Grizzer – The Impacts of an Unfortunate Moment

Last week, we had a vet check on Aidan that started with staff rearranging the retirement area, and specifically Grizzer’s line of sight.  No, we didn’t move Aidan into the Pack Holding Area for the exam, we had to address a long-standing issue that Grizzer has with our Vet.  As we discuss rank order issues, you may hear reference to staff interpretation of behavior as “living in the moment” and “they don’t hold a grudge”, especially when wolves are observed in social interactions or resting together shortly after they had some intense dominance interactions.  What needs to be qualified is that there is a difference between “living in the moment as an expression of wolf communication” and negative conditioning or association with a negative event.  It’s been our experience that this negative association is often with an event surrounding a human, a portion of their facility or in Boltz’s case, the sound of a buzzing insect.  

So, back to Grizzer’s issues.  In 2008, after a medical exam prior to Aidan and Denali’s arrival on site, Grizzer was just given a reversal drug and was becoming alert to his surroundings, but not quite stable.  We had challenges during this immobilization with Shadow having an issue of acute gastric dilation or bloat that required intervention.  When Grizzer was beginning to move around, it appeared that he may have had some gastric dilation as well.  Unfortunately, the reversal had already begun working and Grizzer was far more aware of his surroundings when the Vet pushed on his stomach to assess his condition.  Grizzer responded with a quick grab bite and the event seemed to have left him with a negative association.  So, fast forward to 2018, we needed Aidan to be calm and interact at the fence to allow the vet to see his leg, so Grizzer needed to be moved out of sight for the scheduled visit.  All went well, with Aidan, but on the way out, we wanted to assess Grizzer’s cognitive recognition of the Vet.  Since he is nearing 14 years of age, this was a good test to see how Grizzer’s sensory abilities were aging.  At first, Grizzer showed no response visually, which aligns with our interpretation that his vision is not as good as it used to be.  As soon as the Vet spoke, Grizzer began the defensive bark-howling he’s displayed  since that fateful immobilization in April 2008. I posted it on last week’s Youtube, it’s not a fear response, it’s definitely more along the lines of a threat display.  This definitely makes for challenging times as Grizzer ages, but fortunately, the Ely Vet Clinic has several great vets who don’t have the negative association in Grizzer’s mind. This is an important lesson for wolf care staff reminding us all to be very aware of the wolves mental state in all circumstances.  This unfortunate split-second moment will be with Grizzer for the rest of his life.  

 

 

Axel – Larger, but more Slender Facial Features

As the arctics near 2 years of age, we see the skeletal growth come to an end and the features they now possess will be their characteristics throughout their life.  Similar to Malik, our last set of arctic wolves born on May 8, 2000, Axel has a narrower muzzle and appears more slended in facial features despite being nearly 14 pounds heavier than his sibling.  His eye formation appears more almond-shaped in appearance.  Can you ID Axel in the photo?  If you guessed the left side of the photo, you guessed right.  When you look at the pelage, Grayson continues to display a darker saddle across his shoulders.  Behaviorally, the staff have been noticing Axel is quick to bound up to individuals, do a quick ride-up and mount, then bound away to display the same behavior to another packmate.  He doesn’t seem to follow any patterns or even a train of thought some days.  in a recent staff behavioral log, staff noted “At 3:30 today, Axel walked over to Grayson, who was finding a spot to curl up and rest by the observation windows when Axel came over, did a hip slam, chin rest and play bow towards Grayson, which elicited no response from Grayson, causing Axel to move on to Denali.”

Aidan-Prancing with the Pack (Some of the Pack?)

We have moments when Aidan shows some strong pack cohesiveness with Denali, Grayson and even at times Axel, but as soon as Boltz arrives, he reverts back to intimidation and retreat mode.  There are definite correlations to the temperatures, and as you can see by this week’s photo, the snow gets everyone excited.  Aidan is prancing with Denali as the younger wolves are running along the fenceline.  I posted this video clip on last week’s Youtube. Aidan had a vet check last week and there were discussions about the growth that has been irritating his front leg.  At this point, we are measuring and monitoring the growth size and growth rate as well as the irritation factor.  The Veterinarian prescribed an antihistamine, since mast cell’s can be a result of a body’s response to allergens and inflammation.  Aidan has had a history of auto-immune disorders dating back to 2011 with his first diagnosis of discoid lupus, so this has been an ongoing management issue for staff.  

As far as the testing of Aidan’s status, this seems to be diminishing, although the colder than average April has kept things a bit tense a big longer than usual.  It seems like the arctics are having face-off behaviors with Boltz which makes us think there might be some rank establishment among the three younger wolves.  Rank isn’t something that’s settled in a day, it is a combination of behavioral occurrences that build over time and are influenced by hormones and certainly cooler ambient temperatures.  To say that the pack is testing, does not infer that testing interactions are the sole interactions of the pack.  Even on a daily basis, the wolves can go from testing dominance to a “nose to nose” greetings and end up resting in social groups with the same individuals that had earlier experienced conflict.  Wolves don’t hold a grudge or want to get even with each other. Aidan was the wolf that lead the social bonding with the arctic pups on their introduction into the pack and despite the testing, Aidan and Grayson still have a strong bond; On Saturday, the staff reported all wolves but Boltz were resting on the pump housing together.  That’s not a very large space for 4 large wolves, so they must have been feeling compatible.  We look for evidence in every interaction, so we have the ability to understand wolf intent. 

Aidan – Showing More Confidence, Sometimes

This week has found Aidan showing more confidence at times, but still not all the way back to managing the pack.  He is able to control the food resource, acquiring and defending carcasses, but when it comes to rank order, Boltz and Axel give him the most anxiety.  He has been resting with Grayson and seems to have limited concern about Grayson’s presence.  Staff did identify a pea sized lump on his incision site where the last mass cell tumor was removed.  This certainly will change management decisions.  Based on the last growth development, we may have to look at medical intervention in a few months. So far, Aidan has stayed active, often prancing to the edge of the woodline when the pack is active, looking like he is moments away from joining in, but then decides against it.  You may notice that we moved the Exhibit webcam  angle this afternoon so we can get a better surveillance view of Aidan’s resting spot.  Staff have been asked to pay particular attention to Aidan’s focus on his leg.  Please feel free to email me with any observations you may have.  If you could identify the time stamp on the webcam, this will help us retrieve footage.   

Axel – Stalking

Axel and Grayson are very active with each other, and the rest of the pack. This past week they have been working together to test their limits with Boltz and Denali. While Grayson’s activities are usually limited to chasing, Axel is biting, pulling tails, and doing ride-ups. In the last few days he seems to be focusing more on Denali.  This is a natural process until the pack can define a new leader.  Denali is quick to respond with a high tail and a few ride-up’s of his own.  Boltz is less confident about the attention. 

Boltz – Back in the Middle?

Boltz continues to show less confidence about taking over leadership of the pack. He still postures towards Aidan but is quick to back off when Aidan shows some dominance, especially if the interaction involves food. This week there were several bouts of testing towards Boltz by Axel and Grayson. After a testing event, the response from Boltz is to display some active submission, rolling over and licking Denali’s face.  There were a sequence of behaviors photographed taken of this event.  In Boltz’s log, you see the submissive response of Boltz.  In Denali’s log, you see a Denali seeming to enjoy the social grooming that is part of active submission. 

Denali – Receiving Renewed Focus

As stated in the last log, Denali appears to be enjoying a bit of peace from Aidan’s lack of confidence in terms of how Aidan typically manages the pack. However, in the past several days other members of the pack are doing a bit more testing of Denali. Recently Denali was the focus of Axel who was biting, chasing, doing ride-ups and generally testing him.  But, Denali is not showing a loss of confidence, in fact, he’s been prancing around with a high tail and doing more Raised Leg Urinations that we’ve seen in a while. This isn’t Denali’s first experience with maturing yearlings, Boltz showed some of the same traits as a yearling. The interesting observations in the last few weeks relates to the the relationship with Boltz and Denali.  When Boltz loses confidence, instead of running away with a low tail, he runs to Denali and obnoxiously submits.  The problem of an obnoxious submission is that the energy is unstable leaving Denali to display airplane ears of uncertainty.  The benefit of the obnoxious submission is that the behavior can include some social grooming.  Denali’s facial expression shows that he does enjoy that part of the interaction. 

Grayson Observing

Grayson – the Observer

From the earliest moments that Grayson arrived at the Center we noticed that he seemed to be always watching and taking in all activities around him. This continues to be the behavior he exhibits most. In the past week, Grayson has spent time observing Axel, following and testing Denali, then watching Aidan observing Axel and Denali. He continues to vocalize quite a bit as tensions increased between Axel, Denali, and Boltz.  The most important observation staff have recorded is that he continues to rest with Aidan, and seems to still see Aidan as his pack leader.  The reality is that Aidan, while not asserting leadership, has a mere presence that implies leadership in the mind of Grayson, Denali and even in Aidan’s own actions.  It is critical that we acknowledge the psychological impact of retiring a pack leader. 

Grizzer – Resting Comfortably

Grizzer seems to be enjoying warm naps in the sun on top of the den in the pack holding area. We have had warm days and cold nights lately, and Grizzer has been observed panting to cool off since he still has his thick winter coat. He continues to be social with Luna as long as it doesn’t involve food, and seems to enjoy visits with wolf care staff.  As you may know, we have had mortalities of wolves between 13 and 15 years of age.  Although Grizzer appears very healthy, there are key things to monitor as he approaches 14 years of age.  The most important is kidney function, which can have some telling symptoms such as lethargy, weight loss, increased thirst, change in appetite or how an animal processes food (scats).  There are several great things about managing Grizzer.  First and foremost, he is on a hand-fed feeding regime with measured food amounts fed on a daily basis, so we know exactly what he eats.  Secondly, staff fill the waterers on a daily basis, so water consumption can be monitored, although we can’t tribute it all to Grizzer as he shares water with Luna.  Third, Grizzer has a behavioral pattern of trying to defecated on a high spot, so if there’s a scat on a stump, we are 99% certain it’s Grizzer.  As far as lethargy, that’s a bit more of a challenge, older animals like to sleep, especially in a nice cover hay bed in the sun, but a quick scan of surveillance cameras can judge the activity levels within a 24-hour period.  Grizzer’s behavior can best be described as crepuscular, which means, active at dawn and desk. 

Luna- Roll on Back

Luna continues to dictate to wolf care staff where and when she wants body work. For the past several weeks, she seems to want to skip leg work and concentrate on belly rubs.  Her undercoat is extremely thick and when wolf care staff do manage to find her skin under the thick layer of winter hair, it stimulates the scratch response.  The only challenge to this is the toenails that come with the scratch response.  Luna seems to have less wear on her toenails than the other wolves, even Grizzer.  We rarely clip wolf toenails because of the digging and active movements throughout the wooded enclosure.   Luna’s longer nails may be due to the impact of her back right femoral head alignment causing an uneven gait.  Staff are conditioning her to the presence of toenail clippers and so far have been successful in clipping the front toenails but she is still sensitive on her back toenails.  Perhaps some warmer daytime temperatures may make her more sedentary, making toenail clipping and brushing her thick winter coat a bit easier.  We celebrated her birthday on on March 25th with a webinar and a birthday treat of pigs ears.