Boltz- Life in the Middle

In this week’s photo, Boltz displays an ear posture that we code in our behavioral dictionary (AKA Ethogram) as Ears Pricked and Turned Sideways (EPTS).  What does it mean?  The ears pricked show interest, but the ears turned to the side show a bit of uncertainty.  These conflicting behaviors sum up the life of a mid-range adult.  Boltz has spent a winter engaging in some social behavior with the pups.  He’s taken some opportunity to assert some rank over them, has been trying to test Aidan a bit for some status, but the uncertainty shows a lack of confidence.  His testing behavior of Aidan hasn’t yielded him much in the terms of rank status.  But as Aidan ages, we will watch those ear postures for that indication that Boltz has the confidence to move out of the middle.  Of course, Boltz has Axel and Grayson to contend with; Both will likely be driven by the same behavioral patterns.  Fortunately for Boltz, a wolf pups usually doesn’t reach full maturity until 18 -24 months.

Denali – Lighter with Age

Axel’s log identifies a pattern of guard hairs appearing to lighten as he ages and becomes a yearling.  We note the same pattern for Denali, but on the other end of the aging spectrum.  When wolves age, they typically show a graying of the muzzle and less distinctive markings.  But, it’s not a uniform graying pattern; we notice that the wolves seem to have different patterns of aging, such as Aidan, who is maintaining a significant amount of pelage markings and Denali who is fading into a light colored coat.  Could this be related to rank? Genetics? Hormones such as stress?  I don’t have the answer to that;  What I do know is that when we observe wolves, we talk about behaviors such as ears pricked forward, direct stare, hackles , T1 tails, all parts of the body that have a characteristic marking that appears to be correlated with communication.  Highlights around the eyes make that intense stare more noticeable; Highlights around the lips will definitely draw attention to a lip curl; Highlights around the ear tips will be noticeable when a wolf’s ears are pricked forward in a heightened state of alert; Highlights at the shoulders and tail will be prominently displayed with hackles and tail posture over the back.  To understand wolves, we need to study them not only behaviorally, but physiologically as well.  To hear more about Denali’s life in the Exhibit Pack, consider joining us for his Birthday Webinar on April 27th at 6 pm Central Time.  Follow this link for details and registration. https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/ 

 

Axel – Lighter with Age

Axel and Grayson will be a year of age on May 2nd and the golden tint to their pelage that was prevalent as pups seems to be fading.  As the spring advances, they will shed their undercoat and be left with their guard hairs that will typically bled better than their winter pelage.  We’re already seeing Axel shed some undercoat on his back leaving a unique pattern of hair heightened at his mid-back area.  It is important that Juvenile pelage isn’t confused with hackles when recording behavior.  To learn more about the milestones of Axel and Grayson over the past year and our assessment of future pack dynamics, consider joining us for their Birthday webinar on May 2nd at 6 pm Central Time… Follow this link for more details and the registration for all of our wolf care webinars.  https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/

Click for larger image

Aidan – Ambush

We can always tell when Aidan is feeling good, he seems to increase his “Ambush” behaviors.  These behaviors include crouching behind an object, waiting for an unsuspecting wolf to wander by and springing a full force towards them.  Denali or Boltz are usually on the receiving end, so there is likely to be a rank order motivation, but, when Aidan reaches his intended target, it’s usually with a aroused tail wag and a not aggressive response.  Lately, the pups (soon to be yearlings) have been curious about Aidan’s posture and approach him, giving away his position, but the behavior is still played out, only the pups do the springing on the target.  On Monday the 17th, wolf care staff and the Ely Vet clinic will be conducting a veterinary exam that will require immobilization on all adult pack members to get blood samples and do a complete health evaluation.  As Aidan nears 9 years of age, this is an important exam to know of any health concerns as he ages and pack leadership may transition in the next few years. 

To hear more about Aidan’s pack leadership and the pack dynamics related to aging leaders, consider joining us for his Birthday Webinar on April 27th at 6 pm Central Time.  Follow this link for details and registration.  https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/

Grayson – Sharing Space or Being Social

This week’s photo captures a moment with two social species, our arctic wolf, Grayson and one of the Center’s frequent visitor, a raven.  We certainly see communication between the two species especially when there is an abundance of food.  This photo reminds me of a quote from Barry Lopez’s book “Of Wolves and Men”. This 1978 publication offers a variety of perspectives on wolves relationships with other species.  When I look at this photo, one particular quote comes to mind:  Barry Lopez wrote: “The wolf seems to have few relationships with other animals that could be termed purely social, though he apparently takes pleasure in the company of ravens.”

The wolf care staff that photographed this moment said that Grayson was interacting with this particular raven for about 30 minutes.  With that long of an interaction, there may be more going on than just two species sharing space. 

To learn more about the milestones of Axel and Grayson over the past year and our assessment of future pack dynamics, consider joining us for their Birthday webinar on May 2nd at 6 pm Central Time… Follow this link for more details and the registration for all of our wolf care webinars.  https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/

Luna’s Birthday 25 March 2017

Luna and Boltz had a birthday last month, while both received a special deer head treat from the wolf care staff, Luna got a special treat in the mail.  Luna has been adopted by many, but one special group of adopters sent her a gift on her birthday.  The students from the Little Tree Hugger’s school in Leesburg, Virginia sent Luna a special can of food, some farmer’s medley milk bones and a special “Happy Birthday” bone.  They also adopted Grayson and Aidan, who already have treats waiting for their birthday.  Birthday’s are a special time to remember the many pack interactions and behaviors that shape our management decisions.  For Luna, you may be seeing on the webcam her alone on the east side.  This decision was made to help reduce any extra activity for Grizzer’s back leg.  Until the ice melts and we can get a better diagnosis of his issue,   it’s best that these “new found friends” see each other through the fences for a period of time.  We hope it will be a short retreat.  Luna does well by herself and staff have been able to take advantage of this relaxing time to increase interactions and massage work on her leg. 

Grizzer – Another 10 Day Break

You may have noticed that Grizzer hasn’t been on the webcam recently.  We are keeping him separated from Luna to reduce some of the variabilities that may be contributing to his back right leg soreness.  We had separated them a few weeks ago, but this time we decided to move Grizzer to the Pack Holding Area which is a smaller enclosure.  He seems more comfortable being near the wolf lab and with a smaller enclosure, we are able to cover the entire area with cover hay so we reduce another variable, the icy conditions.  Our veterinarian is monitoring his status closely and his treating his condition.  At this point, time will tell if we are on the right path.  We originally planned to immobilize him and take him to the clinic for more extensive diagnostics, but we are always concerned with immobilization risks, especially on a wolf nearing 13 years of age.  So, we decided 10 more days of treatment and rest was a safer course of action and Grizzer seems to be climbing the den and weight bearing on his leg.  This week’s Youtube video showed him caching a beaver in the den with no issues supporting himself with his back legs.  We are also fortunate that Grizzer is a very easy patient for meds delivery and willing comes into the Wolf Care Center for regular weighing sessions.  We decided to give him a bit more time for rest and medication, monitor his weight closely and if get a blood sample without having to immobilize him.  Grizzer has been a willing blood donor in the past, but the last few tries have been unsuccessful; He definitely knows when staff are carrying equipment for a blood-draw. 

Date Weight Age
6/10/2016 106.7 lbs 12 years – 1 month (after a winter of construction stress)
6/27/2016 115.9 lbs 2 1/2 weeks later – Wolves are quick to put on weight 
8/6/2016 122.8 lbs 12 years – 3 months
11/18/2016

129.4  lbs

 12 years – 6 months – this is the largest weight Grizzer has ever been
12/13/2016

129.2 lbs

 Maintaining his weight even though he is sharing resources with Luna
4/1/2017

115 lbs

 12 years – 11 months- watching this weight closely, this may be an indication of another health issue

 

Denali – Can Dish it, But Can’t Take it

Denali has been on the delivery end of attention towards the pups since their introduction into the pack.  His 148-pound body displayed chasing, pouncing and pinning behavior to the pups as part of his daily greetings.  Axel learned to accept it and even came to mimic Denali creating some lengthy bouts of social interactions and tug-of-war scenes over deer carcasses.  Grayson, being a bit more timid in personality, took a while to see this behavior as enduring.  Grayson learned to stick close to Aidan and avoid the interactions, unless he was luck enough to gain possession of a deer hide.  Now that the pups are nearing a year of age, Grayson is no longer sitting on the sidelines;  He’s an active participant, that is, when Aidan’s in the picture.  But, Denali who has certainly dished out his fair share of interaction, is less than cordial with being the recipient of attention.  In this photo, Axel is on the far side, and his tail is low, somewhat indifferent to Denali; Remember, he’s spent the last 8 months engaging in Denali’s interactions.  What’s noticeable in this photo is Grayson’s tail.  His tail is facing the camera and is the best description of T1 – over the back arousal.   Also noteworthy in this this photo is that Aidan is quite relaxed about Grayson’s new found confidence.  Staff don’t intervene on this interaction, intervention can be lead individual wolves to think they “won”.  When staff deal with these interactions, we always make sure we leave the enclosure with an assessment of tension.  Shortly after this 2-minute bout of ritualized dominance, we had all wolves in close proximity during a pup feeding with no tension between any of the individuals.  Wolves display ritualized dominance to keep order and reduce more intense discourse.

Grayson – Center of Attention

Grayson is continuing to show some confidence and he is back on track gaining some weight after a slow down from some parasite issues earlier this winter. But, when he finds a deer hide and becomes the Center of attention, his ears display that uncomfortable posture that we term “Airplane Ears”… When we see a wolf with this ear posture and a low tail and a curved back, we know they are not comfortable with the situation.  You may also note that Aidan is not in the vicinity of this interaction.  Grayson gains his confidence from Aidan; Without Aidan, Grayson is likely to be viewed as the bottom of the rank order.  But, Aidan was also the bottom of the order when he was a yearling and look what he’s become.  We are encouraged with the weight gain of Grayson.  While he continues to lag behind Axel, he is not that far behind Shadow our last arctic ambassador and pack leader that was born on May 8th, 2000 and weighed 87 pounds on April 23, 2001.  For those of you who remember Shadow, as an adult, he topped out at 95 pounds.  He may not have carried the weight of the Northwestern subspecies, Aidan and Denali, but his character and behavioral interactions carried far more stature in the Exhibit.

Here is Grayson’s progress in the last few months.

Date Weight Gain Since last weight Age
1/6/17 76.2 lbs 1.6 lbs 8 months
2/2/17 77.8 lbs 1.6 lbs 9 months
3/2/17 78.8 lbs 1.0 lbs 10 months
4/1/17 82.6 lbs 3.8 lbs 11 months

Boltz – Life in the Middle

When the Center transitioned to three age structures in the Exhibit Pack with Aidan and Denali’s introduction in 2008, we did so in hopes of buffering the older wolves from the testing behavior of juveniles.  This worked well and Shadow maintained his pack leadership into 2010 and if it wasn’t for other health issues, he likely would have stayed longer.  Now, in 2017, Boltz is the middleman, providing a layer of dominance between the 2016 pups and Aidan.  In this photo, Boltz shows his teeth to get his point across, but his lack of hackles indicates the encounter is more posturing than it is dominance.  When interpreting wolf behavior, the face, teeth, ears, hackles and response from the other wolves all add to the story.