When we do wolf care in the morning, we never know what we will find. Overnight activities can include dominance, social behavior, facility issues, and pups up to their usual active antics. Last Sunday was one of those days. When wolf care staff came in for the morning check and delivery of meds, Grizzer had a tear to his ear and some significant blood loss. The first thought would be aggression, but as staff entered the enclosure to check out the wound, the wolves were very calm. After viewing footage of the wolves normal patterns of activity, it does appear that the pups, and specifically Aidan is still actively using Grizzer to practice dominance, and Grizzer is allowing it. Grizzer's ear may have been a tug from a pup in one of the many wrestling sessions involving these three wolves. Of course, Aidan is still getting the brunt of Maya's winter time dominance, and while he takes it in stride, he has increased his threat displays and is very aware of her ever watching eye.
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Denali is increasing in height and is now as tall as Shadow. He also has some bad traits of jumping that wolf care staff are dealing with on a daily basis. These are traits of young wolves, but they need to be shown boundaries and limits. Shadow is also working on this, but he tends to have more success than the wolf care staff, possibly having something to do with his growl and tooth display. We've discovered that Denali has a bit of a strong streak. When he doesn't get what he wants or someone takes something away from him, he is very physical. This is a behavior displayed toward wolves and humans alike.
As I wrote last week, when wolf care staff did a check on the pack last Sunday morning, they discovered Grizzer had a bloody ear. There was no tension in the pack, so the likely cause wasn't aggressive, although the feeding the night before was quite active, with the pack devouring a deer carcass. Well, Grizzer healed well and continues to solicit attention from the pups. To keep the pups occupied, last week was a buffet table of food. Chicken was fed on Sunday, 50 lbs of beef on Monday, a beaver on Tuesday and a deer head on Wednesday worked well to keep the pups active and tugging on food resources, rather than Grizzer's ear. The warming trend also helped in attitude, even the wolves get sick of – 20 below weather.
Maya is in true form as a dominant female that is a bit wired. The hormonal tension among females tends to be greater than males, theorizing that the females control reproduction and the numbering of litters. Even in a spayed and neutered exhibit, Maya actively shows dominance and suppresses any signs of the other wolves being too social. Aidan seems to be the focus and as we approach the most aggressive month for wolves, Maya seems to be stalking Aidan. She will lay behind a rock and watch Aidan (Aidan knows she's watching) and if he gets to active, she stalks across the enclosure and pounces on him. This is why we manage one female at a time.
Even though Malik gives a great lip curl and food defense display. Grizzer takes his food anyway, only to leave it a few feet later. The staff always make sure there are plenty of food resources for wolves like Malik to passively defend their share from outgoing wolves like Grizzer.
Maya is doing well, she’s spending more time with the pack interacting and of course, spending time with Grizzer. There haven’t been any real noteworthy behavioral items lately, just the investigation in the pond ice and subsequent thawing.
Maya does get her fair share of food, and if there’s a predatory move in the pack, it’s usually her. The incidents with Grizzer go both ways. Maya is as likely to grab Grizzer by the scruff and do a head shake as Grizzer does to here. These two have an extremely strong bond due to the fact that they are littermates.
Denali seems to have missed the lecture about adult wolves allowing pups to eat and keep possessions. It's like we're managing a 126 lb pup. We are trying to get a fecal on Denali to make sure he doesn't have a tape worm, but Denali will eat everything presented to the pups and he's not shy about it. Our first preference is to put the pups into holding and leave the adults out, but Denali has quickly discovered the buffet table we set for the pups and is first in line to come into holding. This actually works out well since Luna doesn't come in and Aidan doesn't bother the pups. The next 3 months of management are crucial to maximize the pups weights and feeding the pups twice a day takes patience and coordination in the arrangement of all pack members.
We can tell when fall is approaching by the change in behaviors. First, the subtle following behavior begins. This is where one wolf follows another in a form of intimidation. Then, we start to see more RLU and scraping behaviors, and before long, there's chin rests and ride-up's. According to Shadow's behavior, fall is right around the corner.
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