Luna – Afternoon Rest

Luna and Grizzer have been reaping the benefits of a summer adjacent to the upgraded misting system installed in the Exhibit Pack during the Spring Working for Wolves program.  Luna has selected the den site (a fall Working for Wolves program in the pack holding area as her main resting spot on a hot, humid day.  Unfortunately for Northern Minnesota, heat and humidity seems to be the common theme this summer.  The younger the age and the lighter the coloration of the guard hairs, the less problem with the heat, which means, Axel and Grayson are chasing and wrestling with each other while the rest of the ambassadors are taking it easy.  The age and coloration criteria are noticeable when observing Luna; her dark coat is often hot to the touch when she lies in the sun and six is about the age when wolves start displaying a more contemplative look before displaying an action, especially one that requires expending energy.  A recent red squirrel visit to the pack holding area was a great demonstration of this age specific phenomena.   A red squirrel scaled down the fence into the pack holding area after an active pursuit by Axel and Grayson; Luna watched the approach with intent ears, but the body did not go into motion until the squirrel hit the ground running.  As predicted, the squirrel just went back up another tree, habitat is important for all species at the Center.  Understanding the dynamics of interspecific interactions (actions between species) is part of our educational mission at the Center.  One way we accomplish our mission is through our Wolf Care Webinar Series.  Our next webinar in the series is on Friday the 13th.  To some people, this day conjures up images of horror movies, unexplained events, and a belief of bad luck.  Like Friday the 13th, Center staff hear many superstitious beliefs about wolves that have been perpetuated throughout history.  It is our goal to help educate people about the facts about wolf behavior.  To join us for this one-hour webinar, register at https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/ where we will broadcast from the retirement areas with Luna and Grizzer in retirement and explore those beliefs and try to uncover the possible wolf behavior that may have contributed to the myth.  The program starts at 7 pm Central Daylight Time. 

Grizzer – Is He Saying What I Think He’s Saying?

If you read Luna’s log, you saw Luna displaying a “Nose-to-Nose” greeting to Grizzer, with Grizzer’s ears indicating a bit of uncertainly towards the interaction.  In Grizzer’s photo, his tongue is sticking out, either in the middle of a licking motion or making a commentary about Luna’s interaction.  As wolf care staff, we observer and interpret the behaviors, but there’s no definitive way to know what they are thinking and ultimately, what they are saying.  But spending 14 years with Grizzer, we have witnessed a few facial expressions over the years. 

Luna – Nose to Nose Making Grizzer Uncomfortable

Luna has been very receptive to body work lately and you may see staff on the webcam trying a variety of techniques.  She has her favorites and you may see her present her right leg extended for the staff to reach.  We are very pleased with her behavioral progress since her last medical exam.  Staff report good interactions compared to a period of time when she responded with grab bites to staff whenever they tried to interact.  Grizzer can attest to Luna’s improvements as well with more face to face contact. In this week’s photo, you may notice Luna in submissive ears, greeting Grizzer with a “Nose-to-Nose” greeting; Grizzer’s not quite sure if he can trust the submissive interaction.  He displays an ear posture called “Ear’s Pricked and Turned Sideways” or EPTS in our ethogram.  This posture indicates interest (ears are pricked), but a bit of uncertainly (turned sideways).  The Veterinarian would like some follow-up bloodwork on Luna, but we will need to reduce her excess winter coat to reduce any overheating issues while under sedation.  We have identified a pattern when Luna has more discomfort.  Days with high humidity and low barometric pressure seems to be more uncomfortable on her joints, especially just before a storm. If you would like to get a chance to learn more about Luna and Grizzer and see their interactions, the wolf care department has started a Behind the Scenes tour at the Center in Ely, every Friday morning at 9 am.  Registration is limited to 20 people, so call the Wolf Den Store to reserve a spot. 

Aidan – Brushing the Heat and Stress Away

In this week’s photo, you see the wall of Aidan hair as the front shoulders have been brushed out, but the back half of his body still has some dense undercoat.  Staff have focused most of the brushing efforts on Aidan in the Exhibit Pack.  Why Aidan, we definitely want to reduce stress and the side effect of overheating.  The other reason staff focus on Aidan is that he is very amiable to getting brushed, often resting in front of wolf care staff who help block the other wolves from interacting.  This gives us a great opportunity to feel for any other abnormal growths.  As this photo shows his front leg incision which had been prominent all winter has diminished and hair is returning on his incision site from the November, mass cell tumor removal.  Both he and Denali are being treated with daily antihistamines and it appears to be effective in reducing the size and occurrence of these growths.  Time will tell if this is a long-term method.  This is our first experience with a mass cell growth, although Lakota had several issues with the papilloma virus that had a cauliflower–like appearance to the growths.  As animal’s age, we need to be very aware of each individual’s physical condition as we assess and identify, lumps, bumps and tumors and try to decipher the cause, but more importantly the treatment. Aidan is in the pack, but at this point, he isn’t leading the pack, but his presence does have an influence, especially upon Grayson and Denali.  Even Boltz came to rest with Aidan when Boltz was having a particularly hard day with things that bug him, especially the particularly pesky one named Axel. 

Axel – Facial Characteristics

This photo was taken in April and shows Axel and Grayson in full winter pelage, when identification of these brothers is relatively easy.  Grayson has a darker saddle that is prominently distinguished across his back.  But, shed out the undercoat that makes those darker guard hairs more prominent and add a little sun bleaching of the white hair and identification can become more challenging.  Once you spend some time observing pack dynamics, behaviors can be a method for identification.  But, for wolf care staff that deliver morning medications to 5 wolves, often inches apart from each other, they need to be keyed into the facial characteristics of each wolf.   Can you ID the different facial patterns of these two?  We have spoke of this past logs, but it’s always fun to test ourselves when we get a photo like this.  Thanks to Kelly Godfrey for capturing this photo at the Exhibit Pack greeting rock.  Showing a longer and more slender muzzle is Axel who is standing in front of the rock.  Showing a broader and more classic shaped muzzle is Grayson, lying on the the rock.  

Grayson – Tail Tells it All

As you can see by this photo, Aidan is back in the mix, although his confidence is still impacted.  He’s less likely to be in a leadership role, but he can still control the carcass.  There is a clear difference between Grayson and Axel’s relationship with Aidan and the tail postures in this photo tells it all.  Axel on the right side of Aidan, has his tail tucked in what we term a T-4 tail posture (thanks to Wolf Park’s Ethogram for these terms), which is much more of a fear response.  Grayson who is approaching Aidan from the left, has his tail in a T=3.5 response, which means, it is relaxed, but touching the haunches in a bit more intimidation. The tolerance shown in the tails is representative of the social bond that is strong between Grayson and Aidan.  Grayson is frequently observed resting with Aidan and clearly still has respect for Aidan, even though he displays very few dominant behaviors other than during food possession.  Another Grayson behavior is his tendency to howl when there’s a bit of unstable energy in the pack structure.  Wolf care always know when there’s been some overnight strife, Grayson does a low-throated, lone howl to the wolf care staff at the gate.  Grayson does not d0 well with conflict and definitely seeks out Aidan for comfort.  We also had some tree damage in a recent storm, calling in a tree felling service that needed to climb and drop trees to avoid fence damage.  Grayson was the only pack member to bark a threat display to the chainsaw operator; that used to be Aidan’s job and before that, Shadow’s job.  One of our colleague’s recently commented…”It feels to me that he has been “interning” with Aidan.  

We recently reviewed a publication entitled The influence of social relationship on food tolerance, in wolves and dogs.  This research was conducted at the Wolf Science Center,  in Vienna, Austria and was published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (2017) 71:107.  Authors, Rachel Dale,  Friederike Range, Laura Stott , Kurt Kotrschal and Sarah Marshall-Pescini summarized that …”It is logical that animals should choose to co-feed with partners who are most likely to show tolerance, than a less close affiliate, who may challenge you or incite conflict… but it seems that their decision about whether or not to share at all was based on the affiliative relationship, as those with a higher affiliation score were more likely to peacefully share.” This is a pattern we see with the Center’s Exhibit Pack. 

Denali – Last in Line to Shed

There’s a few things worth noting in this week’s log photo.  First and most importantly, Aidan is clearly back in the mix of pack interactions.  The photo line-up is Grayson, Denali, Aidan and Axel (on the back side next to Aidan- not possible for Aidan just a few weeks ago).  The second most notable item in this photo is that Denali has most of his winter undercoat.  Grayson is partially shed, Aidan and Axel have nearly completed the shedding process (thanks to the diligence of wolf care staff brushing), but no luck on Denali despite efforts to brush.  Considering the black fly season has now stared, he is certainly in a better circumstance than the rest as insects have a hard time reaching his skin.  It makes us wonder if there’s an evolutionary function to a delayed shedding pattern.  Denali has been the focus of some medical care in the last few weeks.  In late May, staff noticed a spot of irritation inside the skin folds of Denali’s back leg.  This area is termed the inguinal area.  After clearing some of his undercoat, staff noticed  the area was somewhat spongy in the middle and the initial concern was whether he had an inguinal hernia.  If so, this could be a serious medical condition, especially for a wolf like Denali who pounces, jumps, runs and lunges in several contorted postures.  While staff can describe and photograph particular wolf issues to convey to the Veterinarian, it is best that the Veterinarian sees them first hand.  In most of our wolves, that would require a chemical immobilization and a trip to the clinic, but Denali is a special case.  His social tolerances for people is better than most and he willingly allows the Veterinarian to interact with him.  The only challenge is that we need to isolate him from the pack in order to accomplish a Vet exam and isolation makes for some focused pack members on the other side of the chute.  Grayson, in particular, waited to see if the short separation changed Denali’s status.  The good news from the Vet was that it wasn’t a hernia, the not so good news is that he has a similar mast cell growth that Aidan had.  Yes, I use past tense as Aidan’s growth has now diminished with the help of antihistamines.  We started on a similar treatment for Denali and so far, his growth has diminished as well. 

Boltz – Sand Pile Posturing

We know that insects congregate towards vegetation.  Whether it’s black flies and leatherleaf or yellow jackets preying on the insects that congregate in the vegetation, Boltz takes issue with their presence, no matter what they are. In an effort to give Boltz some relief, we had a 5-yard load of sand delivered to the wolf exhibit.  We use the sand to fill holes, but more importantly, the wolves use the sand as a resting place.  Combined with the Center’s misting system, the sand provides a cool, insect free place to rest.  In this photo, Boltz responds with some intimidation to Axel’s presence on the sandpile with ears pricked and turned sideways (EPTS in the Ethogram).   Boltz seems to have accepted Grayson’s posturing, but something about Axel continues to make him nervous.  Leadership of this pack next fall may still be contentious as leadership is not just about dominance, but it’s about alliances.  We know Boltz has an alliance with Denali, but as Denali ages and transitions into retirement, Boltz will be left to transition into new relationships.  From current observations, Grayson seems to be the preference for Boltz. 

Luna and Grizzer Improvements

The Working for Wolves crew did an amazing job this weekend, cleaning, raking and giving the Exhibit Pack a fresh look.  Crew members shoveled and hauled nearly half a dump truck load of small rock to fix a significant digging issue under the east side pond.  Without this work, the concrete was at risk of cracking;  Losing the ponds functionality which would have been a critical loss for older wolves in the warm summer months.  Crew members also installed a new, more powerful misting system for the Exhibit that mists the Pack Holding area as well. Protective panels were installed, stained and concrete pads were positioned to protect our medical pens and reduce some of the drainage and ice conditions we experienced last winter.  The most noticeable projects on the webcam were in the pack holding area where crews mortared some protective rock to cover the sharp edges of the concrete, provide better visual appeal for photography and gave Grizzer a wider ramp off the back of the pack holding area den.  To allow time for the concrete to dry, a protective fence panel was constructed to keep Luna and Grizzer away from the wet concrete;  You may have viewed the panel on the Pack Holding Area webcam.    The wolves were very calm despite all the activity in the yard.  They especially like the part where we barbecue brats in the wolf yard. 

Grizzer – Shedding Pattern

Grizzer is doing great.  We celebrated his 14th birthday with a webinar and a pork roast.  He enjoyed both, especially since Luna took a break on the East Side Retirement area so Grizzer could enjoy his pork roast in peace.  I don’t want to give you the idea that Grizzer wants to be away from Luna.  After Luna’s medical exam and subsequent recovery in the Wolf Care Center, Grizzer spent a lot of time whining at the gate until Luna returned.  The issue is that Luna gets quite food possessive, so to eat a pork roast, it takes some time and it requires no distractions. It was a nice birthday gift. 

This spring season has had some unusual changes in weather.  We had snow and ice late in the  year, but when things finally turned to spring, we seemed to miss a transition and went right into the high 70’s and low 80’s for daytime temperatures.   While humans might find this weather welcoming, wolves with full winter coats are a bit overheated.  We are always concerned with heat and older animals.  You may have witnessed (possibly on the webcams) wolf care staff brushing the wolves during the morning wolf checks.   Grizzer has an extremely thick undercoat and is not shedding other than on his legs.  He usually ends up with a shed from below pattern, where he loses his leg, tail and stomach undercoat and keeps a large ruff of hair around his neck.  His sister Maya had  similar shedding pattern only in addition to the neck ruff, she kept a ruff a long hair on her back legs that made her look like she was wearing a tutu.