The wolves did well with the recent cold snap last week. Wolf care faced temperatures of – 39 below on 2 mornings, – 32 below on one morning and a warm spell of – 26 below and Friday's balmy – 16 below… The wolf care staff are here 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure that the wolves have the best care possible. Denali is turning out to be a young version of Grizzer. When Grizzer was a pup, he was famous for jumping on people's backs to get attention. Denali is like a spring board when he wants attention. Of course, Grizzer turned out alright, so staff will continue to discourage this behavior and show Denali the proper way to greet a wolf care staff. Denali is very relaxed around the snowblower and all the tools necessary to keep this wolf yard open. We are having a plentiful amount of snow and Denali has learned to climb on the retired enclosure camera platform. We have since removed it to keep him out of trouble. The Exhibit Pack is still allowed access into the Retired Enclosure every week to keep it familiar to the next set of retirees, and to give wolf care staff some time to do work in the Exhibit Pack without the help of Denali.
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Malik is much more relaxed in the last few days. There must have been some behavioral solution to the question about who's running this pack. Shadow is clearly in charge and Malik is content to give him some space. Behavioral interactions are very calm in the Exhibit Pack today.
Maya is keeping the pups in line, but at times, she is finding that to be a challenge. Aidan has mastered the threat display and snapping behavior, and Denali has taken to giving her direct eye contact. When moments are tense, she does assert herself well, but with Shadow remaining calm, the situations rarely escalate. Maya is even comfortable enough to do some rolling in the fresh snowfall, with the pups watching and interacting intently.
Denali is the less aggressive of the two pups, and when adult dominance behavior occurs, he doesn't seem to keep up with the pace. That's a good thing, as Aidan does enough aggressive grabbing for both of the pups. Denali and Aidan are displaying a special bond of littermates, usually lying together in a separate straw bed. It is interesting to watch them continually wrestle, one would think they get sick of each other, but when it's time to rest, they seek each other out.
Grizzer has had a tough week, a dominance interaction left him with a tooth mark on the corner of his eye, requiring antibiotics. We're not sure who's responsible, but it could be Malik or one of the pups daily wrestling matches. Grizzer is taking it in stride, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down his activity. Staff are very diligent during this time of year to inspect and record every interaction and monitor the wolves health closely. Dominance is a natural part of wolf behavior, and in captivity, we probably see a heightened level as they don't have an outlet for behavior like wild wolves hunting their own prey. Staff will develop some creative ideas to distract and provide a behavioral outlet to work off some energy. Treadmills aren't an option here, but we will think of something.
Maya has calmed considerably and her video shows that she is more likely to jump out of the way of the male rank order than participate in it. We haven't had nearly as many dominance interactions between Maya and Aidan, it is typical that hormonal surges cycle. Maya continues to show bonding behavior towards Shadow and wolf care are attempting to film some of the parallel walking or gating that goes on between this dominant pair.
The wolves did well with the recent cold snap last week. Wolf care faced temperatures of – 39 below on 2 mornings, – 32 below on one morning and a warm spell of – 26 below and Friday's balmy – 16 below… The wolf care staff are here 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure that the wolves have the best care possible. Aidan has been the most active in this cold, he actually has developed a prance to his step. If Denali is bedded down, Aidan will run in front of him, hopping on his back feet, pouncing on anything under the snow. This usually gets Denali up to interact. Staff have noticed that Aidan is quick to exhibit predatory behavior. When spreading straw, fast movements shaking the straw will result in him coming in for a grab of the straw and possibly the arm attached to the straw. This was a behavioral trait displayed by Kiana, another wolf who resided here from 1993 – 1998, she had a strong predatory drive as well.
The wolves did well with the recent cold snap last week. Wolf care faced temperatures of – 39 below on 2 mornings, – 32 below on one morning and a warm spell of – 26 below and Friday's balmy – 16 below… The wolf care staff are here 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure that the wolves have the best care possible. Upon the vet's recommendation, we started Malik on a morning dose of 2 baby aspirin to take the edge off of 81/2 year old bones. It has worked wonders. Malik is less cranky and doesn't growl at Grizzer as much, which results in less dominance scuffles between these two. Malik has even been spending time with wolf care staff, rubbing up against the staff and greeting. We know when he feels achy, he tends to avoid interacting and is a bit testy. We will likely continue this treatment through the winter months, and see how he fairs when the weather warms.
The wolves did well with the recent cold snap last week. Wolf care faced temperatures of – 39 below on 2 mornings, – 32 below on one morning and a warm spell of – 26 below and Friday's balmy – 16 below… The wolf care staff are here 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure that the wolves have the best care possible. Maya has really taken to one of our new level I handlers, Tara Johnson. It is always good to see a wolf excited about the wolf care staff, and Maya was one of those who would greet, but never spend too much time with staff. When Tara arrives, Maya can't get enough of her and this has created a more positive situation for Aidan. Maya still has her moments, when out of the blue she lunges at Aidan barring her teeth, but they are less frequent and seem to be tied to the excitement of the pack when they do a rally howl. Each wolf has a different relationship with each handler, and the most successful way that wolf care works is by having a variety of people deliver the care. A big thanks to the wolf care staff that brave these sub zero temperatures to make sure the wolves are well.
The wolves did well with the recent cold snap last week. Wolf care faced temperatures of – 39 below on 2 mornings, – 32 below on one morning and a warm spell of – 26 below and Friday's balmy – 16 below… The wolf care staff are here 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure that the wolves have the best care possible. I recently received an email asking if the arctics are more adapted to the cold, and deal with it better. The reality is, all of these wolves are built for cold, but the ability to deal with extreme cold has more to do with age. The pups don't even notice, and the arctics, going on 9 years of age, long for the straw beds. Shadow is doing quite well despite the cold, and he continues to be the calming influence of this pack. He also continues to test some of the newest handlers, reminding all of us that even though we socialize the wolves at a young age, they decide who gets to be their social companion.
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