Welcome to Colleen’s Corner. This is a column meant for fun and some information About myself: I am a Freelance Photographer you often see me on the side of the road or in various places taking photos of different things animals, birds, places, people etc. l have lived in Lumby for over 8 years, you have seen my photos in the newspaper (Lumby Valley Times) and once in awhile in the Vernon Morning Star, and the Lumby Art Gallery. Photography is my passion. Disclaimer: The information on some of my photos that I write about a lot of times come from the Internet or books I research them, hopefully the facts are as close to the truth as I can come.
By Colleen Fielding
Did you get to see the first super moon of the year this month? It ran from Friday January 2 until Sunday January 4.
It was the first super moon of three for the new year of 2026. Large and bright as all super moons are as this is when they are closest to the earth. The January full moon is called The Wolf Moon. The wolves might be hungry in the winter months constantly looking for food, communicating with each other through howling. If you listen closely the wolves will make different howling sounds as the howling is not only about food. The howls are for a gathering of the pack, warnings, finding wolves that are lost, or wolves that are alone, howls that can be confrontational, or howling together like a chorus, they will howl even when looking for a mate in the winter breeding seasons.
Wolves don’t really howl at the moon, it just appears that they do as they hold their heads up with their muzzles facing upwards, as it helps to make the acoustics better by projecting their head this way will send the sound farther away.
You will find wolves in every continent except in South America (too hot) and of course in Antarctica (BRRR,way too cold)
Have you ever howled at the moon? I have, it’s a great way to release all of your energy that has been pent up, it helps to release your emotions and your stress. Doing something like howling at the moon can be very powerful, helping you to let go of anger, anxiety, frustrations, just like screaming into a pillow, or working out strenuously.
When we were in Arizona there was a place there called Yuma. In Yuma on the night of the full wolf moon they have gatherings of people that all get together that night and howl. You don’t need a lot of people around to do this if you don’t feel comfortable around people, this is something you can do on your own.
If you haven’t tried howling at the moon, you might want to put it on your calendar sometime and try it out.
The longest living wolf on record for a wild wolf was 13.7 years, and the longest recorded wolf in captivity was 20.6 years
In the wild a lifespan for a wolf is usually only about 5-8 years.
