A tree split in a wind storm earlier in the week. A professional tree feller was hired to take the tree down. To avoid stressing the retired pack from the tree felling (as well as dropping a tree on them), they were moved into the pup pen adjacent to the main enclosure. This was stressful enough as there is aggression from the arctics to the retired wolves. All did well, Lakota spent most of her time digging in the hole in the puppy pen.
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The Retired wolves were moved into the pup pen while a tree was felled in their enclosure. MacKenzie had the most difficult time with the move as she was very defensive towards Shadow. The wolves were separated by the protective cloth that the Nanny Teams put up last summer (thanks John Virr); but she was still able to get a few defensive snarls and growls in at Shadow. Maya was very submissive and whining to the Retired wolves, MacKenzie did whine and lick at Maya.
One of the enclosure enrichments done throughout the summer is to add minnows to the pond. Maya's predatory instinct is most evident when she's stalking the elusive minnow. This past weekend, she did a full head dunk to retrieve a minnow. Grizzer, who usually stands by and watches Maya, joined in on the head dunking. He was successful in scooping the minnow with his big paws.
Malik has been spending time sleeping in the sun during these cold spells. People often ask if the cold weather is hard on them, in reality, they are built for cold. It’s the hot days that are troublesome for a wolf. Staff put plenty of straw in the enclosure for the wolves to rest on. The angle of the sun in February makes for warm comfortable days in the straw.
Shadow is doing very well and is in a great mood most days. He's the first to greet staff, he's shown some very excitable "play" behavior with deer hides, bones and the rest of the pack. His ears seem to be fine (previous mite issue) and he's very confident in his abilities as demonstrated by this week's RLU photo.
From the Retired Wolves, Lakota is the only one enjoying the pond. During the morning, when the temperature was high, Lakota was seen several times in the pond refreshing herself. After that, she started play bowing to Lucas and ran all around the enclosure. That is not too bad for a 12 year old wolf.
Jen Westlund noted: " Good interactions between wolves and staff, LS noticed two small scars (resembling the spacing of 8 month old pup canines), the scars are healing well. Lucas and Shadow had alot of interactions, with Lucas grooming Shadow and Shadow remaining very submissive and still. Lakota seems skittish, but still had good contact with staff and had was observed to have no further injuries.
Andrea Lorek Strauss fed the pack on Saturday's What's for Dinner Program. After the food was brought into the enclosure, the pups took possession of most parts, but Lucas and Lakota were able to possess some as well. Mackenzie exhibited very excited play behavior to the pups, rolling over, wagging her tail and displaying a play bow. Pups wouldn't move off the carcass and defended the carcass aggressively often snapping and growling at Mackenzie during her display. Pups maintained possession of carcass throughout program.
Curators note: Pups are generally allowed to have a great deal of freedom in their actions when they are growing. Adults (especially alphas) appear to be very tolerant with the pups antics and generally allow pups access to food over other lower ranking pack members. Some theorize that this demonstration of parental care for the pups may be hormonally driven, others theorize that it is all part of an integral process of social bonding that keeps the pups bond to the pack strong. Regardless of the motivation, it's apparent that the pups have a lot of leeway when they are young, but as they mature, they must take their place in the rank order. It appears that this time has come to the Center's Ambassador Pack. Previous logs have shown more and more dominance displays to the pups, but it wasn't until the most recent feedings that we actually saw a noticeable difference around the defense of food.
Wolves very excited prior to feeding (deer in wheelbarrow at gate waiting to be wheeled into enclosure). Mackenzie guarded gate with full body contact, growls and charges to other wolves including the pups. Malik zipped in and bit Mackenzie in the rear once, but Mackenzie retaliated. Pups jumping high against the fence with Lakota getting chased by the pups, but it was clear that Mackenzie was in charge. Lucas was involved, but not very aggressively. The feeding consisted of a 3 Beaver and 3 deer legs, so Mackenzie grabbed one and ran off with it, so we didn't see the carcass defense that we anticipated since the wolves didn't share a carcass, but we predict that the next time a whole deer is fed, that Mackenzie will dominate rather than the pups, as we have seen to this point.
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