lucas – May 16, 2006

Several people have commented via email concerning their observations of Lucas spending more time sleeping. He was even observed sleeping with a group of ravens feeding on dinner close to the den box. Staff are documenting the recent increase in resting behavior and are looking for additional subtle changes that might indicate a declining health. Today, staff woke him up from the den box, watched him walk over to MacKenzie and do another classic dominance display called a stand-over. He’s done this before, and this behavior is a reminder of his status, even though he’s aging. MacKenzie was less than thrilled as indicated by her weblog photo. These type of social interactions are very typical of wolf packs that communicate the details of hunts, travels and social status by a twitch of the ear or look in their eye. They are very expressive, social animals and by watching the dynamics of a socialized captive wolf, you can’t help but wonder about the critical role of this communication in the wild.