Malik is doing well, after the beaver feeding on Wednesday, he shared a beaver with Denali and Aidan with minimal aggression from Denali. For some reason, Malik is behind in shedding, even later than Shadow. He has become more tolerant of brushing, but he will likely not blow his winter coat until mid-late July. Grizzer and Denali have already started growing next winter's undercoat. Fortunately for Malik, the cool damp weather of spring has lingered through the month of June.
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Maya continues to show strong dominance, during a Behind the Scenes program, when Shadow as a bit anxious and bark howled at a group, Maya came over and dominated Aidan, then lunged and grabbed Grizzer by the neck. Needless to say, both Grizzer and Aidan retreated and watched her from a distance, no doubt wondering what that display was about. Maya is very adept at food possession, but lately, she's been letting Denali have her share.
Shadow is handling the construction well, but he's been a bit anxious about the Behind the Scenes programs. Shadow's response to stress is to dominate, so the program influence is probably reinforcing his status. We do have a concern that his anxiety would be perceived as a weakness, and other wolves would pick up on it, but at this point, when he is stressed, he does a hard muzzle bite and everyone submits, including Maya.
Overall, this summer has been a good one for Aidan. He is still the target of Maya's dominance, but has also been observed participating in more group howls, even from afar. He still seeks out staff for comfort and will follow staff around the enclosure when daily duties are being performed. We do see Aidan continuing to take advantage of Denali's anxiety during the building construction, and was also observed chasing Grizzer into the new slate den, as observed by this week's video.
We are very happy to report Malik's tooth infection is dimishing. The photo this week shows slight discoloration, but no other signs of infection. We will keep him on antibiotics for another 7 days to ensure complete healing. This is very similar to an infection Lakota had several years ago, and it looks good.
Malik's infection has shown significant healing this week, with only slight discoloration around the infection site. We are still treating with antibiotics for a few more days to make sure the abscess is healed. Malik continues to be the recipient of Shadow's caches, and has developed a good layer of winter fat.
The following observation was written by Wolf Watch participant Cameron Feaster. <br> Maya's focus still remains on keeping Aidan in his place as an omega, but she seems to be calming down as the pack structure takes form. On one occasion during our observations, we found Maya doing a full submission to Aidan. Aidan, having accepted his position as omega long ago, was a little confused by this, and proceeded to perform multiple playbows and foreleg stabs before retreating to a bed of cedar.
Shadow didn't get a meal of deer legs this weekend, thanks to Malik and his great ability to steal and guard a possession, so individual feedings of chicken and beef continue. Shadow doesn't seem to mind, it's quiet time with the staff, and other than the issue of keeping Malik distracted so Shadow can eat, the staff enjoy the time as well.
Aidan continues to use the upper den enclosure, but is more confident in finding his way back down to the front of the Exhibit. Last week, he required some distractions by wolf care staff; this week, he watches the other wolves and is observant of Maya's distraction with Denali and uses this distraction to circle the back of the den. Once he is in the front of the Exhibit, he has no problems and limited chasing from Maya. In this week's photo, he is interacting with Denali who is showing less panic towards Grizzer.
We're not sure if it's a good sign, but we're seeing less of the panic running behavior when Grizzer postures towards Denali and more of the threat display. This indicates that Denali is gaining confidence and may have it in his mind to stop testing and start a challenge. Grizzer is fully capable of dealing with this, but Denali may not like the results. Of course, as this week's photo shows, Denali still does some of the running while looking backwards, a sure way to run over Aidan.
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