Denali has had some intimidating moments this week. The dynamics of the pack are increasing and it appears that Luna is right there when Aidan dominates Denali. This is a change for Denali who spent the last year only living with Aidan. Denali always seemed to rely on speed, but it's hard to outrun Aidan when Luna is hanging on to the scruff of his neck. At this point, the response from Denali has been intimidation with hackles and a tucked tail, but eventually, Denali needs to reduce some of his over excited testing behavior to reduce some of the focus from Aidan. Boltz and Denali do get along well, but Denali's tendency to take food from Boltz can lead to some conflicts between the two.
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Grizzer's been having some great stimulus from ravens and two active packs on either side of his habitat. There's been a lot to watch and he is using his den as the perfect view. We have also had some great wolf checks with Grizzer in a full body submission, he's in a complete state of relaxation when he's getting attention from staff (as shown in this week's photo).
If you may recall in the last few Youtube videos we were watching a lot of playbow/invite chase behavior from both Malik and Shadow without the chase piece. Well that changed this week. Stimulated by Shadow, Malik and Shadow have had many chase opportunities which really get them excited. These are not aggressive encounters, just racing around the enclosure darting towards each other and away from each other. Malik is very agile and his slender frame makes him very fast.
Aidan continues to have moments of social behavior where he stimulates interactions by rolling over on his back. While he does stimulate behavior, he doesn't always get the behavior he wants. Luna typically comes over and does a scruff bite and Boltz comes over and climbs on him, and when Aidan gets up, Boltz continues to ride-up. This doesn't discourage Aidan from greeting, but you can see the frustration in Aidan. These pup's will take 2 years before they're fully mature, it will be a long maturation period for Aidan.
Denali is getting some pack attention especially when Aidan is involved. The male rank order hasn't been very active in the last few years with just two males in the Exhibit Pack. With the addition of Boltz, we will see Boltz taking opportunities to climb rank, but we will also see Aidan being more forceful of his rank. Both scenarios involve Denali. While Boltz is timid about food possessions, rank order is independent of food social rules, so Boltz plays an active part of Aidan's assertive behavior over Denali.
We did have a few days below zero (Fahrenheit) over the Christmas holidays and while Luna seems to be stiff after periods of resting, she was actively mobile. We did notice all the wolves doing some 3 legged hopping as their paws get cold on the compacted snow. This is why we keep so many straw beds in the enclosures. We are still treating Luna with Adequan once a week and see a noticeable improvement on the days following the treatment. She is tremendously tolerant of these injections and after all she's been through, we are thankful that she still wants to socially interact with staff.
Attila gained .5 lbs yesterday, and will likely have more growth spurts in the upcoming weeks. Attila is 21 days old today and has increased his feeding dramatically in the last 24 hours. He was feeding on average 18 -20 ounces of fluid in the last few days, his food consumption was 29 ounces in the last 24 hours. We have commented before on his temperamental behavior about his bottle, and these issues, while still present, are diminishing. Wolf care staff began conditioning the pups to the auditorium where they will be featured in an open house for the surrounding area residents. Attila had some nervous behavior, especially to noise, but is more tolerant than Red Paw. It is very critical that the pups have some positive associations with the building before they begin programming with large crowds. In order to accomplish this, staff waits until the facility is closed, and brings the pups into the auditorium with their familiar blankets, stuffed animals and anything else that makes for a positive experience. Assistant curator, Donna Prichard and wolf care staff member, Jen Westlund brought the pups in during their shift. Attila was very eager to explore the new sights and smells. This conditioning will continue whenever possible until the Open House on Thursday, May 22nd. The Wolf Curator brought in a stuffed moose that was originally purchased when Malik and Shadow were pups. Attila vigorously grabbed the moose, biting and head shaking without hesitation, which is why we nicknamed him Attila. The audio recording posted is a demonstration of a relaxed pup just settling in for a rest, and letting out a heavy sigh.
I am including observations from the Working for Wolves participants who had the opportunity to spend the night in the observation area adjacent to the wolf viewing windows. The benches may have been a bit hard for a comfortable night sleep, but I hope the chance to observe the pack throughout the night and be awaken by a pack howl was worth it. Observations include the following about the What's for Dinner program. <br> "Luna, Aidan and Boltz enjoyed the deer carcass for What's for Dinner. Denali tried to sneak a few bites but was turned away by a lip curl from Aidan. The pups ate repeatedly, especially Boltz, who feasted for the longest. After they got bored with the deer, they had a nice chase around the enclosure. Denali hung out on top of the den and did not join in on the chase with the others. The chase lasted about 15 minutes until they all dispersed and laid down."
Observations from the Working for Wolves participants: br> "Luna and Boltz spent their night sleeping in the straw under the eaves and started their Saturday with a howl and some stretches. The howl started from somewhere off in the area of the retired pack, but the pups joined in wholeheartedly for about 10 minutes. After the howl, they headed in the direction of the moose hide (I put a moose hide in to give the pack a distraction during the heightened activity of the weekend).
Denali is respecting Aidan's defense of the pups, of course, it's relatively warm and he can afford to wait for a meal. This dynamics may change when the subzero weather arrives. There's been a few observations of some hackle responses from both Aidan and Denali indicating some intensity to their interactions. We are slowly transitioning the pups to every other day feedings of the small amounts of beef and adding another larger carcass feeding in the middle of the week. This will typically be a beaver, deer legs or deer scraps from hunters which we will feed on Wednesdays. The pack will still get a large carcass feeding on Saturday night, so it should distribute more resources and caches in the enclosure and reduce some of the conflicts between Denali and the pack.
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