aidan – Feb 8, 2013 12:00 AM

Someone recently asked me if I had a favorite wolf. Certainly some people may think it's hard not to think of some individuals with a greater concern because of their individual needs, but the reality is, every wolf is different and they all have some unique characteristic to make them special. So, I thought I would dedicate this week's wolf logs to those unique characteristics. Aidan had a tough start as an Exhibit Pack member, Maya was an active dominant female who, in the absence of another female, seemed to focus on Aidan. There were times in his life where his movement was restricted to certain portions of the enclosure, and any indication that he strayed would result in an active pin to the ground. As a yearling, his first set of guard hairs were thin, possibly due to stress, but maybe due to the fact that Maya rolled him into a submissive posture more than any of the other wolves combined. He had scrapes on the back of the legs from being a half step to slow for Maya's stealth interactions. He accepted it as a lower ranking pack member and later began pair bonding with Maya. Now, he leads this pack and his change in status has revealed a calmer, more socially interactive dominant male.