Maya is very calm since Denali's holding, which makes Aidan calm as well. Both Aidan and Maya have been in the den on a regular basis, and have been very interactive. Maya likes the chicken feeding routine, and does a long face wipe in the snow after eating her fair share of chicken on Friday morning. The Youtube video this week shows that behavior of a satisfied wolf.
Malik has spent a bit of time up in the woods where it is cooler and where he can rub his ears against the vegetation to shoo away the flies. While it is harder to apply fly ointment to the arctic wolves, wolf care staff has managed to squirt some all natural cactus juice on the wolves' ears to provide some relief.
This is a photo of the tree that split in the Retired Enclosure
Did enclosure check, noticed wild wolf tracks on back side of outer perimeter fence, this could explain the long bouts of howling heard from the captive wolves early in the morning. MacKenzie sure looks like she's defending her territory.
The pups were given a taste test this morning to determine food preference. They were given the options of ground beef, beaver, venison, and bone dust. The pups showed a strong preference for beaver meat and so staff put a beaver carcass in the pen for the pups to eat. Initially they all took their time in getting down to the carcass. Grizz stayed on the carcass longer than his littermates, but all pups fed on the carcass throughout the course of the day. Grizz decided cool off from the hot day by taking a swim in the pond. While he was swimming he was also chasing his tail and having a good time. Grizz has really taken very well to the pond and he is seen much more frequently in the pond than the other four ambassador wolves. As fall approaches and the Curator goes back to full-time employment at the college, wolf logs will be posted only once a week.
Shadow continues to interact with the pups more frequently than Malik. It seems Shadow has taken on the role as caregiver and it is becoming more clear that Shadow is likely asserting himself as the alpha male of the pack. The pups also seem to pay more attention to Shadow than Malik which is another indication of Shadow's dominant role. Like Malik, Shadow also left the beaver carcass alone so the pups could feed. As fall approaches and the Curator goes back to full-time employment at the college, wolf logs will be posted only once a week.
Today was the first time the pups were fed as part of the pack with the Artic wolves. Malik and Shadow started eating first, but when Grizzer exhibited food begging behavior the Artic wolves backed off to let the pups eat. Grizzer chewed on the deer carcass for quite awhile before running off to play.
Today during the first feeding, Nyssa showed again signs of dominance toward her packmates, Grizzer and Maya. Malik and Shadow were not excempted. Nyssa claimed property of the carcass and snap and snarled at everyone who tried to come closer to the deer, including Shadow. He let her eat in peace, but on some times, he tried to get some food.
Today shadow spent most of his day dominating Malik. He started in the morning feeding and then any time he could chase him, he did so. He even allow the puppies to join the dominance. Specially Grizzer, who chased Malik, whenever Shadow was with him.
MacKenzie has been doing very well. There's been no signs of reddness or irritation since the medical exams and while it's too early to tell, there appears to be signs of improvement in her right eye. Here coat is developing well for the upcoming winter season. For 12 year old wolves, they still have a very silky, glossy pelage.
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