Maya is showing an increase in hormones and an increase in dominance. She tends to pick Aidan for dominance, and seeks him out when the males become active. Female aggression can be quite intense, which is why we chose to only manage one female at a time in the Exhibit Pack. Aidan has been doing everything right, dropping to the ground and submitting, leaving Maya to do a Stand over as an expression of dominance. This will be interesting to see if Aidan continues to accept this as he matures.
Aidan is getting a bit of dominance from Maya, but pups understand dominance, and he does everything right, rolling over, submitting, letting her sit on him until she’s done, then getting up and going about your business. What’s important to understand that Maya’s not being mean, just keeping a rank order that is critical to wolf pack cohesiveness. If the pups didn’t have any limits or boundaries established, they would be testing everyone and chaos would be likely. The pack is actually a lot calmer because of the short rank order displays that give a clear message of the order within the pack. Maya may perceive Aidan as more of a threat, which is why she focuses on him. We do know that Aidan has a stronger alliance with Shadow and is a much more intense predatory pup.
Written by assistant wolf curator, Donna Prichard:<br> Shadow continues to be the wolf that truly leads and defines this pack. He is very protective of his pack, as evidenced by his bark-howling this weekend at the Workin’ For Wolves participants who were working in the retired enclosure. In wolf language, this is a way to express defensiveness and territoriality. Shadow continues to be very tolerant of the pups, disciplining them through controlled muzzle bites when necessary. Both pups spend a great deal of time with Shadow and seek his acceptance.
We had a little problem with video editing this morning, so all the logs will be the same and we hope to get video in the logs and a new Youtube video posted by the end of the week. The fall colors have been tremendous in the enclosure, and thanks to local moose hunters, we gave the pack a moose head mid-week. The pups were actively feeding on the moose head, but soon cached it, and have not been back on it since. They consumed an entire deer this weekend, despite the warmer than average weather conditions.
Aidan continues to display some testing on some of the staff, which has resulted an adjustment to wolf care checks. It is not unusual for pups to test and push limits. The job of wolf care is to teach pups their boundaries, sometimes easier said than done. Grizzer is facing the same issue with the pups, after spending the fall as their social companion, they are now starting to take advantage of him, grabbing and tugging on him. Grizzer is showing more tendency to make the pups submit, and has been pinning them, especially Aidan.
Lakota has started to use her new rock den. She actually started last Monday, right after I noted in the logs that she hadn't been using it. She is tolerating the cooler mornings well, and has been eating twice a day, at least 2 – 3 pounds per serving. She is in the lab as I write this, trying to check out her morning meal on the counter. Staff have observed her in a howling bout with the pack several times, even though her vocal chords produce no sound, she still goes through the motions. Wolf care staff and student volunteers installed concrete slabs under the gates to reduce the risk of Lakota digging out. This allows her more freedom in the wolf yard, without constant supervision.
It’s always been evident that Malik seeks out Shadow for comfort. He sleeps near him, on occasion he follows him, and if there’s dominance, he stays close to him. This type of littermate bond is why we always choose two pups for an introduction. In this week’s video, you will see Malik standing with Shadow with a variety of ear positions. His flat back ears are signs of insecurity, but he does perk his ears forward as Shadow shows interest in activity by the Center’s entrance door.
There’s been quite a bit of wild wolf activity outside of the enclosure lately, and the results are frequent bouts of lone howls from Shadow. The pack will sometimes rally with him, which creates some dominance, but the pack all looks to him as the leader. Shadow and Malik turn 8 ½ years old on November 8th, but are clearly still strong pack members and Shadow is still a strong pack leader.
Maya is under the influence of a hormonal surge. Even in a spayed and neutered exhibit, the dominance of a female can be very intense, which is why we are only managing one female at time. Maya has become a bit intense with the pups, especially Aidan. These are short-lived burst of dominance that are loud, have some hard muzzle-biting, to keep the pups in their place. Why Aidan over Denali? We’re not sure, and I don’t think Aidan is either. But, she is doing her job keeping the pups from climbing rank, and that helps Shadow. The female dominance role is so critical in the wild to reduce the rate of multiple litters, so Maya’s behavior is just part of the behavioral instincts that keeps wild wolves functioning.
Aidan is doing well in the enclosure, despite some dominance from Maya. Finding a position in the pack is based on individual personality, associations with pack members and perceived threats from the other pack members. Maya must see something in Aidan that she doesn't see in Denali to make Aidan the focus of her attention. It could be the alliance with Shadow that makes her perceive his threat in climbing rank, but it's all part of wolf communication. The pack is much calmer if everyone knows their place, and Aidan knows that his place is on his back when Maya shows the sign of active dominance. In an effort to allow the wolves to investigate the Retired Enclosure after the loss of Lakota, the pack has been given supervised access to the Retired Enclosure several times in the last week. It is great stimulus for the pack, and especially the pups, who spend a great deal of time looking for cached items. A YouTube video was posted with the activity in the Retired Enclosure.
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