket until it knew it could maul me? Because I would keep getting bigger pockets up to and possibly including that point.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:22 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]

Yeah, exactly! That's what makes it a cool trivia question. It reminds me of something from Moot.
posted by painquale at 10:25 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

My dog is allergic to strawberries.

That is all.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:46 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Are they going to have a lupine colectomy-fest after the seeds and fiber get lodged in their intestines, intended originally to hork hunks of raw meat through their GI tract?
posted by Renoroc at 11:19 AM on July 24, 2013

Wolves are known to eat fruit and berries on occasion, not exclusively meat.
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:27 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Judging by what happens to my kitchen floor after I give my genetically-diminished wolves fruit, they just chew it once and then let it fall out of their horrified mouths anyway.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:54 AM on July 24, 2013 [5 favorites]

There is a big hole in the watermelons. That wolf's mouth isn't open that far. It's an illusion. Don't worry about the wolf, he's fine.
posted by amtho at 12:20 PM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Life isn't all fruit parties for these wolves.
posted by trip and a half at 12:24 PM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

This makes me miss my mom's beloved wolf hybrid (who was a rescue. Neither I nor my mother condone the breeding of wolf hybrids)

She would need to have presents for her every xmas, otherwise she'd try to nab yours. When you gave her one, she'd take in in her mouth, then parade it around the house, then unwrap it furiously, then take whatever was in it and parade it around the house.

Once, I gave her a chew toy that she loved (a teeth-cleaning stegasaurous) and then couldn't find another for a couple years. When I finally did find another one and gave it to her, she unwrapped it, looked surprised, put it down, and ran over to her toy box and dug out the shreds of the previous one. Then put them next to each other and just stared at it.

She took years of work, but she was a good dog and I miss her.
posted by lumpenprole at 12:59 PM on July 24, 2013 [36 favorites]

Wolf howl identification technology excites experts: Individual wild wolves can be recognised by just their howls with 100% accuracy, a study has shown.
posted by homunculus at 4:18 PM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Those are some really beautiful animals. Especially that little pup that's sleeping.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 8:57 PM on July 24, 2013

Bulgaroktonos: This sounds exactly like my wife. I'll definitely be checking her for other signs of being a dingo tonight.

Palpate her belly for signs of human babies. Dingoes loves them some human babies.

Not good for them - all that fat! - but who can resist a little fetal snack now and then?
posted by IAmBroom at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2013

Celsius1414: Wolves are known to eat fruit and berries on occasion, not exclusively meat.

If by "on occasion" you mean "less than 2% of their diet, representing only incidental/trivial additions", yes.

Humans are also known to eat fingernails and wax lips on occasion, not exclusively food.

Wolves are non-obligate carnivores, not omnivores, according to pretty much all research of the last 20 years.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:33 AM on July 25, 2013

I'm particularly partial to mod wolves, myself.
posted by sonascope at 11:33 AM on July 25, 2013

Wolves are non-obligate carnivores, not omnivores, according to pretty much all research of the last 20 years.

And you'll note I specifically didn't call them omnivores, just that it isn't unheard for them to eat particular things comparable to the watermelons, which might point to them not having the intestinal issues I was replying to. :)
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:54 AM on July 26, 2013 [1 favorite]