malik – Oct 2, 2001 12:00 AM

Cooler weather brings more play behavior for pups Fall colors peaked this week and provided for good backdrop for photographs First snowfall of the year on 6 October, entire pack stimulated to play Pups weighed on 6 October, both pups weighed 62 lbs. Nancy Gibson and Dave Mech visit the center and have good interaction with the pack The wolves were very playful this week as the weather got cooler. Nighttime lows were down in the 20's and the pups seemed well suited for these nights. One of the Wolf Care staff described the pups as "rammy". Malik got his foot caught in the gate trying to get into the pack holding area. After several seconds of distress, he freed it. Those paws are getting bigger and don't fit in the places that they used to. Of course, Malik's whining in distress brought Lakota immediately over to see if she could take advantage of his situation, but the Wolf Curator stepped in and helped Malik maintain control. As the weather changes, so does the clothing requirements of the handlers. The pups are getting familiar with wool gloves on handlers hands, and all of the extra "hide" the handlers need to work in the enclosure. The pups have been videotaped and photographed with the backdrop of red maple leaves and the yellow hue of Aspen, but it was the first snowfall of the year that made the staff get the cameras. The first snowfall of the year came on Friday afternoon, October 6th. The entire pack was stimulated and were observed rolling in the snow and jumping at low hanging branches which resulted in snow dropping on their heads. The pups are well suited for winter conditions and their thick pelage seemed to shed the wet snow with much more efficiency then the adults.