Malik chose to stay out of the bison head interactions, watching from the top of the hill, and doing a little bit of posturing if one of the wolves approached. It was a good distraction for the pack, and actually kept them occupied for several days. Malik seems very relaxed this fall, in comparison to previous falls. It may be that Grizzer is so occupied with the pups, that there’s not much time for rank order conflicts. It could also be related to Grizzer’s calm demeanor since the pup introduction, he is still very tolerant of the pups, and doesn’t get too excited about much.
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Maya displayed some good behavior after the bison head was brought into the pack. Initially, she was very timid, and had an extended reach to sniff the area, then she attempted to approach, but was dominated by Grizzer. This resulted in a tug of war behavior with Grizzer, before she went off to do a ride-up on Aidan and roll him to the ground. After all of the initial food possession issues calmed down, she was then observed rolling over for both pups and grooming Shadow as he watched the action. This pack is showing some great social cohesiveness, much more than we have ever observed with our previous pack structures.
Shadow continues to show very strong leadership traits, tolerant of the pups and watchful of all of the activity. It is always interesting to watch each individual wolf’s responses towards Shadow. Maya spends time grooming him, the pups do a soft muzzle bite and food beg from him, and Grizzer always attempts to get under his chin and submit, sometimes falling down in front of Shadow. Malik uses Shadow as protection, since there is rarely intense dominance between these two littermates. The most notable log issues are Shadow’s continued resting position towards the parking lot when we are open to the public. The Center entrance is under construction, so the visitor’s now enter through the office door. Shadow is still adjusting to this, and on the days when we are open, will spend the whole day lying on top of the hill watching the back door. We purchased some new bamboo fencing and are hoping that a greater visual barrier may make him more relaxed.
Denali continues to be food dominant, and spars with Grizzer over any carcass that is fed, although Grizzer continues to be quite tolerant of the pups. Denali usually wins his piece of the carcass which is evident in his size. He stands taller than Maya, and is definitely flourishing in this pack. The pups still spend most of their time with each other, as littermate bonds are extremely strong. This is evident in the relationships between Malik and Shadow, Grizzer and Maya and Denali and Aidan.
Grizzer is the ideal pup monitor. He continues to show great tolerance when interacting with the pups and initiates social behavior. The dominance between Grizzer and Malik is much less than last fall, but when Grizzer is occupied with the pups, Malik still goes in for a grab bite. What is interesting is Grizzer’s continued submissive behavior towards Shadow. He shows a great deal of appeasement behavior, tucking his head under Shadow’s chin, with flat ears and submissive licks to the face.
Lakota aggressive/growl to MaKenzie, Lakota also showed raised tail over MacKenzie, MacKenzie didn’t respond to Lakota’s posture. MacKenzie's paw has healed and she in no longer limping, but it appears Lakota’s been asserting herself more since MacKenzie’s injury.
Malik very aggressive with Shadow while staff greeted at fence. He rode up on Shadow's back twice, but calmed down after staff left. Staff went back later and they both greeted without aggression
Mac brought her half eaten deer leg to the fence, put it down (/w Lakota a few feet away still) and whined to the pups. After a few minutes she took her leg off into the woods. Observed by Nancy Jo Tubbs at "What's for Dinner Program"
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.
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