Lucas is enjoying the large quantity of meat scraps donated by local deer hunters. He likes having a spare head to carry around the enclosure. About a month ago, one of Lucas's toenails fell off. He probably caught it on a log or something running around the pen. During last October's medical exam, we noticed another nail was missing. This doesn't seem to affect his ability to maneuver around the pen.
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MacKenzie has been having a bit of stress from the construction across the road. With colder temperatures and no leaves on the trees, sound travels well from across the road. She's had a bit of nervous pacing, but settles down when staff come in or when she has a few bones to chew on. There's been extra feedings of deer scraps to keep her focused on the food rather than the noise. It's probably harder on her since her eyesight is limited, hearing something, but not being able to see it seems to be stressful. We look forward to the completion of this project.
Grizzer is doing well, he's been occupying his time with Maya lately. These two still have strong pup instincts to chase each other around and wrestle each other to the ground. Shadow and Malik, as 5 year olds, often sit and watch the antics of the youngsters, but don't join in. Everything is very calm this week, with no noted dominance behavior between the males.
Winter is a time for wolves to respond to the hormonal urges associated with the breeding season. Even though the Center's wolves are spayed and neutered, they still maintain some of the social behaviors termed pair bonding. In this week's photos, Lucas sniff's Lakota's coat, while MacKenzie looks on. It's usually Lucas and MacKenzie who share bonding behavior, but MacKenzie's nervous behavior seems to drive Lucas to Lakota. There seems to be no question that MacKenzie is still dominant over Lakota, no matter how nervous she is.
We are creating logs of our fondest memories of Kiana… The What's for Dinner program was always active with Kiana possessing and guarding food. She knew how to defend from her pack mates and always guarded her caches…
Thanks for the many emails and phone calls from wolf care supporters… Over the next few weeks, we will be including photos of Lucas sent by those who felt a strong connection and appreciated his presence as an ambassador wolf.
The woodchuck safely on the fence, after waiting for the afternoon nap to make the big escape.
Grizzer was very active this week and seemed to be enjoying the milder temperatures. Several times per day the exhibit pack engaged in enegetic rounds of chase. This week's photo shows Grizzer rapidly changing direction to go after another target.
Lucas was more social with staff earlier in the week, but appeared more wary as the week wore on. Perhaps this coincided with colder weather, or with the exhibit pack getting more noisy as the week progressed. This week's photo shows Lucas keeping an eye on the staff working in the retired pen, but staying just out of sight.
Wolf care has been going extremely well lately. The wolves are all in good spirits and the dominance displays typical of wolves during this time of year has been minimal. I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank John Virr, for his donation of a Nikon digital camera and lenses for the wolf care program. We have a great opportunity for photographing, but didn't have a camera that could keep up with the wolves, until now. We are most appreciative of John and Donna Virr's committment to the wolf care program and hope to share images from the life of the Exhibit and Retired pack. Grizzer has matured to a full-sized male as this week's photo shows.
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