This week’s log was submitted by Wolf Photography Weekend Participants – Ken Kaveney, Lynn Kaveney and Anthony Brewer.
Grizzer was wary of the group of unknown visitors, moving at all times, circling Luna on the main retirement den. He continued walking “the Grizzer 500” the entire time, coming up to the gate just to check out these new observers.
This week’s log was submitted by Wolf Photography Weekend Participants – Jim and Lexy Hilton
Aidan’s (center) last hurrah? Planning for his retirement party…or his last fight? The oddsmakers are busy. Bets are being placed. Will Aidan’s brother, Denali (top right), step out with Aidan or stay behind and take charge in his absence? Or will the newcomer and youngster, Axel (bottom center), with the support of his younger and more aloof brother, Grayson (top left), be next in line over Boltz (middle right) who is four years their senior and more of a lone wolf?
With the growth of the 2016 pups comes an inevitable shift of dominance within the pack. However, Aidan isn’t quite ready to call it quits. Here he is in his glory, diligently dispersing quarrels and keeping everyone in line. It is a rare moment when the dominant male can have a lengthy moment of peace.
One of the issues we face in the fall season is the migration of small songbirds and the unfortunate flight of some of these visitors into the auditorium windows. Usually the birds are stunned for a short period of time and are ready for flight in moments, but unfortunately, being stunned in a wolf enclosure has an inherent set of risks. One of those risks is Grayson’s quick predatory drive and tendency for eating his catch. Axel and Grayson were dominating the feedings as pups are allowed to do, but as they are reaching maturity, they tend to go back to the bottom of the rank order. Saturday night feeding program over the last few weeks have been dominated by Denali who allows Axel to eat with him, but is defensive about Grayson. In response, staff are cutting up the Saturday deer carcass into multiple parts to allow Grayson (And Boltz) a chance to possess their own piece of the carcass and avoid the competition with Denali. We continue to see a slower growth rate in Grayson than Axel, lagging 15 pounds behind Axel and showing less adult facial features.
Denali has enjoyed the summer enrichment that result in ice cubes, beaver tails or other treats in the pond. Not only does he get the benefit of the treat, but he cools himself as well. Denali seems to have a tendency to keep his undercoat longer than the other wolves and the larger body size is a bit harder to cool. We are most grateful for Anika Hahn’s donation of the UV filter to treat the water for algae. We have had a clean pond all summer and can easily see the bottom level or rocks. This definitely makes Denali’s treat search easier.
You may have read the press release addressing Boltz’s anxiety about bees, flies, wasps, hornets, basically anything that flies around his head. We certainly didn’t want to portray any negativity towards our fellow insects, they are an important part of the ecosystem, we just want to help Boltz through this negative conditioning. In an attempt to desensitize him to the movement around his head, some of our “Pups at One Year” participants forwarded the idea of using “Peanut Butter Bubbles”. These are made for dogs and available on Amazon, we certainly want to make Boltz’s life less stressful, so we tried it. Not only does Boltz show an ear posture of interest (pricked forward), but he tasted one and seemed to like the taste.
By using all three retirement enclosures, we are dispersing the travel paths and reducing the soil compaction. With a little help of a higher than average rainfall, the vegetation has responded well this summer. There are parts of the retirement enclosure that are only accessible by a path that is only 3 feet high, better known as Grizzer’s path. While his ACL injury is bothersome, especially when he has been resting for extended periods of time, he can still maneuver through the enclosures especially when he sees the staff prepping his daily meals. The anti-inflammatory medications are doing little to help, the Veterinarians are treating his condition through pain management and staff are working on additional visits to make sure he is comfortable. Grizzer still likes to roll over for staff and get a full-belly massage. The daily feedings are working as well, he is back up to 122 pounds. As with Luna’s circumstance, we want to keep the weight at a manageable weight to reduce stress to joints, but with winter coming, this is a good weight for Grizzer to enter the winter prior to his 14th year.
When determining the difference between Axel and Grayson, we can’t help but notice the more elongated face and overall adult-like appearance of Axel versus Grayson’s more pup-like features. Yet, when it comes to behaviors, Axel clearly is still pushing some of the juvenile testing traits showing very little concern for wolf or human to show him some limits. His weight continues to increase, reaching 105 pounds in this week’s monthly weigh-in.
As pack leaders age, they seem to develop some strategies to work smarter and not harder. Aidan has recently displayed a strategy that avoids the troublesome task of defending food from fellow pack mates or hungry ravens; Take your food to the den and sleep in the den opening. It appears to be successful, as he now does this for even the mid-week feedings of smaller amounts. This can result in some challenges for wolf care making staff work harder and smarter. Aidan still gets a post-feeding medication to aid his digestive issues and there are time he requires a den-side delivery service.
Luna is showing good muscle tone as her winter undercoat begins to grow. At the age of 5, her muzzle is starting to gray similar to MacKenzie’s, a female of similar pelage from our 1993 litter. Luna is maintaining a weight of about 103 – 105 lbs. While we would like to get her weight under 100 lbs., this is not the season to attempt this. As winter approaches, she definitely needs resources to help her through the colder weather. We are watching for additional signs of aging that may affect her joints. In this photo, her back right hip has some play socket that is noticeable while she is sitting. While it may be subtle now, these are the details that need to be scrutinized as Luna ages.
Luna was very relaxed with the participants from the Wolf Ethology class and even got on the scale with everyone sitting by the pup holding area. Luna’s current weight is 106.4 lbs. Luna looks good and we continue to work on getting/keeping her at a good weight. Although, I am not sure Luna has bought into the whole “diet” idea. Just like the other wolves, Luna gets an enrichment. The log picture shows her guarding a pig ear, which she gets once a month. Luna also participated in the Mirror Self Recognition Test. She has been very receptive to body work and her mobility and tail posturing has shown a markable improvement. Just to be clear, Luna’s issues are not just her femur, she has much greater concerns than the plate on her leg that has healed a long time ago. The lack of formation of her femoral head impacts many aspects of her physical condition, but she definitely seems like she feels more comfortable and is able to relax comfortably in the enclosure. One thing that has not improved is Axel’s attitude toward Luna when he passes her in holding. Axel displays a full hackle, growl and tail arousal when he passess Luna. He hasn’t forgotten the events of a year ago.
