This week has been a busy one for the wolf care staff with the ethology class, hence the delay in updating the wolf logs. Shadow continues to show bark-howling when program participants are in the wolf yard, adjacent to the enclosure. Bark-howling is a behavior that wolves display when they are intimidated or feel threatened. Bark-howling is a combination of a bark followed by howling, or vice versa. Shadow continues to be the alpha male of the pack and is closely aware of the activity of other members in his pack.
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Malik is less tolerant with the puppies than Shadow. On the last environmental enrichment, Malik succesfully took a turkey from Grizzer and ran up the hill. Shadow chased him and apparently, Grizzer got his turkey back. Maya tried to take the turkey too, but Malik growled at her. Maya has a submissive posture, and Malik is walking with a T2 tail position.
Cindy Ludwig writes: I love Nyssa's fierce independent spirit. She grew into a beautiful adult wolf, and even though I wasn't able to see her as a yearling, I will always remember this special wolf and our time together. My favorite memory of Nyssa is the afternoon we napped together in the pup pen. To have the respect and trust of a wild animal and to have made that spiritual connection is beyond words.
Written by Joey Haswell: Nyssa's distinctive coloring was matched by her distinctive personality. Her sharp features (and wild guard hairs) were pointed references to her uncompromising approach to those around her. I love her feistiness, her beauty, her sweet cuddles, often snapping at whoever woke her up. Nyssa was fun, smart, and never boring. She was an alpha female.
Grizzer is doing well, he continues to seek refuge in the upper enclosure, usually laying underground. He is the most difficult to call down during the day, and continues to be the last out of the woods. He's been causing a bit of havoc with the newly planted trees. So far, Nyssa's memorial trees are doing well, but tree's planted earlier in the season have been snapped off. Late last week, Grizzer just decided to walk right over one of the trees, and wolf care staff cringed as we heard the crack, but we aren't giving up on tree-planting. We will continue to saturate this exhibit with trees, hoping one will grow.
Lucas has completely shed his winter undercoat and is maintaining a sleek, physique. He has been actively feeding on carcasses and competing with Lakota who generally eats everything in sight. It appears that he actually likes the warmer weather, I think it feels good on his old bones. He's still most often found in the den boxes in the exhibit.
It took a few days of acclimation time for MacKenzie after the tree felling. When she was brought back into the retired enclosure, she was very nervous from the new fallen trees and branches. Wolf Care staff removed most of the branches, making MacKenzie feel more at ease. I think the vision problems made the branches too intimidating. Lucas liked hiding behind them, but MacKenzie wouldn't go back into her normal corner until the branches were moved.
Maya is doing well. She has a full belly today from last nights feeding. She continues to display a good predatory response, even when the food is road-kill. She manages to get her share. It helps that Shadow is still guarding her, doing full body blocks on Malik when he approaches Maya. There seems to be some changes in the arctics behavior when it comes to Maya. Malik has been observed doing more social behavior toward Maya actually approaching her more often and seeking her out. So far, Shadow has not displayed dominance towards Malik during these social behaviors, he only blocks Malik when there's food involved or if the behavior is more active such as during a play bout.
Grizzer was very interested in the pond drain this morning. Wolf Care staff drain and wash the pond every few weeks to control the algae in the water. When the pond drains, the noise from the suction of the water through the drain draws Grizzer and Maya's attention. This morning, Grizzer did a full head dunk to watch the water drain, and blew bubbles with his nose as he was coming up from the water.
MacKenzie is clearly the dominant female. When Lakota starts getting a bit overexcited, MacKenzie is quick to show her who really runs the Retired Pack. The technique may have slowed with age, but the outcome is the same. Lakota tips her head to the side in a submissive posture and defers to whatever MacKenzie wants.
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