If you had to ask MacKenzie about her favorite activity, our guess would be, laying in a straw bed (after eating a fresh deer and reminding Lakota who's in charge). The look of sheer comfort and relaxation is best shown in her photo this week. Staff are very diligent to ensure that MacKenzie is comfortable. As the saying goes, if the Alpha female isn't happy, nobody's happy.
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Sorry for the lack of logs over the past week. The curator was at a State Wildlife Society meeting. It was a great meeting and one of the most important messages from this meeting is the need to preserve contiguous tracts of habitat for species. As the human population grows and land development occurs, we need to always plan for the greenspaces that keep wildlife populations viable. Even in a captive facility, we have a need to manage for vegetation and quality habitat. This weeks photos of Grizzer and Maya prove why this is a challenge, but the Workin' for Wolves programs and the Adults at Two Years programs that are offered this summer, will aid in that endeavor. So, in the interest of getting photos up on the log, all the text will be the same. For each log, all wolves are healthy and during the curators absence, they were in the capable hands of wolf care staff Jen Westlund, Matt Fetterer, Jess Edberg, Andrea Lorek Strauss and Laurie Fella.
The fall and winter months bring a change in the behavior of the wolves. In addition to increased play behaviors, there are also heightened dominance interactions between the wolves, especially between Shadow and Malik, the male arctics. However, as Grizzer is fully maturing into a young adult, we expect to see dominance interactions with him as well. In this photo, you can see Shadow giving direct eye contact to Malik, who is averting Shadow's gaze.
Wolf care at the International Wolf Center involves daily checks of all the wolves on-site. In the Exhibit Pack, Grizzer and Maya are the two that are most tolerant of having their ears, teeth, etc. checked. On most days, Grizzer will jump onto the greeting rock, eager to receive hands-on attention from staff. This week during the Saturday night "What's For Dinner" program, the pack was fed a deer torso. Grizzer showed little interest in it, most likely from not being hungry due to all the deer scraps brought in during deer season.
One behavior that is classic Lucas behavior is the pattern of carrying around deer heads after a big feeding. He doesn't necessarily eat them, just carry them around, growling a barring his teeth in defense when he approaches one of his littermates. He's been observed doing this since the Thursday night feeding and was photographed today for the wolf logs, with, you guessed it, a deer head in his mouth.
Over the last several weeks, staff has commented that Lucas has spent increasing amounts of time in the den box. We are happy to report that Lucas does get out of the den box at times. In this week's photo he is enjoying the freshly refilled stock tank.
Lakota is doing well, we made it through a Thanksgiving weekend without any problems. Last year at Thanksgiving, Lakota was diagnosed with Ehrlichia and was sick for nearly a month. You wouldn't know by looking at her, nor would you guess that the wolf racing around the pen was going to be 13 years old.
Staff have noticed an interesting white patch on the back of Lucas's ears. He has a striking silver tail and is turning lighter by the day. He also still enjoys a good deer or beaver head. Staff found a deer head stashed in the den box under the straw and Lucas was possessing a beaver head when photos were taken today.
Many visitors wonder how we tell Malik from Shadow. The first identification key is the facial structure. Malik has a cowlick in the middle of his face and has a much narrower skull. He also has more almond shaped eyes rather than Shadow having more rounded eyes. This week's photo shows both characteristics. The other method for identifying wolves is by behavior. Malik is always a bit more nervous than Shadow, because he's the second ranking male, but he's also a bit mischevious, looking for an opportunity to test Shadow's position. So if there's a wolf hanging out on the edge with a tail up trying to sneak up and get involved, it's probably Malik.
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