MacKenzie does enjoy the mid-week feedings, and she still caches left over food for a meal later in the day or week. This caching behavior is innate, and nannies working with the pups will keep a close eye on when this behavior emerges. MacKenzie is doing well physically, and had a great winter.
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As the morning temperatures below freezing, the wolves seem to come alive, as winter is the preferred season. Lakota has been very active, running around the enclosure. During a check last week, her high level activities seemed to get the best of Mac, and ended in a dominant stand-over with Mac on top and Lakota rolling over. Since Mac can’t keep up, this may be her way of letting Lakota know that she’s still in charge, even if her activity levels don’t compare.
On several occasions this week, Lakota seemed to be forced to stay in the wooded hillside of the upper enclosure. Any attempts by Lakota to retreat to the lower pen caused Mackenzie to approach and circle her, driving Lakota back up the hill. Yet, other times, Lakota was observed chasing squirrels with the pack and exhibiting a high tail position. The aggression toward Lakota seems to still be tied to her behavior toward the pups. If interactions with the pups are calm, mobbing are limited. This week's "What's for Dinner" pup feeding was less successful than last week's. With the cooler air of Fall weather, the adults were a bit hungry and took possession of the pups deer leg. Lucas took the leg up in the woods so the Wolf Curator brought three more deer legs in from the freezer. Mackenzie and Lakota took two of the three and the pups shared the last leg. Once the pups had possession of this leg, they were able to guard it from the adults, but since the leg was frozen, it was more difficult for the pups to feed. During the program, Lucas brought his thawed deer leg close to the pups which encouraged Malik to approach and food beg. Prior to the next program, the Wolf Curator needs to redesign protocol to ensure the pups are able to compete with the adults for the food. The pups continue to be isolated for feedings with 5 – 7 pounds of meat fed every day except Wednesday and Saturday. These are the two days when food is brought into the enclosure for the main pack. The pups continue to grow and although weighing has become difficult, we estimate their weight to be nearing 60 lbs. Their winter coats are getting very thick and have resulted in pups staying rather inactive on some of the warmer Fall days.
I'm sure many of you are awaiting an update on MacKenzie. Sorry for the delay, I've been spending additional time with her attempting to get a urine sample (she doesn't want to give it up and I don't want to force it) in addition to getting the Exhibit pack pond cleaned (puppies dragged a few deer in the pond this winter leaving about 20 lbs of deer hair in the drain). Anyway, MacKenzie's main symptom was a ravenous appetite while looking like she was losing weight (in addition to other subtle changes in her relationship with the other wolves). Our Vet drew some blood and initially found a high BUN count (indicative of renal problems or dehydration) We put her on a specialized diet and drew blood five days later and her blood levels were back to normal. We are still attempting to get a urine sample, but that's been a challenge on a dominant wolf. Lakota, being lower ranking, will urinate whenever someone rolls her over. MacKenzie finds it a challenge and resists handlers effforts. So, if you watch the webcam, you may see handlers following her around with a container trying to get a urine sample to test for diabetes; One thing I can say about her is that she has great bladder control for a 12 year old. We are continuing to attempt a urine sample and are still hopeful for a passive sample soon. We'd rather not immobilize her just for a sample, but wolves don't cooperate like a dog does and living outdoors means she goes whenever she feels like it, not when we ask her to. She still runs the pack regardless of what we want. I fed her on 4/21 and her eating patterns are back to normal and she was very perky. We still want a sample, but right now, her behavior and attitude is back to normal.
Play behavior and chasing scenes seem to continue as the pups get older. While Lakota generally receives the brunt of the pack chase, on 9/25, Malik was on the receiving end and Lakota appeared to display more intense aggression and was described in the log as being "hard on Malik". Jen Westlund posted a log in the Center office to record the number of chase scenes and who was on the receiving end of the chase as well as Malik/Shadow dominance interactions. This information will be particularly useful as the pups mature and we see them vie for positions in the rank order. Right now, it appears that Malik is on the bottom of the pups dominance interactions more often, but it's usually because he falls over first and chooses to stay on the ground.
Since MacKenzie's been a bit under the weather, Lakota seems to be getting a bit more excited about things. She's got a bounce in her step and has had several more howling bouts than normal. She's a bit anxious about MacKenzie getting a specialized diet twice a day and often trys to paw her way into the enclosure vestibule when Mac gets her meals.
Nyssa is still getting a bit of dominance from Maya, and occassionally Shadow joins in. She seems to take it in stride, and there's no noticeable ill effects except the tuffs of hair that she's starting to shed on her hips. Wolf care staff have a big role in assisting the shedding process. Wolves in the wild may travel through dense vegetation that pulls at the excess hair, in captivity, staff carry brushes to help the process.
MacKenzie turned 12 on the 28th of April. She seems to be back to normal, but we are still baffled to what happened (or is currently happening) to her metabolism. She appears to be a bit obsessed with food, even after specialized feedings. The Vets are still testing for a variety of things, but primarily Diabetes or issues with Protein loss. Staff have noticed her social behavior has increased and she seems to be interacting with her siblings more as well as staff.
When the waterline was repaired in the enclosure, a large flat rock that was adjacent to the pond needed to be moved and repositioned. While the rock is not as flat as it was in its’ original placement, Maya seems to be the only wolf that finds it a comfortable place to rest. The placement of rocks are not merely and aesthetic addition to the exhibit. The ability to climb on a rock increases a wolf’s height, giving them status. It is also a good place for rodents to hide, creating many more things to investigate for a predatory mind that is always in high gear.
All five wolves are greeting handlers in a relaxed posture. They are rewarded by several minutes of belly scratching as they submit to the handlers. According to wolf protocol, the handlers greet Mackenzie first as the Alpha female, but her greeting times are getting shorter as the puppies have become more efficient at climbing the greeting rock to get to human handlers. Mackenzie generally jumps off and lets the puppies greet without incident. When Lakota tries this maneuver, Mackenzie has been known to drag her off the rock by the tail. Jen Westlund has begun as a Level 1 – Wolf Handler. She is accompanied into the enclosure by the Wolf Curator and is closely guarded in the event of any aggressive interactions with the wolves. So far, the interactions have been very positive. Her early bonding with the wolf pups will assist in the process of becoming a part of the Wolf Care Staff. Pack mobbing of Lakota seem to be getting more frequent. They are often lead by Mackenzie, but Lucas and the puppies join in on the chase. The puppies are very watchful of Mackenzie's lead and attempt to mimic her actions, even following through with hind quarter bite attempts to Lakota. Lakota has retreated to the den which provides a protective cover and allows her to jaw spar. These mobbing seem to be related to Lakota's behavior toward the pups. The more aggression toward the pups, the more likely a mobbing will follow. The pups were moved to a once a day feeding which averages 5 – 7 lbs of meat. There are now two feeding programs during the week for the main pack, the torso of a deer on Saturday night and an attempt to feed the pups a beaver or deer leg on Wednesday night. The first beaver feeding was successful on September 6th and the pups were able to guard and possess the beaver from the adult wolves throughout the entire evening (with the help of the Wolf Curator holding the beaver in place with her foot until the puppies gained possession).
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