During the medical exam for the arctics, the retired wolves watched intently on the action, Lucas seemed to be having a good day today. He was alert and very stable. Sorry, no photos, we were focused on the main pack today.
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Shadow's ear mite problem is back and requires additional treatment. We think we have it taken care of, but time will tell. We're not sure why the arctics are so prone to this problem, and not the other subspecies. It may be the shorter more rounded ears, or the increased thickness of the hair, but for whatever reason, they're the only ones who have this problem. Shadow is less than thrilled with staff doing the treatments, and we worry about his vulnerability by his timid behavior. We've observed Malik watching the treatment and coming in for quick bites while Shadow is distracted. Malik gets treatments as well, but it's not as stressful for him as it is to Shadow. Friday was the last treatment, we hope to have solved this problem, and plan to do a few things to make Shadow feel good about staff again.
Malik continues to show status when Shadow isn't around, then runs for the hills when Shadow shows up. Staff have noticed Malik asserting more dominance on Maya and Grizzer than in previous weeks, usually without Shadow in the vicinity. So far, Grizzer doesn't resist Malik when he's alone, but shows more status with Shadow's help.
Shadow has been displaying a very confident demeanor with some very strong leadership behavior. He's still a bit timid of the public feeding programs, but special efforts to make sure he has his fair share of food have had a secondary benefit, Shadow seems to gain more confidence with this extra care. His confidence may be what's causing Malik to back down a bit. Whatever the reason, things are very calm and social on the exhibit.
Being the only female of the exhibit pack, maya has no one to actively dominate. She's been doing some dominance towards Grizzer, but in the interactions with the arctics, she still shows a submissive posture. This weekend Bianca, an intern from the Netherlands, reported that Maya killed a raven and two other birds. Today when wolf care staff cleaned the pond's filter, Maya removed the rock that was protecting it, and was trying to dig and reach the filter. She was unsuccessful, but it shows she is the most curious of the pack members.
Lucas is slowing down a bit. Of all the wolves in retirement, he seems to show his age. He stll manages to get his fair share of a carcass. Lately, bow hunters have been bringing in scraps of deer, usually the vetebrae with a head remaining. These have been fed to the retired pack along with their regular meal. It appears that Lucas has taken to eating the meat off the vetebrae and sleeping with the deer head in the den box. It seems to keep the possession from the MacKenzie and Lakota while he gets some sleep.
Grizzer had a good week. The feeding on Saturday night was not nearly as exciting as the previous weeks. The Curator fed some bones from local deer hunters on Friday to give Grizzer something to chew on while he was waiting for the big deer and Saturday's feeding. There's been no change in Grizzer's dominance towards Malik. When it's one on one between Malik and Grizzer, Grizzer is submissive and give in. When Shadow and Malik are in a dominance dispute, Grizzer comes in from behind, but as soon as someone faces him, he avoids conflict.
This week's wolf logs were written by program participants in the 10/28-10/30/05 weekend program called "Working for Wolves", in which participants performed enclosure enrichment and maintenance projects in both the Retired and Exhibit enclosures. Written by Theresa Williams: This weekend was a busy one for the wolf pack. A "Working for Wolves" group did modifications to the enclosures. Malik appeared very relaxed during the activities and seemed to take it all in stride. This morning he was hesitant about coming out of the holding pen and had to be coaxed back out when the project (draining the pond) was completed.
This week's wolf logs were written by program participants in the 10/28-10/30/05 weekend program called "Working for Wolves", in which participants performed enclosure enrichment and maintenance projects in both the Retired and Exhibit enclosures. Written by Kim Wheeler: The Working for Wolves participants made some improvements to the main Exhibit den. A wall was built and balsam branches were placed across the back opening. When the wolves returned to the exhibit, Maya did some rearranging. She pulled the balsam trees off the back of the den. She did not seem to like our changes! Maya did not show much fear avoidance behavior with the group. She did show some avoidance to entering the pup enclosure during the "What's for Dinner" program. The wolves were fed five beavers. Maya proceeded to scent mark on two of the beavers, which didn't stop Grizzer from taking one.
During our last program called the Workin' for Wolves weekend, participants did many enclosure enrichment and maintenance projects. In addition, the group generously donated a brand-new single wheelbarrow to take the place of one of our old ones, which was literally on its last leg. The wolf care staff appreciated this generosity very much, as these pieces of equipment are used often for maintenance work and for feeding. In this photo, Lucas is checking out the new wheelbarrow that was used to take the deer out to the retired pack.
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