When I asked staff to describe Peanut's personality, they use phrases like independent, knows what she doesn't like, is very vocal, won't back down… All the makings for a dominant female. Being the only female, she will be the dominant female in the pack. By next Friday, we will have narrowed down the selection of names to something that best fits the personality of the pups. If you have not submitted a name, watch the live-streaming web cam and see if you can determine their personality traits. The pups are growing and doing well. For comparison, we are looking at Nyssa's growth charts to see how Peanut (who is in a similar situation, being raised with an older pup) is tracking. At the last recorded weight today, Peanut was 8.8 lbs, and Nyssa was 9.3 lbs. <li> 4/28 – 7.2 lbs <li> 4/29 – 7.4 lbs <li> 4/30- 7.6 lbs <li> 5/1 – 7.4 lbs <li> 5/2 – 8.0 lbs <li> 5/3 – 8.2 lbs <li> 5/4 – 8.4 lbs <li> 5/5 – no weight <li> 5/6 – 8.6 lbs <li> 5/7 – 8.8 lbs <li>
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Aidan is continuing on the antibiotic treatment for the Discoid Lupus Erythematosus condition. We're seeing pigmentation return to the sides of the nose, but it's slow. He is not very tolerant of the suntan lotion for his nose, but Denali doesn't mind. We put it on both wolves so there's no issues with Aidan smelling differently than Denali. What can we say about Aidan and the pups other than that he whines for them, and Bolts runs to the fence to greet him. Aidan is showing protectiveness over the pups and that's a great sign for the introduction, but not so great for some of the wolf care staff who try to pick up a puppy next to the fence.
Grizzer is very excited when the pups are let out of the lab. At this time, we have gated off Grizzer's side so the pups stay near Aidan and Denali. As the pups get larger, they will have access to the entire yard similar to Oscar's territory. On several days a week, Grizzer will be locked into his new habitat, and the pups will have his area for social activity. When the pups are done playing for the afternoon, Grizzer will have great stimulus sniffing the pup trails. We are sure to get many more howling sessions from Grizzer with this type of stimuli. There's a good clip of some of this howling in the Youtube footage this week.
Bolts is estimated to be 49 days old today, his weight today is 14.1 pounds. The last several days weights were questionable due to a scale issue, and with the thanks of Wolf Care donations, we bought a new electronic vet scale that will give reliable weights. From this point forward, we feel far more confident in a reliable weight that is so critical during this stage in life. Bolts has grown legs and ears. At this point, the long gangly legs and large joints can cause some discomfort. In past litters, by the time the pups have reached this stage of development, we would have had warmer temperatures and they would be spending a lot of time outdoors, climbing on stumps, logs and rocks. With this early litter, the springtime temperatures are a bit too chilly for the pups, so they get a little stiff inside. In the last two days, the pups have had some good outside time and we noticed some significant improvement in stability and mobility in Bolts.
Peanut's mobility is far less than Bolts, but she does try to keep up. She is still a bit stressed outdoors, and whines a lot or finds a corner by Aidan's enclosure and curls up in a ball. We are trying to keep her up and active, but she's young and needs her rest. Her weight today with the new scale is 9.4 lbs at 39 days of age. She's still tracking about 1.4 lbs behind Nyssa who was 10.8 lbs at 39 days of age. You will see staff diligently offering meat, formula and kibble to the pups either asleep or awake (they lap more formula when they are asleep. The vets have started both pups on Glyco flex to encourage healthy joint development, in addition to the Nutri-drop vitamins and Nutrical Paste. We want to do all we can to maximize nutrition.
Last Thursday, we had a bit of excitement with a forest fire that came within .8 miles of the Center. We implemented the first phase of the Center's fire management plan which calls for drawing the wolves into the smaller holding areas and giving them a light sedative. We then sprayed down the holding pens with water and fed the wolves small amounts of bone dust for distraction. Denali is the easiest wolf to manage in a crisis. He comes into holding without hesitation and is keyed into any treat that might come his way. Thankfully, the firefighters, air tankers and helicopters were able to contain the fire despite the intense winds. We are always thankful to those individuals who actively work a fire line in such dangerous conditions.
It's been a busy weekend with the start of the public programs scheduled at 11, 1 and 3 pm. We actually started last Thursday with some special previews for the Ely and Babbitt school districts. Educating the youth of today is our best investment in wolf education and the kids and the pups enjoyed the programs. The public programs began on Friday, and unless there's a medical or behavioral reason for a pup to miss a program, they will be coming into the auditorium. We have a small area fenced off with dog beds and blankets along with a new toy or food stimulus each day. Peanut really enjoys the chance to steal items from Bolts, it's the only time they two of them are allowed together due to her restricted activity orders from the surgeon. The pups are in the auditorium for about 15 minutes, and it is a challenge to keep her from being too active. Inevitably, wolf care staff or pup care participants have to pick her up and hold her to keep her from running. She gets her sutures out today, and we have 2 more weeks of restricted activity before the 1st set of follow up x-rays to determine how she's healing and if her bone density has improved. We also received a nutritional formula specially designed by the U of Minnesota nutritionist. Her test results showed that we were low in Vitamin D, so we had been having her eat liver as her main meat source. She was less than thrilled, so with the new supplement, she can have whatever meat she wants. Her weights since the last posting: <li> 5-21 – 11.1 lbs <li> 5-22 – 11.5 lbs <li> 5-23 – 11.7 lbs <li> 5-24 – 12.3 lbs <li> 5-25 – 12.8 lbs <li> 5-26 – 12.9 lbs <li> 5-27 – 13.1 lbs <li> 5-28 – 13.6 lbs <li> 5-29 – 13.8 lbs <li>
During the public programs, the pups are brought into the auditorium for about 15 minutes of activity. Bolts had a bit of a negative conditioning experience with a television camera that had a large lens. He saw it when he came through the door and was startled. For the next few days, he didn't want to come through the door. Staff and Pup Care Participants keep a close watch on the interactions between Peanut and Bolts to ensure that their play activity doesn't get too physical. Peanut is usually the most dominant, doing stand over's and scruff grabbing Bolts. By protecting Peanut, we definitely give her an advantage, and she often responds with more dominance and head shaking behavior. Bolts really has a full run when he goes outside, greeting Oscar first, then running with tail wagging to Aidan and Denali. Here are the weights since the last posting: <li> 5/21 – 17.8 lbs <li> 5/22 – 18.2 lbs <li> 5/23 – 18.6 lbs <li> 5/24 – 19.3 lbs <li> 5/25 – 20.3 lbs <li> 5/26 – 20.3 lbs <li> 5/27 – 21.0 lbs <li> 5/28 – 21.6 lbs <li> 5/29 – 22.3 lbs
It is hard to believe that a little over a week ago we were in fire evacuation mode, and since last weekend, we've had some torrential rains. The summer season is starting off as odd as the winter season. Grizzer spends most of his days seeking refuge from the rain in the thick balsam cover of the front enclosure, so his appearances on the webcam may be less frequent. Most wolf care staff comment on the amount of time Grizzer spends sniffing clothing and rolling in a submissive posture. He's starting to shed and staff will start brushing him on a daily basis.
Aidan brought one of the beavers from his Saturday feeding over towards Bolts. We've been observing this behavior from both Aidan and Denali, but Aidan brings it over and leaves it, while Denali seems to be more enticing play behavior. In a recent wolf check, Denali was grabbing my brush in my pocket. I pinched his lip and started to roll him over when Aidan intervened and blocked Denali from coming close to me. He continued guarding behavior for the rest of the wolf check. If he does a similar behavior for Bolts, he will be well protected.
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