I apologize for the delay in posting these logs, I again hope to post once a week, preferably on Mondays. Grizz is growing into a strong healthy puppy. He continues to maintain a very playful personality. Although staff have noticed Grizz's tendency to follow Malik around continually pestering him. At first it just seemed like a social greeting, but in the last few days, Grizzer's added a level of intensity that seems to get Malik nervous. We don't have a weight on any of the pups, but Grizz's height is catching up; maybe Malik realizes Grizz's potential.
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Nyssa is doing very well on the exhibit. She is still a bit behind behaviorally, often when Grizzer and Maya come down to the front of the exhibit to see what's going on, Nyssa lags behind a few minutes. But, her tendency to be dominant is clearly demonstrated during a feeding program. Nyssa is observed aggressively dominating the wolves during the weekly "What's for Dinner program. Her guard hairs are growing in and is showing less of the grizzled gray appearance she had as a pup and more of the darker guard hairs similar to MacKenzie.
The logs seem to have more information about Grizzer than any of the three pups; That's probably because staff realize Grizzer's potential to be a large adult wolf and they want to stay on Grizzer's good side. As reported in earlier logs, Grizzer does seem to focus on Malik or Nyssa when he wants to engage in "play" activity. Although it's up for debate if this is play or just honing in on his skills for dominance. It will be an interesting fall and winter season.
What can I say about Lucas, same old wolf, different day. He seems to be holding his own even though his sisters get a bit lively.
Lucas has been slowing down a bit more than usual. He seeks comfort in the staw beds and den boxes whenever possible. Of all the retired wolves, he's the one that shows his age the most.
One benefit of Lakota's excavation projects is the mounds of dirt she creates. MacKenzie had has had a hard time getting up on the den boxes, but since Lakota's piles are growing, MacKenzie's almost in reach to climb to the top of a box. If any of you remember her from the main exhibit, she did favor a high vantage point.
Malik's been observed interacting in more dominance display's with the pups. This time, he's doesn't have Grizzer on his back, but he's helping Grizz and Maya put Nyssa on the ground. It's not a true pack mobbing, since Shadow isn't helping, but Nyssa gets more defiant when Malik helps her pup mates.
Maya had the hardest time of all the pups during the introduction. She is a very submissive pup, always seeking contact with humans and wolves. Her constant submissive begging toward Shadow earned her several dominant grabs. Shadow was gentle, but stern, but Maya continued to seek a greeting. As time went on, Maya became a bit more fearful. Her fear response resulted in a tucked tail and she frequently bolting away from the Arctics. As soon as she ran away, the Arctics displayed much more predatory behavior with higher tails and grabs from behind. As the day progressed, her fear subsided and she spent time in the front of the exhibit chasing grasshoppers.
Nyssa did extremely well during the introduction. She reached 35 lbs and seems to be able to hold her own. The Arctics are dominating her less than they are dominating Maya. This is likely due to her very confident behavior. She also seems to be a little less cognitive of the activity in the pack, merely following along and going her own. When food was provided, Nyssa had no intimidation in pushing Malik out of the way to get her meat.
Maya is described by staff as being very sweet natured. When staff enter the enclosure, Grizzer tends to dominate the staff's time. As he's teething, he attempts to use staff arms as a chew toy. This behavior is strongly discouraged. So, staff tend to spend a lot of time with Grizzer. Maya patiently waits on the rock or by the fence until Grizzer's lessons are done, then approaches for a greeting. Maya seems to seek the arctics attention actively face licking them to get a greeting, which usually results in her rolling over on her back for them. There was some concern that Maya's coat wasn't developing as well, so she gets a can of tuna on her food twice a day. This seems to have helped and she enjoys it. The task is to keep Grizzer and Nyssa's face out of Maya's bowl.
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