lakota – Sep 4, 2000 12:00 AM

All five wolves are greeting handlers in a relaxed posture. They are rewarded by several minutes of belly scratching as they submit to the handlers. According to wolf protocol, the handlers greet Mackenzie first as the Alpha female, but her greeting times are getting shorter as the puppies have become more efficient at climbing the greeting rock to get to human handlers. Mackenzie generally jumps off and lets the puppies greet without incident. When Lakota tries this maneuver, Mackenzie has been known to drag her off the rock by the tail. Jen Westlund has begun as a Level 1 – Wolf Handler. She is accompanied into the enclosure by the Wolf Curator and is closely guarded in the event of any aggressive interactions with the wolves. So far, the interactions have been very positive. Her early bonding with the wolf pups will assist in the process of becoming a part of the Wolf Care Staff. Pack mobbing of Lakota seem to be getting more frequent. They are often lead by Mackenzie, but Lucas and the puppies join in on the chase. The puppies are very watchful of Mackenzie's lead and attempt to mimic her actions, even following through with hind quarter bite attempts to Lakota. Lakota has retreated to the den which provides a protective cover and allows her to jaw spar. These mobbing seem to be related to Lakota's behavior toward the pups. The more aggression toward the pups, the more likely a mobbing will follow. The pups were moved to a once a day feeding which averages 5 – 7 lbs of meat. There are now two feeding programs during the week for the main pack, the torso of a deer on Saturday night and an attempt to feed the pups a beaver or deer leg on Wednesday night. The first beaver feeding was successful on September 6th and the pups were able to guard and possess the beaver from the adult wolves throughout the entire evening (with the help of the Wolf Curator holding the beaver in place with her foot until the puppies gained possession).