Grizzer has been very docile lately, while he has some chasing behavior towards Malik (mainly when Malik growls at him, or there's a separation with the holding pen), most of the time, Grizzer is calm and spends time with the yearlings. Grizzer is still clearly submissive to Shadow without any indication of even a thought of testing. His photo this week shows a second ranking male that knows when to defer to the dominant male. Late last week, Shadow and Grizzer were sleeping together on the densite.
We didn't get the extremely calm lazy days of summer behavior that we were hoping for, likely because the temperature fluctuations, and the cool Canadian pressure systems kept the wolves up and active. Maya continues to be a strong dominant influence over Aidan, but Aidan is dealing with it, and has been observed in social behavior with Maya, usually with him prancing toward her and inviting her to chase him. We have noticed Aidan and Shadow frequently resting on the den site.
The summer heat finally arrived, and most of the wolves did fairly well, with the exception of Aidan. The heat alone wouldn't have been an issue, but during the warmest day, with the highest humidity, the new fence construction contributed to his stress level, and overheating. First, I will talk about the fence. We have always had an issue with people ignoring the no trespassing signs on the far side of the fence, walking up to the pack, howling to the pack and bringing dogs next to the fence. This has caused the wolves a great deal of anxiety, and unfortunately, redirected aggression. Wolf Center Board members generously contributed money for the funding of a permanent, 9 foot tall cedar fence, blocking the public from accessing the wolf enclosure. This is especially important as the building construction is funneling all visitors into the entrance door adjacent to the enclosure. So, the fence was needed, but the timing of the fence with the heat and humidity caused Aidan to display some of the first symptoms of heat, rapid panting with thick, sticky and foamy saliva. Wolf care staff initiated several days of enclosure enrichments with chicken filled ice blocks thrown in the pond, to encourage the wolves to swim. This helped the wolves tremendously, and Aidan managed quite well. By the way, the fence is nearly done, and it is a great improvement for the wolves security.
Staff have really noticed Grizzer's docile behavior lately. At first we thought it was just the response to the heat that he was more lethargic, but as the temperatures return to a normal Minnesota morning (upper 50's), he is still very docile. Maya has been extremely dominant with him lately, but he does nothing to return the behavior. Grizzer is showing more shyness towards changes in the enclosure. The new den in retirement is still an issue, although video this week shows him at least stretching to sniff it.
Shadow continues to be tempermental about feeding, but he seems very content. In this week's photo, he is actually submitting to the Curator. This is a behavior we rarely saw when he was the dominant pack leader, but now, he rolls over and seems very excited to submit.
Shadow is doing very well, and is in control of the pack. He not only controls through dominance, but Shadow receives a very strong social response from all packmates. This week's photo shows Denali greeting with a full facial lick, and staff have observed Maya in many postures of greeting when Shadow approaches.
Maya is doing well, and continues to demonstrate strong dominant female traits. Of course, Aidan is on the receiving end of most of these, but Grizzer and Denali have been the recipient of Maya's dominant bouts. When she's not showing status, Maya is the same mild mannered personality that we saw in her younger days. We also see the same pattern as observed by the 2009 Vermilion Community College Ethology course, Maya is more likely to lead a howl than any other wolf in the exhibit. How does Shadow handle this? As a calm, dominant male, that stands by and observes, but doesn't seem bothered by her surge in dominance.
Denali is still about food. If a beaver is fed, he makes sure he gets his own, and will defend that beaver from anybody, and we mean anybody…Shadow, Grizzer, Staff etc. Even a day after a feeding, when his stomach looks like a swollen woodtick, he will continually show interest if staff move a wheelbarrow or bring the med tray over. He is a long, lean yearling, so we're not sure where he's putting this meat, maybe in his head and paws. One note to all wolf log readers, we are experiencing some difficulty with video editing software. The curator has purchased a new computer and an upgrade of software, but it may not be arriving for a few days. Please be patient, we know the importance of the video, and will solve it before the next YouTube is due on September 1st. In the meantime, a podcast is being produced today, discussing the behavioral observations of the summer Ethology and Pups at One Year participants.
We are happy to report that Grizzer remains calm as ever, and there are very few dominance issues between he and Malik, unless Malik starts it (which he still does…) Grizzer is still receiving an increasing amount of dominance from Shadow, this may be Shadow reacting to an aging body, needing to keep the dominance rank order under control to avoid any physical challenges. Grizzer continues to be obsessed about the process of feeding, if there's a wheelbarrow of thawing carcasses, he either pulls the chain at the gate, or chews a log. What's odd, is that when the food is brought in, he's not aggressively hungry, just seems to display the anxiety towards the routine of feeding. One note to all wolf log readers, we are experiencing some difficulty with video editing software. The curator has purchased a new computer and an upgrade of software, but it may not be arriving for a few days. Please be patient, we know the importance of the video, and will solve it before the next YouTube is due on September 1st. In the meantime, a podcast is being produced today, discussing the behavioral observations of the summer Ethology and Pups at One Year participants.
Many people ask about Malik's future. Certainly the dominance fight between Grizzer and Malik was very concerning for staff, but we know from experience that a wolf must by psychologically ready to be pulled from the pack. In order to judge this, we watch for a wolf's cohesiveness with the pack. Are they interacting or isolating themselves, do they join in on the pack rallies, such as howling, jaw sparring, chasing etc. In this week's video clip, you see Malik interacting, and even displaying a T-1 tail posture high over his back. This is a good sign that he's confident and a member of the pack. When we start to see a T-4 or tucked tail response, fear avoidance and isolation behavior, we will be more inclined to pull him from the pack. So far, he's doing well as the 3rd ranking male. Of course, this winter there will be 2 yearlings maturing and joining the rank order, so we will have to monitor this closely.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.