Staff are noticing a calming of Maya. Initially, we noticed more whining and social greeting of staff. This is characteristic of Maya with a higher level of prolactin hormone, she whines a lot. Secondly, we have noticed that her dominance with Aidan doesn't have as much follow-through. She chases him, but may stop short or may stand still and allow Aidan to sniff. Of course, there is a lot of winter/spring left, so we are still monitoring this situation carefully. But overall, the fact that Aidan is less restricted in his freedom to move around the enclosure is a sign that Maya is on the downhill slide of winter hormones.
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Shadow continues to show some testing of staff, but overall, we are gaining back some of the trust with wolf care. He is still very intense with Grizzer when there's an external stress. Last week, the building was stained and the pond was cleaned, requiring all wolves to go into holding for nearly 3 hours. Shadow wasn't very amiable to this situation, and after the release, even the Curator had to deal with some Shadow dominance.
The logs will all be the same today. We’re doing some improvements to Malik’s enclosure, so Malik gets all of my time today. This past week has been busy getting the Exhibit enclosure ready for a Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday night. Windows were washed, straw was removed, the summer wood chips were added and the pond waterline thawed with enough time to fill the pond. Of course, the upper pond line is still frozen in the concrete, so the waterfall isn’t flowing, but the main pond has been a source of stimulus for the pack. When it finally thawed, the weather was 70 degrees and sunny, and all wolves romped in the water, followed by a Grizzer/Denali chase though the woods. Aidan is still getting some dominance from Maya, usually followed by one of the excitable chases though the woods, but as the photos show this week, Aidan is engaging Maya in social behavior. He does a double foreleg stab while she is on the top of the den. We have noticed some instability with Shadow after he was chasing Grizzer and Denali, he seemed to have a dizzy spell, was off balance, before planting his paws in a wide stance and gaining his stability. As with any aging wolf, we will watch Shadow closely. The YouTube video this week shows the Chamber of Commerce mixer, giving the view of a visitor to the Center. Malik had a good week, enjoying the well shaded tree cover in his enclosure.
The logs will all be the same today. We’re doing some improvements to Malik’s enclosure, so Malik gets all of my time today. This past week has been busy getting the Exhibit enclosure ready for a Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday night. Windows were washed, straw was removed, the summer wood chips were added and the pond waterline thawed with enough time to fill the pond. Of course, the upper pond line is still frozen in the concrete, so the waterfall isn’t flowing, but the main pond has been a source of stimulus for the pack. When it finally thawed, the weather was 70 degrees and sunny, and all wolves romped in the water, followed by a Grizzer/Denali chase though the woods. Aidan is still getting some dominance from Maya, usually followed by one of the excitable chases though the woods, but as the photos show this week, Aidan is engaging Maya in social behavior. He does a double foreleg stab while she is on the top of the den. We have noticed some instability with Shadow after he was chasing Grizzer and Denali, he seemed to have a dizzy spell, was off balance, before planting his paws in a wide stance and gaining his stability. As with any aging wolf, we will watch Shadow closely. The YouTube video this week shows the Chamber of Commerce mixer, giving the view of a visitor to the Center. Malik had a good week, enjoying the well shaded tree cover in his enclosure.
The logs will all be the same today. We’re doing some improvements to Malik’s enclosure, so Malik gets all of my time today. This past week has been busy getting the Exhibit enclosure ready for a Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday night. Windows were washed, straw was removed, the summer wood chips were added and the pond waterline thawed with enough time to fill the pond. Of course, the upper pond line is still frozen in the concrete, so the waterfall isn’t flowing, but the main pond has been a source of stimulus for the pack. When it finally thawed, the weather was 70 degrees and sunny, and all wolves romped in the water, followed by a Grizzer/Denali chase though the woods. Aidan is still getting some dominance from Maya, usually followed by one of the excitable chases though the woods, but as the photos show this week, Aidan is engaging Maya in social behavior. He does a double foreleg stab while she is on the top of the den. We have noticed some instability with Shadow after he was chasing Grizzer and Denali, he seemed to have a dizzy spell, was off balance, before planting his paws in a wide stance and gaining his stability. As with any aging wolf, we will watch Shadow closely. The YouTube video this week shows the Chamber of Commerce mixer, giving the view of a visitor to the Center. Malik had a good week, enjoying the well shaded tree cover in his enclosure.
Aidan has good days, where he is free to roam throughout the lower enclosure, still mindful of Maya, but less stressed, and he has bad days… Where Maya gets a mind set that Aidan shouldn't leave the den. Yesterday and today are bad days for Aidan. Although, to put it in perspective, it is pouring rain here, and Maya is keeping him in the dry den with straw, so I guess even a bad day has some good points. Earlier during wolf care, Maya and Aidan were actually sleeping in the den together, making this a difficult relationship to understand. At the end of the YouTube video this week, a visitor provided a series of 4 photos of Maya and Aidan interacting, the ear posture of Aidan was initially anxious, but then he turned his ears to the "Ears Pricked Forward" position, showing a sign of confidence.
Grizzer is so conditioned to drop to the ground when Shadow shows dominance that it appears he will never leave his second ranking status. After Shadow lost a deer leg possession to Denali, Grizzer received some redirected aggression. Grizzer dropped and rolled before Shadow even made contact, and he continued to drop and roll in front of Shadow as Shadow walked away. Then, Grizzer went to staff and continued to do the same behavior. The most interesting thing about this behavior is the lack of reaction from Denali. Usually, when a higher ranking wolf is made vulnerable, the next in line is close to watch and take advantage of the submissive behavior. Denali doesn't show any interest in taking advantage of Grizzer in this state, maybe it's because he would need to be close to Shadow in a dominant posture, and that's not worth the risk.
Shadow has been showing some very high tail postures, a sign of a wolf that feels good and is in charge. We are probably past the season of testing from the younger males, so his likelihood of retirement from aggression is probably passed until next winter. There is always the possibility of retirement due to physical decline, but as I look at his photo for this week, that's not real likely either. Of course, he will be 10 on May 8th, 2010, and anything can happen at this age.
Grizzer has some classic feeding behaviors in the Youtube video and in his photo this week. When the beaver were fed mid-week, He settled down and began gnawing on the tail, and making it clear to any other wolf that he had possession. His photo of a threat display was actually directed at Shadow, proving that no matter which rank a wolf maintains, they have the right to guard and possess food.
Staff have been commenting on how spry Malik is becoming. When the Exhibit Pack chases around the enclosure, Malik shows some extremely high jumps towards the fence, mostly motivated by excitement, but we are certainly thankful that the retired enclosure received the four foot extension to height last year. Malik’s pelage is extremely sleek, and we should start the brushing process to removed shedding hair within the next month. The webcam is less stressful to Malik, but with the warmer weather, he has taken to finding a cool spot under the pine trees in the back side of the enclosure.
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