maya – Aug 13, 2010 12:00 AM

This week has been extremely warm for Ely, Minnesota standards with temperatures nearing 90 degrees and humidity exceeding 80%. It has been extremely hard on the wolves, and wolf care staff are doing what they can to make them comfortable. Wolves have are covered in hair and don't have sweat glands at the surface of their skin, resulting in a cooling mechanism of panting to evaporate heat and moisture off the surface of their tongue. This isn't a very efficient method in high humidity. Each wolf has distinct tolerances of heat, and has their own method for cooling. <br> Maya is a swimmer, who frequently takes a dip in the pond to cool off. Lately, she's been kept out of the den by Grizzer and possibly Aidan. This is an interesting dynamic, and certainly causes Maya a bit of redirected aggression when the temperatures finally do cool off at night.