aidan – Sep 3, 2010 12:00 AM

During the Wolf Watch program on September 2nd, observations were made on the pack dynamics by program participants, Raquel Pfaff, Eamonn Briem, Awen Briem and Lori Schmidt. Overall, Aidan didn't have a lot of dominance towards him due to Grizzer's focus on Denali. The weather consisted of a hard driving rain and Aidan was the least tolerant, often running towards the den, then running back to the pack, but the other wolves showed no concerns with the passing thunderstorms. Aidan displays social behavior towards Maya, including frequent foreleg stabs, ride-up's and grooming Maya's face for several minutes. Aidan has also seemed to develop a new behavior, backing into other wolves, possibly as a protection for anyone coming behind him. He does this to Denali on several occasions, but was also observed doing this to Grizzer. A few weeks ago, Aidan seemed to be intimidated by Grizzer, several times during the wolf watch, Aidan chose to sleep near Grizzer and backed into him (staying in contact for several minutes), many times during the observation. It appears that Aidan has accepted Grizzer as higher ranking, and shows respect for him, resulting in less focus from Grizzer, and more social interaction.