Shadow continues to show some shyness towards me as I have to treat for fly issues. We placed some wood chips on the den, then sprayed some extra cedar oil on the chips. We are very thankful for the donation of chips from Andi Nelson and Teresa Williams. Shadow and Malik both appear much more comfortable with a den full of wood chips.
At the end of the Behavioral Observation week, I asked the team members to write a paragraph about their impression of the individual wolves. The following logs were written by Behavioral Team Members:<br> Amanda Poynter<br> Keli Bonanno<br> " Denali doesn't tend to show any aggression or dominance toward the pups unless it is food related. Even then, as the week progressed, he was observed less often. He wants to socialize with the pups. He tends to interact when Aidan is not present, but hangs back engaging when Aidan is present. This is probably due to guarding and threat behavior displayed by Aidan toward Denali in regards to the pups. Despite intensity of the week and issue with Aidan, Denali seems pretty relaxed. He returned to tail wagging and Ears Pricked postures immediately after negative interactions. He was always the first and sometimes the only wolf to respond to wolf care staff checks, possibly due to food motivations."
I was posed a question in an email about the possibility of Grizzer rejoining the Exhibit Pack. This was asked after my posting last week about Denali and Aidan not showing any aggressive response towards Grizzer when they were in holding. This is not doubt a scenario that I contemplated, but I have to weigh the risk assessment of wintertime dominance of these younger animals. I see Luna and Boltz in pretty active dominance interactions with each other and Luna's intense threat displays towards all the adults when food is involved. If Grizzer were to show the least amount of intimidation or tucked tail response, he could be on the bottom ranking of 4 active young wolves. Grizzer is not focusing on the pack and continues to remain very calm with staff interactions. I firmly believe it's in his best interest to not change his living situation or put him through aggressive interactions that may result him transitioning back alone again. As we look at Grizzer, we see a wolf who is clearly showing his age, and as we look at the Exhibit Pack, we see a vibrant pack of wolves that have a higher level of activity that will only increase as winter approaches.
Denali continues to be a challenge for the pup management, showing no respect for feeding bowls, staff or pups. Fortunately, he is willing to go into the Pack Holding area twice a day to allow staff to meet the needs of the pups. We have noticed Denali on the receiving end of some dominance, led by Aidan and assisted by the pups. At this point, Aidan is keeping Denali under control which gives Boltz the time to gain a little confidence. We're not sure how long Denali will submit to this situation, but if food resources are plentiful, Denali would rather avoid conflict and just eat.
Shadow is not as agile as Malik, but he can still leap to the top of the den from the ground. This week, I pressure washed and cleaned their pond, this is something that has become a favorite activity for Shadow. He lays at the end of the pond getting the mist from the pressure washer and stands in the hose when it's refilling. This pattern could be related to the fact that Shadow has a more difficult time with the heat. We will all be more relaxed when the weather returns to a normal pattern. Fall is a bit over 6 weeks away on the calendar, but in Northern Minnesota, fall-like nights are just around the corner.
The logs will be all the same for this week. We did some concrete work in the Exhibit Pack on Wednesday which took precedence over all filming. The back of the den site in the Exhibit Pack had some old logs as a cover to prevent snow or rain from getting into the den. These logs were starting to rot and with Luna still being vulnerable and extremely active near the den, we decided to concrete a 3 foot by 6 foot overhang at the back of the den site. You may have noticed the densite webcam showing the fencing used to keep the wolves out. They were extremely good about the fencing and other than Denali on circling the fence on the first night, they didn’t dig or push on the fence. This allowed the concrete to dry thoroughly before the form and fence were removed on Friday. Grizzer, Shadow and Malik have had a quiet week and we will have more to report next week.
I posted all logs as September 1st so they wouldn't go into archive status after one day. To see them, select September on the side bar, by tomorrow, they should load on the page. Have a great weekend…
It is very evident that Boltz gains confidence when Aidan is directly involved. There have been several observations showing Boltz with a T-1 tail but as soon as Aidan leaves the area, he's back to a T 3.5. Boltz continues to display some very playful behavior, often tossing items in the air and pouncing.
In the interest of getting logs posted tonight, I’m copying the same text. The priorities in my job include pup feeding time. We have a short period of time to maximize growth and get Luna and Boltz the resources necessary to prepare for a Northern Minnesota winter. Feedings require time, patience and some ingenuity. As I write this, I just finished a successful pup feeding with Luna eating over a pound of venison and another ½ pound of chicken. It was not quite as successful with Boltz, but he was caching everything I offered, so he must have been full. Boltz does utilize the remaining carcasses from previous feedings and his scats are dark, indicating meat consumption. Aidan has had some tremendous social bonding behavior with Luna, unfortunately, I didn’t get it on tape. With cooler weather stimulating hormones, we are bound to see more. Grizzer is the beneficiary of most of the pups left overs. He does enjoy that part of wolf care. Shadow and Malik continue to posture with Shadow more dominant, but they don’t have any issues when it comes to sharing the den in a rainstorm. Thanks for checking in, I hope to have more time next week to give a more complete update of each wolf. We have started to increase the feedings or all the retirees, and are in need of some pigs ears to serve as distractions as the pups continue to be the focus of the staff.
Boltz has had some interesting interactions lately. He's gaining some ability to defend food, but he remains too timid to allow him to compete fully for his resources. We hand feed Boltz and Luna twice a day during the week, then allow them to feed on the carcass of either deer or beaver on the weekend. Many times staff have mistaken Boltz for Aidan. It's amazing the resemblance between these two.
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