The concern over the omega position is on everyone's mind. Will Lakota fill that role based on Mackenzie's protection of the pups or will Malik become omega based on Shadow's tendency to end up the victor of dominance interactions? Only time and further observations will be able to answer that question. This week, Lakota was observed in extremely high tail during a Malik mobbing. The times when Lakota was the center of the pack's attention, she seemed to be the instigator of the attention by displaying a play bow in front of Mackenzie and Lucas, then making a dash for the protection of the den opening.
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This has been a very uneventful week for the wolf care staff, Fall weather has been incredibly warm. The only indication that winter is approaching is the calendar that hangs in the wolf lab. For the first time since the pup introduction, Mackenzie has shared a deer torso with the pups on the 10/14/00 pack feeding. There appeared to be limited aggression from the pups to Mackenzie, in contrast, Shadow was observed driving Lucas away several times on the 10/18/00 when a Beaver was brought into the pen.
Shadow has also been showing the curious nature of a puppy. During a recent enclosure maintenance session, Shadow took a window washing squeegee from a water bucket and attempted to run through the woods with it. The length of the squeegee was longer than the distance between trees and caused Shadow considerable trouble. More trouble arose when he discovered that the other 4 wolves were close on his tail attempting to grab the squeegee. Shadow ran to the Wolf Curator and gladly gave up his possession, since the added attention of the other pack members made the possession less desirable. Shadow continues to show more dominance over Malik in most encounters, although there generally isn't much of a conflict between them. Malik easily submits to Shadow without too much of a struggle, giving Shadow minimal reason to continue active dominance.
MacKenzie is doing very well, she seems to be less tense than in previous weeks. The wolf logs still comment on how alert she is to the actions outside of her enclosure. If there's a chase going on in the Exhibit Pack, she is right there to watch it. If a lab door opens up, she shows the same behavior.
Shadow seems to continue to be the initiater of play behavior with the pups. He continues to display posturing towards Malik, and is very nervous when Malik is behind him. The photo this week shows Shadow, growling at Malik when he approaches Maya and the cache. He does seem to have a strong bond with Maya.
At today's "Behind the Scenes" program, Shadow exhibited an unusual behavior for him. He was more relaxed than in previous programs. He did not tuck his tail or bark howled at the crowd at all. Actually he layed next to the fence during the whole program. This may be the result of the previous night feeding.
The pups winter coat is thickening by the day. Their guard hairs are growing in length and have reach well over 4 inches. Some of the guard hairs on the shoulders have a very crimped or wavy appearance. The variation differences of the Arctic pups to the Great Plains adults are really beginning to be noticeable. The shorter, more rounded ears of the Arctic's really contrast with the shape and size of the adults ears. Certainly the smaller exposed surface area of the ear would be advantageous in the winter climate of the Arctic. Another striking difference is the size of the paws and the bulkiness of the pups legs. In comparison to the adults, the pups have a larger paw size and appear to have a denser leg structure (larger diameter). Where the adults seem to have longer, lankier legs, the pups seem to developing legs like a fence post. We estimate the pups weight to be at about 70 pounds, but an exact weight has not been measured since early October when they weighed 62 lb..
On October 30th through November 3rd, several classes from the Edina South View Middle School were studying at the Center. As part of this program, the pups are fed 4 times during the week. Two feedings featured deer legs, two feedings featured beaver. The pups have learned to grab the deer legs and run, making for a relatively uninteresting program, but the beaver are too large for the pups to carry. Even with a sore leg, Malik actively guarded the beaver from the rest of the pack. Due to this large quantity of food this week, there will be no pack feeding on Saturday night.
Maya is showing more signs of the submissive nature that she was famous for last fall. The hormonal influence that made her super dominant over Nyssa seems to be fading. She'll still put Nyssa in a submissive posture now, but not as frequently as this winter. She gets especially excited after a howling bout. In this week's photo, Maya walks in parallel gate with Shadow. They certainly appear to be buddies.
The wolves received an intensive medical examination today which involves immobilizing the pack. Grizzer had a smooth immobilization and was handled by Captive Wolf Management Participants, Kristy Raines (team leader), Michele Amacker and Wendi Moran. He was found to be in excellent health, the ear mite problem from last fall has cleared up and his ears look good. He weighed in at 93.5 lbs. That's quite a change from the 2.8 lb puppy we acquired on May 12th, 2004. Grizzer was one year of age on May 5th.
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