The weather is getting very warm, especially for wolves that don’t shed their undercoat until late May or June. Many people ask why they shed so late. There’s no real data to answer that question, but May and early June are the worst season black flies, a small gnat that is know for an intense bite. Maybe over time, wolves were selected for the later shed. Since the humans are all scratching and the wolves aren’t bothered by the black flies, it seems like a relevant theory. In this week’s image, Grizzer is posturing over Maya and she willingly submits. There are a few indications that the testosterone hormone is still strong in these males.
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They say when one sense becomes compromised, the others take over. In MacKenzie’s case, we know that her vision has been marginal for some time, but her sense of smell and hearing are tremendous. She is always alert to the sound of gates, freezer doors, voices of staff and interactions in the main exhibit. As her video demonstrates, her appetite is good; she really enjoys the beaver tails during a feeding.
Malik is doing well, but a winter of being lower ranking has caused him to try to gain some status, especially since Grizzer isn’t as active in the heat. His video this week is a good example of the vocalization used by wolves to communicate a bit of conflict. Although in the end, Malik usually relents and gets chased or investigates another area of the enclosure. These types of interactions are becoming less frequent and are being replaced by more social interactions and signs of social cohesiveness, commonly influenced by the Prolactin hormone that naturally increases this time of year.
There are been many comments about the new den camera, some positive and some negative, thank you all for your emails, I am always striving for ways to keep people connected to the wolves. As I spoke about in earlier logs, the addition of the new camera is a transitional phase to give the Center some time to work out the kinks of a webcam delivery before the pups arrive. ElyMinnesota.com will keep hosting the main greeting rock camera, but the retired camera will likely move over to our site soon. The hope is to purchase a third camera that can be placed in the wolf lab for the pup’s arrival (May 2008), then follow the pups around until they are placed in the exhibit pack (around August 2008). At that time, we would put the pup camera in the Exhibit pack overlooking the rock and host all webcams on our site. In the mean time, you may have to go back and forth between the two sites. I know this may be inconvenient, but the transitional plan is a responsible way for us to test the waters on webcam delivery without giving up on people’s access. I worked all day last Saturday, and the wolves seemed to trade off the top spot on the den. It really is a position of status as to who gets den time. But, as summer approaches, the wolves are more likely to retreat to the cooler, forested parts of the enclosure, out of any camera range.
As spring approaches, the exhibit changes to a summer management mode. The pond has been filled; the layers of straw that keep the wolves warm in winter are removed to expose the cooler layers of soil. In an effort to help reduce the insect population, cedar chips are placed throughout the enclosure. In this week’s photo and video, you will see the wolves’ scent rolling on the new smells and marking it with a raised leg urination or RLU. The area in the photo is on top of the den site, an area the wolves often rest.
Wolves are generally complete consumers, meaning that there is very little left after a wolf kill. The captive wolves have similar feeding patterns, although the amount they consume does have some correlation to temperatures. On very warm days, they are less likely to eat as much food. In this week’s photo, you see the remains of a beaver that was fed earlier in the week. They consumed all the meat and left the hide, which is often consumed within a day or two after feeding. The retired wolves reached a milestone this week, MacKenzie and Lakota turned 14 years old. In honor of their birth, we fed them several pieces of chicken thighs, turkey breasts and a roasting hen. They were very enthusiastic with this special treat. In Lakota’s video, she displays another behavioral pattern called a face-wipe. After feeding, there may be some blood from the carcass, wolves will rub their nose in the snow (or in Lakota’s case, straw) as a method of cleaning themselves, or removing strong scent as is common with beaver.
One of the responsibilities of the wolf care team is monitoring pack dynamics and conducting behavioral observations of the wolves. The wolf care team feels very fortunate to have a pack which seems to be very compatible with each other, despite the sometimes intense dominance displays oberved between Shadow, Malik, and Grizzer. During this weekend's "What's For Dinner" program, Malik is observed curling his lip at Grizzer, but note that his ears are in a submissive ear posture. It is these kinds of behavioral observations that tell us much about the dominance heirarchy and interactions that exist between the pack members.
Maya is doing well, still showing signs of being excitable and physically wanting contact, a sign of hormones that are still at higher levels. She continues to be very social with all of her pack mates and is a wolf best known for marking items. If there’s anything left in the Enclosure, she’s bound to find it and do modified raised leg urination on the items, whether its food, tools, gloves, straw… etc. Maya has been a great addition to the exhibit demonstrating many wolf behaviors.
While Shadow did maintain his position as the dominant wolf over the winter, he did loose a bit of status. He is actively working to gain that respect back. Shadow does this not by force or by the constant growling like Malik, he does this by body posture, tail posture, and direct eye contact. The most interesting to watch, is Shadow’s pattern of cohesive social interaction. When all the wolves are sleeping, Shadow is usually the first to rise and sniff a nose or does a play bow in front of another wolf to encourage them to get up and interact. He has a way of inviting activity and spends a lot of time rubbing up against the other wolves followed by a drop to the ground and a submissive paw to encourage them to roll around on the ground with him. It’s these subtle characteristics of confidence and desire to socially interact with his pack that make him a strong leader. We hope he can continue to hold his status over the next winter; he will be a great role model for the 2008 pups.
Malik is doing very well, he certainly adapted much better than we imagined for a lone wolf. Shadow appears to be going strong in the main pack, so Malik will remain as the sole retired member for a while. We would be more concerned if he didn't look so confident, healthy and relaxed.
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