Axel – One Step Closer to Maturity

Since the introduction in August 2016, we have often commented on Axel seeming to mature faster than Grayson.  This is just anecdotal observations; we don’t have any real assessments other than weight.  But, in this week’s photo, he certainly has appeared to make that transition from pup to adult physically.  Although behaviorally, he fits well with the juvenile descriptor that we use to describe wolves from year one to year two.  What’s a juvenile?  An individual that shows more grabbing, jumping, tugging and overall not quite respecting personal space of other pack mates.  His behavior makes him easy to identify on the webcams, but also, look at his almond-shaped eyes, they are more pronounced than Grayson.

Date Weight

Gain since last weight

 Age
1/6/17 89.2 lbs 2.8 lbs 8 months
2/2/17 92.8 lbs 3.6 lbs 9 months
3/2/17 92.6 lbs -0.5 lbs 10 months
4/1/17 96.8 lbs 4.2 lbs 11 months

 

Aidan has a Wingman

When we observe pups, we often look at associations made with the adult members of their pack.  In the first months of Grayson’s life in the Exhibit Pack, we know he had some anxious moments caused by Denali’s exuberant interactions.  Grayson sought out Aidan when those interactions were too intense.  Staff recorded Grayson sleeping near Aidan as well as many observations of Aidan intervening on behalf of both pups.  As Grayson matures to a yearling, it seems that Grayson is now a wingman for Aidan’s interactions.  Notice Grayson’s tail in a confident T1, over the back posture.  But more noticeable in this photo, is the look of Aidan who seems to step back and let Grayson take the lead in showing Denali who leads the pack.  It’s nice to have help when your nearing 9 years of age.   If you haven’t participated in a wolf care webinar, we feature 12 webinars throughout the year sharing the history and current status of each wolf on their birthday.  Aidan and Denali turn 9 years of age on April 27th, join us to hear our discussions on life in the Exhibit Pack.

Webinars & Lectures

Grizzer – Weekend Athlete Syndrome

Luna has stimulated some new social interactions with Grizzer in the last few weeks.  We needed to make sure Grizzer was a willing participant, not just on the receiving end of Luna’s scruff bites.  As this picture shows, Grizzer is very stimulated and as much a part of these interactions as Luna.  The challenge is that Grizzer is nearing 13 years of age and has been fairly sedentary in retirement.  This new found exercise is like a weekend athlete that has a great time joining the action, but ends up paying for it all week long.  This is the issue we are facing today with Grizzer.  After some continual activity in some icy conditions, Grizzer seems to have aggravated his ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) causing him stiffness and pain in his rear right leg.  He’s on an anti-inflammatory medication for a week and we decided to give him a rest through the weekend.  Both he and Luna were fed 1/2 a deer torso on Friday night, given soft cover hay and are staying in separate enclosures.  Depending upon ice conditions and Grizzer’s improvement, we plan to reunite them no Monday the 20th. 

Luna – Her Idea of Pair Bonding

Staff continue to do body work on Luna to help ease her stiffness and pain of her right rear leg during this winter season.  As she nears 5 years of age, we know this work will be a life-long commitment.  As we work to ease her physical issues, our decision to unite her with Grizzer has gone a long way in solving her social challenges.  Luna and Grizzer were introduced to each other in November of last year and most of that time was spent co-existing with food defense as their main interaction.  As the seasonal hormones became more prevalent, Luna started displaying more social engagement.  Initially, her idea of social engagement was grabbing Grizzer by the scruff of the neck.  When we first witnessed this, staff intervened to make sure that Grizzer was a willing participant.  After we stopped the interaction, he went around us, displayed a foreleg stab to Luna, scraped the straw bed and did a play bow to Luna;  Definitely the behaviors of a willing participant and apparently Luna’s idea of pair bonding.   

Grayson – Finding his Way

We continue to see a weight difference between Axel and Grayson.  Grayson’s weights on March 2nd (10 month birthday) had him gaining a pound more than Axel in the last month, but still lagging behind by over 12 pounds.  When there is such a difference between littermates, we look at both physical and behavioral influences.  We do see more parasite issues with Grayson that have required multiple treatments this winter.  It could be his natural immune system or it could be influenced by more stress associated with a more reserved personality.  Stress is one of those factors that are difficult to assess without looking at cortisol levels within an individual.  We do know that Grayson has no reservations about being the first Exhibit Pack member to eat the nutrient rich organ meat in the weekly carcass and come out with a bloody muzzle. 

Wolf Family

Boltz- T1 Tail

We celebrated Boltz’s 5th birthday today and we take this time to look at the dynamics of the social group we call the Exhibit Pack.  This photo has a significant amount of details about each individual member (click on image to see larger size).  Starting from the far left, Grayson is in a tail wag indicating arousal and his tail is mid-back with ears pricked but turned slightly sideways showing confidence, but not intense focus on Aidan.  Boltz is next with a T-1 tail;  It is held much higher than Grayson, indicating a bit more confidence and ears that are pricked forward with a direct stare towards Aidan.  This is a behavior worth noting when we have a pack leader nearing 9 years of age.  I am most impressed by Aidan’s posture, his tail shows arousal, not extremely high over the back, but confident.  His front legs are both off the ground which could be part of a play-bow.  If you look at his ears, they are more submissive and express a more social interaction.  Axel is not quite as sure, with 3 of the 4 Exhibit Pack members approaching him, he drops his head, tail and ears as signs of submission. What a great day to watch the pack. 

Denali – Not My Food Supply

Denali is the largest wolf on display and he certainly didn’t get that way by being shy about his food.  Ravens and wolves typically co-exist, even in captivity, but there are a few ravens that push their limits.  When they do, the threat display and lunge are pretty clear messages to back off.  We watched a raven grab Grayson’s; I don’t see many ravens pulling Denali’s tail.  As the winter progresses and Denali is aging, we are seeing him lighten up to the point that he can be mistaken for one of the arctic subspecies, of course until size is evaluated.  The chasing behavior isn’t limited to ravens, Denali continues to instigate social interactions and much to the dismay of the pups, that can involve some chasing behavior.

Aidan – Intense Response

In the last week, we have returned to cooler temperatures and this seems to have stimulated some dominance behavior.  Boltz has been quick to test Aidan and is posturing for rank, likely motivated by a hormonal response.  In addition to this stress in Aidan’s life, he suffered some stiffness in his back legs likely due to the glare ice conditions of a warm spell followed by an artic blast.  When Aidan is showing weakness, Boltz gains confidence.  As Aidan reaches 9 years of age, we need to increase our diligence in observing any physical or behavioral vulnerability to the pack leader.  In the case of Aidan’s stiffness, he responded well to a 6 day course of anti-inflammatory medication and re-affirmed his rank.

Axel – Alert Posture

Axel is maintaining a consistent body weight at 92 pounds. His physical appearance is changing to more of a juvenile state as well as his behavior.  He is pushing limits on both wolves and humans, but both Aidan and the wolf care staff have been through the juvenile transition before, most recently in 2012 with Luna and Boltz and Axel has a long way to go to match Luna’s juvenile phase.  Patience and consistency are the key to this age bracket.  In this week’s photo taken by Center educator Saranda Oestreicher offers a great view of Axel’s facial characteristics that aid in identification.  His eyes are more almond shaped and he has a slender appearance to his muzzle.

Boltz- Buffering Pups

One of the reason’s we conduct a four-year rotation of our pups is so we have a three-tiered structure protecting the older wolves from the exuberance of the pup’s.   Boltz, our four-year old male is the buffer in our Exhibit Pack.  He is closer in age to the pups and more likely to display some of that exuberance behavior that keeps the pups occupied.  In this week’s photo, Boltz is testing the strength of the recently formed ice cover and it won’t be long before two pups join him in discovering the challenges of thin ice.