maya – Mar 2, 2009 12:00 AM

This past week, the curator was out of town attending conferences for the HP grant and the Society of American Foresters. While we manage with a style of multiple wolf care staff, the change in routine can have an impact on the wolves. To distract the pack from this change, items are given to provide them a behavioral outlet. Last week, a bison hide that was donated from a hunter was given to the pack on Monday. This provided a significant amount of behavior including tug of war, guarding behavior, active submission and dominance and overall excitement. Maya continued to display her stalking and lunging behavior that has become the tone of the winter. Whether it relates to keeping the other wolves from the hide or just a general stalk of Aidan, she has had many interesting displays this winter. Staff also noticed what appears to be a wart-like growth on her head. We will watch this as it progresses, but at this point are not concerned. MacKenzie had a similar growth on her foot for years, and other than occasionally biting it open, it never resulted in any problems. The full video clip of the bison hide will be included with the YouTube video this week.