MacKenzie was late to shed this summer and late to grow in a winter coat in comparison to Lakota. Wolf care staff are readily available with straw to make sure MacKenzie has a warm bed. With the winter season, an additional feeding has been added to the Retired Pack’s schedule. If you watch the wolf cams, you will now see a Tuesday and Thursday morning feeding around 8 am and the regular Saturday night dinner of beaver or deer legs.
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MacKenzie is doing very well with the onset of the winter season. Her mobility is good, and there are only a few noticeable days where she appears to stand with her haunches lowered to the ground (this is usually an indication of pain). In MacKenzie’s video this week, you will see her dominate Lakota, roll over for wolf care staff and actually run and shake. This was a good day for her, and her behavior shows how well she feels.
With Grizzer being a bit more distracted by Maya’s energy, Malik’s world has been quite a bit calmer. This has been good for him and for staff to be able to spend some time with him without drawing attention from Grizzer. In his video, you will see him walk past Grizzer without dropping his tail from the relaxed T3 position. It’s also important to notice that Grizzer’s tail did not rise when approaching Malik. For wolf care staff, this subtle observation speaks volumes to pack compatibility.
Maya continues to show very strong associative behavior towards Shadow, and focuses excess energy on her littermate Grizzer. It’s a great time of the year to see these behaviors emerge and really get a glimpse at the social nature of these individuals. It will be very interesting to see how Maya responds to a new female to the Exhibit next year. She certainly has many skills to teach the newest pack members. In this week’s video, Maya is intently chewing on a deer carcass.
Even though our exhibit provides a heated self-filling water bowl in the enclosure, the wolves still prefer to eat snow. They do consume water and staff is mindful of dehydration issues, but the preference for a wolf is to take a mouthful of fresh snow or lick ice in the exhibit. Shadow’s been doing extremely well as Maya’s behavior has been adding confidence to his status. His video this week shows that look of confidence as he keeps watch from the top of the den, with his ears pricked forward alert to any possible threat to the pack. It is encouraging to see him so confident, his attributes as a pack leader are critical to the next pup introduction.
The text for all the wolves will be the same. The wolves are enjoying the deer scraps donated by local deer hunters, with scraps arriving daily and wolves feeding opportunities on the increase. This is the time of the year when resources are plentiful at the International Wolf Center. Vermilion Community College student, Nick Budzien, made a trip to the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake Minnesota, where they graciously donated 24 road kill deer to help feed our wolves over the winter. Road kill are much more plentiful in the urban areas in southern Minnesota, than the more remote forested regions of Ely. We do get local road kill, but not in the volume that will sustain the wolves through the winter. The weather is moderately cool, ranging between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for both wolves and wolf care staff.
The text for all the wolves will be the same. The wolves are enjoying the deer scraps donated by local deer hunters, with scraps arriving daily and wolves feeding opportunities on the increase. This is the time of the year when resources are plentiful at the International Wolf Center. Vermilion Community College student, Nick Budzien, made a trip to the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake Minnesota, where they graciously donated 24 road kill deer to help feed our wolves over the winter. Road kill are much more plentiful in the urban areas in southern Minnesota, than the more remote forested regions of Ely. We do get local road kill, but not in the volume that will sustain the wolves through the winter. The weather is moderately cool, ranging between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for both wolves and wolf care staff.
The text for all the wolves will be the same. The wolves are enjoying the deer scraps donated by local deer hunters, with scraps arriving daily and wolves feeding opportunities on the increase. This is the time of the year when resources are plentiful at the International Wolf Center. Vermilion Community College student, Nick Budzien, made a trip to the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake Minnesota, where they graciously donated 24 road kill deer to help feed our wolves over the winter. Road kill are much more plentiful in the urban areas in southern Minnesota, than the more remote forested regions of Ely. We do get local road kill, but not in the volume that will sustain the wolves through the winter. The weather is moderately cool, ranging between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for both wolves and wolf care staff.
The text for all the wolves will be the same. The wolves are enjoying the deer scraps donated by local deer hunters, with scraps arriving daily and wolves feeding opportunities on the increase. This is the time of the year when resources are plentiful at the International Wolf Center. Vermilion Community College student, Nick Budzien, made a trip to the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake Minnesota, where they graciously donated 24 road kill deer to help feed our wolves over the winter. Road kill are much more plentiful in the urban areas in southern Minnesota, than the more remote forested regions of Ely. We do get local road kill, but not in the volume that will sustain the wolves through the winter. The weather is moderately cool, ranging between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for both wolves and wolf care staff.
While the video shows Malik with some anxious behavior around Grizzer, he can quickly change to modes when food is in the enclosure. Malik is quicker than any of the wolves in the exhibit pack and often comes away with treats used for enclosure enrichment. Of course, he has a lot of agility training running the logs and navigating the pond rocks when Grizzer follows him. In this week’s photo, you still see a confident omega wolf.
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