Written by Kristin Radermacher. Denali started morning out with a good howl – rejuvinating the sleepy nannies. He followed that by jumping at the window asking to go outside to play. After a quick breakfast of his favorite chicken Denali went outside to play and greet the pack. Denali defended a deer leg from the staff and growled when it was taken away during the Pups 101 program.
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The database has been having some issues, so to catch up for this week, I will be posting only the images and weights. The pups are doing well in programs and enjoying their time in the outdoor enclosure. We are working on some behavioral methods to keep them on camera, but they have a lot of space to roam and do like to spend time in their denbox.
The following logs were written by Nannies, Vicki Bomberger and Lynne Haines. <br> Maya, as all the ambassador wolves, has been very active and animated during the cool weather. During the Sunday feeding, Maya was the first wolf on the deer carcass. Maya was intent on pulling the carcass over to the pup pen. She spent a considerable amount of time at the fence between the wolves and the pups. She often whined and greeted the pups. Prior to the Sunday feeding, Maya did a full play bow to Grizzer, which led to a chase around the yard and into the den.
Written by program participants, Ann Beyer and Lee Williams. Oh boy, did the pups have a busy afternoon! With the heat and humidity, Denali rested a lot until early afternoon. During the 3 PM program he slept by one of the nannies. Once out in the wolf yard, Denali got introduced to the pool, but wasn’t particularly interested at first, getting in later. During the 5 PM program, Denali vigorously defended a beaver tail, and stood over Aidan whenever Aidan stole it from him. After the program, the pups had play time in the pup enclosure exploring the den. He also stole a cache from Aidan and ate it. There was a lot of chasing each other in the wolf yard, with head shaking while biting Aidan. There also was quite a bit of interaction with Maya at the gate.
Written by Ann Beyer, Nanny Team Leader Week #5: During the hot and humid days of summer, one of the concerns is heat stress when the pups are outside. The pups are affected by ambient temperature, meaning that when it is hot, they are hot, and when it is cold, they are cold. So, on these hot, humid days of summer, wolf care staff and nannies have to watch the pups for signs of overheating. This might include frequent encouragement to drink water, time in their pond, running water in the enclosure so their paws stay damp, pup "popsicles" (ice with deer/chicken bits), a cool, damp cloth to the groin area, and scheduling pup pen time during cooler parts of the day.
Written by program participants Gail Ramee and Andi Nelson: The pups are 60 days old today! Denali was getting the best of Aidan in most of the wrestling today. This morning he repeatedly pinned Aidan to the floor in the Wolf Lab and succeeded in stealing a deer leg from him as well. Denali is getting more and more of his “guard hairs in, and they are a darker gray color and softer than the rest of his fur. Denali is also eating chicken along with gruel, and is ripping and tearing small pieces off the chicken breast when being fed by hand. He continues to have a strong appetite and weighs 23.8 pounds.
Written by Kristin Radermacher – Taken form the pup logs. Today during the 5p Pups 101 program the pups chose to take naps just outside the door. They go outside frequently to run and dig and greet the adults. The nannies continue handling the pup's ears, feet and teeth to make it easier for the IWC staff to care for them as they become adults.
Malik had his fill at the feeding program, then came over to the fence and regurgitated for the pups on three separate occasions. He proceeded to guard the pile from Grizzer by growling, and the pups anxiously pawed at the fence. They would have eaten the whole pile if they had a chance to get to it. Malik is showing more submissive whining at the pups in the past week.
Written by Nanny Team Members Bridget Lyons & Cathy Jents: Today was Aidan and Denali's first all-day experience in the outdoor pup enclosure. Both pups seemed to enjoy this time outside running, playing and exploring. Aidan was particularly intrigued with the newly-laid straw inside the "den" (crate). Aidan first approached with caution, but soon found lots of entertainment playing in the straw. He would continually pounce on the hay, making it move here and there. Once arranged to his liking, we also observed him caching his food in the straw.
The database has been having some issues, so to catch up for this week, I will be posting only the images and weights. The pups are doing well in programs and enjoying their time in the outdoor enclosure. We are working on some behavioral methods to keep them on camera, but they have a lot of space to roam and do like to spend time in their denbox.
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