Exhibit Pack Update – 29 September 2023
Blackstone identified a small rodent that had made its way out of the woods and was kind of moving around the exhibit. He was acting playful towards it, not really showing any predatory behavior by biting it. Blackstone was displaying investigative behaviors by batting it around with his paw and sniffing it. He even does a play bow to it. Wolves are large generalist carnivores, and they need a large amount of meat to sustain themselves. Thus, these small rodents while they may be entertaining, wolves do not tend to utilize them as food resource like a fox or a coyote would. Further, our ambassador wolves receive plenty of opportunities to feed from large carcasses a couple of times per week and we also offer smaller food items on a daily basis. For Blackstone, just a yearling being a yearling, utilizing an opportunity. The rodent was unscathed by this little interaction even though a Blackstone did pick him up and carry him around a little bit.
With the seasonal changes the wolves are getting a little bit more animated. Caz and Rieka are still showing some pair bonding behavior. We see Caz rubbing under her chin and Rieka is very tolerant of him. Grayson is still in the middle though, especially with Caz being subordinate to Grayson, but also every once in a while, Rieka gives Grayson that affectionate inhibited muzzle bite.
