This week’s logs are written by “Workin’ for Wolves participants Pam Dolajeck and Lori Rhodes. Observing Lakota this weekend one would never know she was a thirteen – going on fourteen – year old wolf. She was very alert to the work activity going on around her. She was also observed doing laps around the enclosure and using the curator as a “hurdle in her romp around the enclosure. She still remains very active and can even jump up on the den boxes for a good vantage point to see what’s happening around the enclosure.
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This week’s logs written by “Workin’ for Wolves program participants Andi Nelsen, Joyce Wells and Glenn Strid. Mac continues to exhibit anxiety as a result of external stimuli, such as maintenance work in the adjoining holding pen occurred during the weekend. Lakota’s active curiosity appeared to contribute to her stress. As a thirteen-year-old retired pack member, Mac’s hearing appears to be excellent, but the interpretation of sounds is problematic due to diminishing eyesight. Wolf care staff has noticed behavior such as unfocused pacing. As shown in this week’s video, Mac’s continual investigatory behaviors may be an indication of diminished sensory perceptions or early dementia.
This week’s logs are written by “Workin’ for Wolves program participants Cathy Jents and Lee Williams. Although Shadow has been experiencing potential dominance plays from Grizzer, he still appears the ever-watchful guardian and maintains leadership. Shadow and Maya have been seen at play and rest consistently. At one point, Maya even wrestled a bone away from Grizzer to present to Shadow. Their actions toward one another still display a very strong bond. An interesting behavior noticed this weekend was Shadow starting short, lone howls. It appears the purpose of this howling is a bit guarding, but unknown as to why the rest of the pack doesn’t join in. A demonstration of this occurs in Maya’s video clip this week. In Shadow’s clip, you see him stand guard in front of Grizzer and Maya maintaining an alert behavior. He did demonstrate a few bark howls towards the weekend group, but he also instigated group play with the pack and several rallying howls.
MacKenzie had a bit of a rough weekend last weekend as the first cool damp nights of fall arrived. Staff called in Dr. Chip Hanson for a vet visit on Tuesday and he recommended we start her on a two coated Bayer Asprin per day. We don't want to try a stronger anti-inflammatory just yet, for concerns of her age and the harshness on her system. She takes her asprin in a meatball every morning, and we are waiting to see the effects. The weather continues to be cool and damp, so extra straw has been added. Our appreciation to Theresa Williams for her donation of straw, we couldn't manage older animals without it.
Maya has no problem getting her fair share at the carcass. As you can see by this week’s video, she continues to feed as Grizzer drags the carcass around. As the only female, she has the dominant female status and there’s no question, she gets to do what she wants. Most of the scuffle over the carcass is between the male rank order.
As we commented in previous logs, MacKenzie is doing much better. The stiffness in her joints is less noticeable, but as you might expect with a wolf approaching 14 years of age, she has her moments in the early mornings and on wet days. One of her best days is on Wednesdays, when Matt Fetterer is scheduled for wolf care. She gets very excited to see Matt and spends a fair amount of time on her back wiggling like a 2 year old. Her video clip this week shows this type of excitement.
This week’s logs are written by “Workin’ for Wolves program participants Theresa Williams, Ann Briem and Lee Williams. Of the four wolves in the ambassador pack, Malik was the only one taking an active interest in observing the program participants working in the holding pen. He freqently approached the fenceline, walking up and back a few times before returning to the woods or on up the hill. At Saturday night's "What's for Dinner" feeding program Malik was the first to enter the holding pen and investigate the new work. In this week's video you'll see Malik howling with the pack on a large rock near the upper pond. When there is a pack howling, he tends to stand alone and howl, while Grizzer and Maya rally with Shadow.
This week's logs were written by Walter Loesberg, a regular visitor to the wolf center from the Netherlands. Shadow was the focus of Grizzer's attention today. While the younger wolf conducted several dominance-related behaviors, Shadow responded in a confident way by play bowing and jumping around. However, a carefully placed chin rest by Shadow made it clear who is the leader of the pack. On Wednesday, November 8th, Malik and Shadow will be turning 6 1/2 years old (born May 8, 2000)… We also know of another birthday on Wednesday, Happy Birthday Eamonn Briem.
This week Lakota appeared to be in good spirits. Earlier in the week, she did a play bow towards Mackenzie, which started a bout of both wolves running around the enclosure and Lakota climbing up on top of one of the den boxes. For an older wolf, her mobility certainly seems reflective of a younger wolf, with the help of a daily dose of Cosequin, a joint supplement. She continues to eat well, has a good appetite, and a healthy coat.
This week's logs were written by Walter Loesberg, a regular visitor to the wolf center from the Netherlands. MacKenzie's mobility has improved remarkably, galloping after Lakota earlier this week when Lakota displayed excitable behavior. She is still asserting her dominance over Lakota, especially when Lakota becomes too excited. Although the construction across the road continues to agitate MacKenzie, it has not affected her appetite. During a recent feeding, she settled into eating a deer leg.
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