MacKenzie was more active in greeting staff this week, perhaps the milder weather made her joints less painful. She continues to monitor the activites in the exhibit pack, and appears to enjoy watching from the relative comfort of her bed in the corner of the retired enclosure.
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The wolves had some special visitors prior to the What's for Dinner program on Saturday. These are special members who frequently visit the facility and observe the wolves as much as they can. One of the visitors commented that MacKenzie looks better than she has in a long time, Staff would have to agree.
Lakota has been demonstrating some great behaviors as the weather gets cooler. Wolf care staff have been working on filming the remaining wolf behaviors that are missing from the interactive ethogram project. While in the enclosure, Lakota did a toss of a deer hide several times, throwing the hide up in the air and catching it again before running around the enclosure. Of course, on this day, the cameras were left in the wolf lab, so we missed it. In true wolf form, we attempted to get her to repeat the behavior by giving her a hide, but she just stared at it and walked away. Wolf care staff need to invest in helmet cams that we wear everyday to catch the action.
The wolf care staff have been very busy this week with the ethology class, hence the delay in updating the wolf logs. Lakota, out of the three retired wolves, seems to be the one that is most active and quick to greet wolf care staff in the mornings. Lakota, like Maya, seems to enjoy finding new places to dig. This week, she started digging a new hole near some rocks by the fence, and also continued digging in the 4-5 ft. den she had previously started. One of the enclosure enrichment projects for the end of July Pups at One Year Program will be to build a roof over this den, serving both as a platform for them to lay on as well as a roof for den protection.
The wolf care staff has been very busy this week with the ethology class, hence the delay in updating the wolf logs. Mackenzie is showing her age more than the other wolves, and sometimes appears stiff when getting up. However, she still retains her alpha status in the pack and will display her dominance over Lakota through stand-overs. A stand-over is a form of dominance in which the dominant wolf will stand over a submissive wolf when they are sitting or laying down. Mackenzie is still shedding her undercoat, which requires daily brushing from the wolf care staff.
In this picture you can see the lipid deposits in Mackenzie's eye. Eventhough she has age related problems, she is really active and enthusiastic greeting the wolf care staff on the daily wolf checks. She would walk from one staff member to another doing her favorite behavior…..drive by! This is when a wolf passes infront of another wolf or staff just far enough to be out of reach.
During last week's environmental enrichment, Shadow and Malik had 12 scruffle encounters. In 11 of them Shadow showed more dominant postures, according to the ethology goup observing from behind the windows. It seems that Shadow shows more confidence, while Malik is becoming more aggressive. Dominance is not about aggressiveness, but confidence and skills as a pack leader.
Malik does very well when there's a large program such as Pups at One Year. He takes the opportunity to look for weaknesses in Shadow. He is often found laying in the woodline of the enclosure watching the action, and when the opportunity arises, he attempts some dominance on Shadow.
Lakota has finally completed shedding, leaving a lean body structure. She actually deals with the heat pretty well, but enjoys the sprinker hose when available. She's also known for sticking her feet in the pail and scooping all the water out of the pail. Her most favorite activity is sleeping in the fresh wood chips designed to help with the fly problem.
MacKenzie is doing well physically, but staff have noticed her a bit irritable behaviorally. Sometimes, older animals can show less tolerance for human handling due to aches and pains and would rather not be touched. In addition, the construction across the road may be causing her irritation. Regardless of what's causing it, this is a great reminder that we are working with wolves, and no matter how long you have known an animal, they can't be predicted on how they will act to external stimuli. In this case, all 3 wolves are responding differently. Lucas is showing physical signs or irritation, MacKenzie is showing behavioral signs of irritation and Lakota is showing no signs of irritation.
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