As summer approaches, there are some predictable changes to the wolves’ locations throughout the enclosure. On warm days, early morning webcam viewers can usually see a glimpse of one of the wolves on the main rock in the Exhibit. The life as a third ranking male has been an adjustment for Malik. He’s always communicating a growl or looking for an opportunity to move up in rank, which is typical wolf behavior. But, he’s content with his rank and seems more likely to interact socially than when he was 2nd ranking and always on guard for a challenge of his status.
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If there’s any new item in the enclosure or an old cache coming out of the snow, Maya is the likely wolf to locate it. In this week’s video, she identifies the scent, moves some rocks and leaves with the item. This is a common occurrence in the Exhibit Pack. Beginning with the summer of 2007, the wolf care staff will offer regular Enclosure Enrichment programs every Wednesday at Noon from June 15th – August 15th. This may include hiding unusual treats in the rocks of the enclosure, using scents to offer the stimulus of marking, placing minnows in the pond (which also help to clean algae), providing beaver tail popsicles or any other creative idea that stimulates the wolves to use their sense of smell, sight or sound. Anyone with ideas of enclosure enrichment’s, please feel free to email them in. The only parameter is that it must be natural, and ethical for the wolf exhibit.
One event that happened this week is the launching of the Center’s new Web cam that features a view from the top of the den. The den top is a favorite resting spot for wolves during the winter months. The cooler temperatures inside the den make it a favorite during the summer months, and we often have wolves lying in the doorway of the den when the temperatures increase. We would like to acknowledge one of our members, Johanna Goering, for donating this new camera and the resources necessary for bringing it to our website. Our plan is switch the retired pack camera to the Center’s website and, after fundraising efforts, get a camera that can follow the activities of the new pups in 2008 and thereafter reside in the Exhibit Pack. As we move through this transition, you can still find the existing webcams hosted by www.elyminnesota.com. MacKenzie has been doing surprisingly well. Just when we think we are seeing clear signs of a decline, she springs back with some much focused, social and pack oriented behavior. While we didn’t get it on video, after we fed the beaver, MacKenzie proceeded to approach Lakota’s beaver, grab it and run with it for her corner bed. Both Lakota and the wolf care staff looked surprised, as she rarely has that much spring in her step. Lakota managed to get it back and both had a full stomach by the next morning.
One event that happened this week is the launching of the Center’s new Web cam that features a view from the top of the den. The den top is a favorite resting spot for wolves during the winter months. The cooler temperatures inside the den make it a favorite during the summer months, and we often have wolves lying in the doorway of the den when the temperatures increase. We would like to acknowledge one of our members, Johanna Goering, for donating this new camera and the resources necessary for bringing it to our website. Our plan is switch the retired pack camera to the Center’s website and, after fundraising efforts, get a camera that can follow the activities of the new pups in 2008 and thereafter reside in the Exhibit Pack. As we move through this transition, you can still find the existing webcams hosted by www.elyminnesota.com. Maya’s video is typical of her tendency to hone her predatory skills. She stalks, chases and grabs Grizzer on a regular basis. He is very tolerant of this social/predatory practice session from his littermate and often does a play bow (lying low on his front legs and springing up in front of Maya to encourage a chase). It doesn’t take much to get Maya to chase.
As brothers, there continues to be camaraderie between Shadow and Malik. Shadow also maintains a strong bond with Maya as the dominant (and only) female in the pack. Grizzer and Shadow do have social moments, but Shadow’s anxiety over Grizzer’s testing tends to reduce the social play behavior between these two. Over the past week, the staff has noticed that Shadow is back to his “playful behavior of spring and summer. When the hormones transition from testosterone in the fall and winter to prolactin in the spring and summer, the behavioral change is most noticeable in Shadow. He’s always been a good pack leader, initiating social contact among the individuals. He’s started this behavior again, but Grizzer still pushes the dominance a bit, causing Shadow to get defensive. This will likely change in the upcoming months, overall, this pack is very compatible with one another. In the video for this week, you will see Maya give a full greeting to Shadow, while Malik growls at Grizzer.
One event that happened this week is the launching of the Center’s new Web cam that features a view from the top of the den. The den top is a favorite resting spot for wolves during the winter months. The cooler temperatures inside the den make it a favorite during the summer months, and we often have wolves lying in the doorway of the den when the temperatures increase. We would like to acknowledge one of our members, Johanna Goering, for donating this new camera and the resources necessary for bringing it to our website. Our plan is switch the retired pack camera to the Center’s website and, after fundraising efforts, get a camera that can follow the activities of the new pups in 2008 and thereafter reside in the Exhibit Pack. As we move through this transition, you can still find the existing webcams hosted by www.elyminnesota.com. Watching Lakota and MacKenzie eat a beaver is probably not very appetizing, but to the wolf care staff, it is encouraging that wolves nearing 14 years of age still have a very good set of teeth and have the ability to use their premolars to cut meat and the power of their molars allows them to break bone and get to the bone marrow.
One event that happened this week is the launching of the Center’s new Web cam that features a view from the top of the den. The den top is a favorite resting spot for wolves during the winter months. The cooler temperatures inside the den make it a favorite during the summer months, and we often have wolves lying in the doorway of the den when the temperatures increase. We would like to acknowledge one of our members, Johanna Goering, for donating this new camera and the resources necessary for bringing it to our website. Our plan is switch the retired pack camera to the Center’s website and, after fundraising efforts, get a camera that can follow the activities of the new pups in 2008 and thereafter reside in the Exhibit Pack. As we move through this transition, you can still find the existing webcams hosted by www.elyminnesota.com. It’s been an interesting week for weather and changes in wolves’ behaviors. The warming trend, turned winter weather pattern seems to be affecting the pack. Dominance rank order behavior had been calming and Shadow was returning to a playful social companion rather than a pack leader on alert. He and Grizzer were even viewed in some social behavior, then the snow hit again, and it was back to Grizzer testing and Shadow being proactive. Although, the intensity of dominance has certainly decreased, Shadow and Malik still vocalize to Grizzer. As this week’s photo shows, raven activity continues to be present in the pack. Usually, by this time of the year, ravens start dispersing and searching for nests, leaving very few to scavenge the leftover carcasses. In this week’s video, you will see several raven’s in the background, some taking food from the wolves, without much response from the wolves.
Forty degrees isn’t warm, unless you’re a wolf with a full coat of winter pelage. This is the time of the year that wolves start relying on their physical adaptations for cooler. Grizzer demonstrates two methods in this week’s photo lay low during the warmest parts of the day and pant to evaporate heat and moisture off your tongue. Wolves’ adaptations favor a warm winter coat rather than bare skin covered with sweat glands. The only active cooling sweat glands a wolf possesses are in their paws. As reported in previous logs, Grizzer has moved up in rank, and with higher status comes some rights. His video shows one of those rights, the chance to stand on the main rock. While every wolf gets to do this, one thing noticed in recent observations, is that during a howling episode, Shadow generally gets the main rock for a howling position, but in two of the recent howling episodes, this right went to Grizzer with Shadow remaining on the ground.
When looking at MacKenzie’s photo, you will notice a bit of allergy weeping in her right eye. This is also the eye most affected by the lipid deposits. She is good about allowing staff to clean it and treat it, and it usually dissipates after green up. Her video shows good mobility, and she maintains an alert and interested focus to her interactions.
In the past logs, we have made reference to Shadow’s willingness to interact socially in what’s been termed “Play behavior. We put the word “Play in quotations, because there are some Ethologists that debate if wolves play. They believe that wolves’ behavior is a function of instinctual survival, and that every action has a reason or motivation tied to an instinct of survival. Play is often termed for no specific reason or for the fun of it. In some aspects, our observations would have to agree with the Ethologists. While we say Shadow is in a playful mood, what we are really saying is that Shadow is willingly stimulating social contact within the pack and creating pack cohesiveness of the social group. If wolves are hunting prey much larger than themselves or raising a litter of pups that need a good food source to maintain an incredibly fast growth rate, wouldn’t pack cohesiveness and stimulating social behavior be a function to making for a more efficient hunting unit? Regardless of the theory, Shadow was the most likely wolf to stimulate social interaction when Grizzer and Maya were introduced in 2004, and he continues that behavior today. His video shows his command of his position by high tail body posture and eye contact.
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