Malik's confidence is tied to two things, the distraction of Grizzer with Denali, and the presence of Shadow. When Shadow is nearby and Denali is grabbing Grizzer by the scruff, Malik is in high tail, charging in on Grizzer. When Grizzer is alone and following Malik, his posture is as low to the ground as possible. Malik was observed in several social behaviors on Saturday. The pack was pretty excited with a special Halloween treat of a beaver following the "beaver dissection" event for the public festivities. Shadow became excited and did a few invite chase behaviors, where he runs in front of another wolf to get them to chase him. Malik got excited and did a jump and whirl in the air, followed by a quick dash up the back side of the slate den to foreleg stab Grizzer. No aggression resulted from this behavior, just some social interaction.
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Grizzer is going to be moved out of the new habitat for a day or two. We are adding a protective concrete slant to the front of his den site. After a recent storm with a significant amount of rainfall, we noticed that the water drainage in front of the den was not adequate and resulted in the den getting wet. It is very important that all dens stay dry, so we will take advantage of one of the last remaining warm days in fall and pour a few bags of concrete and rocks. We have to wait until about noon to do the work, this morning's temperature was 19 degrees, but it is expected to reach 54 degrees by noon. He will be back in the Exhibit on Saturday late afternoon. We need at least 24 hours for the concrete to dry.
Malik has been showing quite a bit of dominance lately, mostly in response to Shadow having a few off days. We're not sure about the cause, but Shadow has been reluctant to eat and overall seems more subdued than his usual active self. Malik has always been an opportunistic wolf that will posture and try for some rank when available. Actually, he's an opportunist that tries for anything, hats, sponges, drills, wrenches, just about anything the wolf care staff have in their hand or make the mistake of setting down unattended.
Aidan seems to be gaining confidence on a daily basis. We're seeing far more following behavior towards Denali and some of his guarding behavior is getting intense. Then, there are observations of them sleeping together and at tonight's feeding, there were no issues as they shared a deer. Oscar seems to be the only one who can predict the tension between these two individuals. They did have a good time in the snow last week.
Denali has been quite expressive in his excitement towards Aidan's behavior. He continues to do play bows and springs away from Aidan with his long lanky frame. He has no problem outrunning Aidan and appears to be much more agile when it comes to climbing the log across the pond. Staff have been trying to develop strategies to ensure that Denali gets equal amounts of socialization during wolf care, but Aidan is making that a challenge.
Malik had his week of gaining some status while Shadow was a bit off, but Shadow is back to feeling good and Malik is trying to keep his confidence. The only issue is, Shadow doesn't seem to tolerate Malik's postures. There has been a return of chin rests and following from Shadow, and Malik responds with some flat ears, a bit of hackles and a change of attitude.
This week’s log’s contain all the same text. Not only do I serve as the Wolf Curator for the International Wolf Center, but I also work as an instructor at Vermilion Community College. It’s been a busy day with Vermilion Natural Resource students participating in the Governor’s deer hunting pre-hunt educational activities for area elementary schools. We left for the festivities at 7 am this morning and stayed for the entire day, leaving little time for regular wolf log duties. The wolves are all doing well, we had a few mornings with temperatures near 15 degrees which seemed to stimulate activity. The roadkill deer supply is doing well thanks to a call from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake that provided extra roadkill. Unfortunately, the freezer compressor failed on the same day, so thanks to generous donations from alpha members, we are back in business. Even though nighttime temperatures have been below freezing, the daytimes are relatively warm, keeping the wolves resting throughout the day.
This week’s log’s contain all the same text. Not only do I serve as the Wolf Curator for the International Wolf Center, but I also work as an instructor at Vermilion Community College. It’s been a busy day with Vermilion Natural Resource students participating in the Governor’s deer hunting pre-hunt educational activities for area elementary schools. We left for the festivities at 7 am this morning and stayed for the entire day, leaving little time for regular wolf log duties. The wolves are all doing well, we had a few mornings with temperatures near 15 degrees which seemed to stimulate activity. The roadkill deer supply is doing well thanks to a call from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake that provided extra roadkill. Unfortunately, the freezer compressor failed on the same day, so thanks to generous donations from alpha members, we are back in business. Even though nighttime temperatures have been below freezing, the daytimes are relatively warm, keeping the wolves resting throughout the day.
Malik had a special day today. His favorite handler, Jen Westlund did a check this morning and he really enjoys the attention. Of course, Shadow thinks the world of Jen too, but for Malik, it is a good day when he can interact with Jen. Malik appears to be backing off on his testing behavior towards Shadow, now that Shadow is feeling better and back in command of most situations. As I write this, they are sleeping in the den together and all is well in retirement.
Shadow is one of the most animated greeters we have here. This means, he is very expressive about his interactions with wolf care staff, putting his head and paws into the greeting. We truly understand the social nature of these animals when interacting with Shadow.
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