Denali has been a focus for the pack, usually led by Aidan, but Aidan's increased relaxation has given Denali a break. If the pack leader is calm, the pack is calm. What has contributed to this calmness may have something to do with the cold snap that arrived a few days ago. With temperatures reaching -25 Fahrenheit and subzero daytime highs, the pack tends to find a warm bed of straw and conserves energy. This calmness may also be influenced by an increased amount of food resources keeping everyone with a good supply of calories in this weather.
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In the past week, we have had at least 3 nights with the temperatures lower than -20 Fahrenheit. One of those nights included a -34 below day. We are concerned about the metal plate in Luna's leg, but other than showing a frosty face, she was running, jumping and active like any other day. We have maximized the straw available on these cold nights and all wolves have ample insulation for bedding. It does appear that most of the pack sleeps together in the den at night resulting in extra body heat. She continues to show limited issues.
The logs will be the same this week. We had snow on Monday that required a lot of effort to gain access to all the gates, water containers and dens. Thanks to Danielle and Linda for helping in that Monday morning check. We also had to redistribute straw beds for all the enclosures, a task that can only be appreciated during the spring Working for Wolves program when we have to remove all that straw. We are very pleased that Shadow and Malik are back to their usual invite chase behaviors and both have fully recovered from the gastrointestinal virus that occurred a few weeks ago. Grizzer is more social than ever and staff continue to have relaxing checks on a daily basis. Most of the extreme sub-zero weather is behind us and even if we do have a cold night, the days warm up quickly. Rank order traits are starting to emerge in the Exhibit Pack with Luna showing Denali that she will jaw spar despite his over-towering height advantage. Fortunately for Luna, Aidan watches from and pins Denali if things get a little intense. Spring fever starts kicking in for staff and wolves alike as the warm days of March seem to stimulate some strong social behavior (at least for the wolves).
The logs will be the same this week. We had snow on Monday that required a lot of effort to gain access to all the gates, water containers and dens. Thanks to Danielle and Linda for helping in that Monday morning check. We also had to redistribute straw beds for all the enclosures, a task that can only be appreciated during the spring Working for Wolves program when we have to remove all that straw. We are very pleased that Shadow and Malik are back to their usual invite chase behaviors and both have fully recovered from the gastrointestinal virus that occurred a few weeks ago. Grizzer is more social than ever and staff continue to have relaxing checks on a daily basis. Most of the extreme sub-zero weather is behind us and even if we do have a cold night, the days warm up quickly. Rank order traits are starting to emerge in the Exhibit Pack with Luna showing Denali that she will jaw spar despite his over-towering height advantage. Fortunately for Luna, Aidan watches from and pins Denali if things get a little intense. Spring fever starts kicking in for staff and wolves alike as the warm days of March seem to stimulate some strong social behavior (at least for the wolves).
The logs will be the same this week. We had snow on Monday that required a lot of effort to gain access to all the gates, water containers and dens. Thanks to Danielle and Linda for helping in that Monday morning check. We also had to redistribute straw beds for all the enclosures, a task that can only be appreciated during the spring Working for Wolves program when we have to remove all that straw. We are very pleased that Shadow and Malik are back to their usual invite chase behaviors and both have fully recovered from the gastrointestinal virus that occurred a few weeks ago. Grizzer is more social than ever and staff continue to have relaxing checks on a daily basis. Most of the extreme sub-zero weather is behind us and even if we do have a cold night, the days warm up quickly. Rank order traits are starting to emerge in the Exhibit Pack with Luna showing Denali that she will jaw spar despite his over-towering height advantage. Fortunately for Luna, Aidan watches from and pins Denali if things get a little intense. Spring fever starts kicking in for staff and wolves alike as the warm days of March seem to stimulate some strong social behavior (at least for the wolves).
The logs will be the same this week. We had snow on Monday that required a lot of effort to gain access to all the gates, water containers and dens. Thanks to Danielle and Linda for helping in that Monday morning check. We also had to redistribute straw beds for all the enclosures, a task that can only be appreciated during the spring Working for Wolves program when we have to remove all that straw. We are very pleased that Shadow and Malik are back to their usual invite chase behaviors and both have fully recovered from the gastrointestinal virus that occurred a few weeks ago. Grizzer is more social than ever and staff continue to have relaxing checks on a daily basis. Most of the extreme sub-zero weather is behind us and even if we do have a cold night, the days warm up quickly. Rank order traits are starting to emerge in the Exhibit Pack with Luna showing Denali that she will jaw spar despite his over-towering height advantage. Fortunately for Luna, Aidan watches from and pins Denali if things get a little intense. Spring fever starts kicking in for staff and wolves alike as the warm days of March seem to stimulate some strong social behavior (at least for the wolves).
Aidan has been far more active pinning Denali, especially when the pups are involved. There may be two reasons why this is occurring, Aidan may still have some protective behavior towards the pups, and he may see Denali's posturing as a possible increase in his status and a possible threat to his own.
Malik's been taking advantage of some dense vegetation to help him shed his undercoat. As the lower ranking of the two pack members, he's less tolerant of brushing from the staff, so the dense underbrush is very helpful. He's also fond of the pond and is frequently spending time in the water.
It's been a quiet week for Grizzer. Oscar took a mini-vacation and has been offsite since Thursday. He'll be back on Tuesday, but his absence in the wolf yard is probably missed by Grizzer. He's had some extra staff time as colder temperatures, snow and the need for extra care has increased wolf care hours in the last few days.
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. Denali seems to be a juvenile in an adults body. He has very little aggression with the exception of food. Some people may question that statement considering what Grizzer went through with Denali, but Grizzer initiated the issues with Denali. Most of the encounters between Grizzer and Denali were Denali defending himself, often with tucked tail as he ran from Grizzer. The problem Grizzer had was that Denali was nearly a foot taller than Grizzer, leaving the top of his head as the main contact with Denali. Denali does not like conflict and is often observed rolling around with the pups (of course Grizzer did the same thing for Denali.)
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