Shadow had another good feeding program as well as a successful Behind the Scenes visit. Last Thursday night, Amy Reisdorf and Jason and Melissa Kendrick participated in a Wolf Watch program. This program is offered several times throughout the year, where participants come to the Center, receive background information and training in captive wolf management and wolf behavior, then spend a few hours recording data on the wolves behavior. They finish off the evening by spending the night (some sleeping) in the auditorium, overlooking the wolf enclosure observation windows. In the morning, after a continental breakfast, they come outdoors for a Behind the Scenes tour and a discussion of what they observed the night before. Shadow normally bark howls during these Behind the Scenes visits, but for whatever reason, Shadow was very excepting of the most recent Wolf Watchers. He's also been showing a fair amount of bonding behavior with Maya, as this week's photo indicates.
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Shadow seems to be having a great winter. Not only does he enjoy the snow by pushing his nose in the fresh fallen snow doing a behavior we call the snowplow, but he frequently grabs hides, sticks or bones and throws them up in the air for Grizzer or Maya to chase. He's been great with staff and seems to be doing better with Behind the Scenes groups, displaying less bark howling. Overall, he portrays a great dominant male. Of course, Malik may have a different opinion, but for all the arctic wolf posturing with each other for position, I still seem the sleeping together on the straw beds on top of the den.
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.
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 the endeavor of planting more trees. 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.
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 the endeavor of planting more trees. 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.
Lucas is doing well and in good health, though he takes longer to lay down and get up due to stiffness in his joints. He was very playful and submissive during wolf care this morning, rolling over on his back when staff was touching him. As he continues to age, his pelage is getting lighter; the tip of his tail is now white. Though he is 13 years old, he still shows his dominance over Lakota.
MacKenzie is doing ok, despite the noise issue across the road. She stays on constant alert and doesn't seem to get much down time during the day, we assume from the signs in the bedding that they all rest well at night. Staff noticed MacKenzie walking a bit stiffer than normal this morning, likely due to the temperature dropping below zero. Staff make sure the straw beds are checked daily and that each wolf has a sufficient place to bed down. If Lakota continues to lay in MacKenzie's traditional corner, then a new placement will need to be made for MacKenzie, of course, MacKenzie would need to approve of it.
Malik is still a bit nervous when staff enter the enclosure, not from the staff, but the anticipation of a chase from Shadow and Grizzer as they get excited. So far, the dominance displays have been calm. Malik continues to test and push his limits with Shadow until Shadow pursues, usually with Grizzer at his side. There has been documentation that Shadow, Maya and Grizzer have been sleeping in the den together, while Malik sleeps on a straw bed on the hill.
The new wolf care camera has been a tremendous benefit in getting quality photos of the wolves for the web logs as well as the magazine. Maya is the most photographed of all the wolves since she has a natural pose, and is often found on the rock, den or hillside looking majestic. But, there are days that Maya tends to look like she's up to something. Today was one of those days, as this week's photo demonstrates, wolves have an incredible array of facial displays.
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 the endeavor of planting more trees. 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.
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