The pups did well with the 4th of July sounds, as well as the sound of the natural thunderstorms that role through this time of year.
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Lakota weighed in at 86 lbs, losing 1.5 lbs since the May 17th surgery, but seeming to get her appetite back and is eating on a daily basis now. Lakota is getting very bold in the wolf lab with staff, especially since the Nannies are in the pup pen and she has more freedom during the day. She comes all the way into the lab and will watch the staff working on the computers, she is still likely to leave the lab with an item, in this week's photo, it's the stuffed moose. Staff get it back before she makes it all the way into retirement with her prize.
Shadow weighed in at 93.5 lb. His confidence as the dominant male continues to amaze staff. While the other wolves did the long neck stretch toward the scale, keeping their bodies and feet as far from the strange object as possible, Shadow confidently walked on the scale at least a dozen times. We are confident about his weight. He has increased bark howling this week, and upcoming Nanny teams will have to be very careful about all the wolf yard protocol to keep things calm.
The following log was written by Nanny Heather Hoff:<br> The pups are on their fourth night alone outside in the pup enclosure – no problems so far. Denali can and will sleep through most anything – including many of the Pup101 programs. The pups are most active early in the morning and around dusk. When the exhibit pack begins to howl, Denali is faster to respond and howl along than Aidan. Wolf care staff constructed a pine branch “hut in the wolf yard – both pups enjoy using it as a refuge when being chased by the other. This morning during a Behind the Scenes program, Denali tried to climb on top of the hut – unsuccessfully.
We definitely had some weight issues yesterday, when an earlier posting showed 27+ pounds. We corrected the logs yesterday and have switched to yet another scale. This is the scale that we will be using as adults, and the pups are much more comfortable and actually fit on the scale. The scale measures to the nearest .4 lbs, so we will still have some rounding issues, but we not only judge health by weight, but also by activity. These pups are very active, and have negative fecal samples for parasites. The only issue we have with Aidan is his food preference. It varies between chicken, pure venison and lately, beaver. Every day is different and is a constant challenge for wolf care staff to find the right mix. We also had to modify the nanny schedule to end their shifts at 10 pm due to bark howling from both Shadow and Malik. Now, the 10 pm – midnight shift is just covered by wolf care staff to leave the exhibit in a calm, quiet state for the night.
Wolf care staff on the weekend only recorded weight, no photos, data or video.
Wolf care staff only recorded weights on the weekend, no photos, video or data.
Written by Working for Wolves participants Cathy Gray and Michael Mallory: Denali continues to test pack mates. While Shadow ignored much of Denali's testing this weekend, Maya and Grizzer rolled Denali into a submissive posture at which point Shadow joined them and the three senior members of the pack stood over Denali as he submitted.
Written by Working for Wolves participants Carolyn Owen and Karen Owen: Grizzer was observed being very social and interactive with all pack members. Grizzer continues to be food focused as was observed Sunday morning at the "What's for Dinner" program. As staff prepared for the feeding, Grizzer was active at the fence line and focused on the upcoming meal.
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