Nyssa is very independent and was observed sleeping by herself under the building eaves for nearly 5 hours on last nights shift. Nyssa continues to dominate food whenever possible. Today, she was given a deer leg and she defended it from all, even lunging after Malik. Staff also observed her do a full body block to Shadow and Malik while they were dominating each other. While this is only the first day of the observation, staff have noticed that the 2 female pups rarely spend time with each other unless they are in a 3-some. Grizzer spends time with Maya alone or with Nyssa alone and appears to have no preference. Although, Grizzer and Maya more frequently sleep together.
Jen Westlund's first time wheeling in the deer carcass for the feeding. Everything went well. Mackenzie and the pups possess the carcass, with Shadow aggressively grabbing and tearing at the carcass far more than Malik. Mackenzie exhibited aggressive growl and lunge at Lakota when she approached the carcass.
All wolves got good attention from staff today, Mackenzie was very relaxed rolling over on her back with full extension of her legs in the air. Lakota was observed moving around the enclosure with more freedom than previously observed; Limited aggression between wolves."
Fly ointment was applied to all adults, but the yearlings are very reluctant to have ointment applied. Malik is still obsessed with stealing the container from wolf care staff. Vitamins to all wolves."
MacKenzie is enjoying the cooler weather. She was very relaxed with wolf care staff this morning and did a full submission within 5 feet of the Morning with the Pup program. When we say full submission, we mean, legs up in the air, pawing straight up in the air seeking attention. Staff noticed that her right eye is showing signs of cell growth similar to her left eye. Staff are anxious to see the results of the medical exams this fall. Other than her eyes, she is doing extremely well. This cooler weather makes the retired wolves act like 2-year olds. The high today was 52 degrees farenheit.
Grizzer and Maya have both been climbing on the greeting rock (the large rock in front of the webcam), but he couldn't really figure out how to get off. It's quite different to see a little wolf on the greeting rock for a change.
Malik was very playful with the pups during the morning hours. At one point he ran down from the den and all the pups followed him and he then flopped down near the pond and submissively pawed at the pups. Malik did show some interest in the beaver carcass the pups were feeding on, but he did not disturb them and left the carcass alone. At one point during the day Malik gave chase to Maya and pinned her down for several seconds where he nibbled her genital region and stomach without harming her. As fall approaches and the Curator goes back to full-time employment at the college, wolf logs will be posted only once a week.
This is the new format for the wolf logs. Each wolf will have a status report on a weekly basis. Please be patient as we reconnect the links from the old wolf logs and develop new data. What can I say about MacKenzie… She is aging gracefully despite an eye condition that has left some lipid deposits affecting the cornea. She will have a medical exam in October to attempt to reduce the advancement of these cells. She is still dominant over Lakota and occasionally has been observed rolling Lucas over on her back as well.
Shadow appears to be most social with the pups. Every morning the wolf care staff arrive and he greets the crowd wiht a morning howl. Regularly joined by Nyssa and Maya who are sounding more like an adult howlo every day.
Maya defended a cache against Shadow. She vocalized and snapped at him and he left her alone. She seems to show less fear towards the arctics than she experienced on the first day of the introduction. She no longer runs away when being dominated, but willingly rolls over. She does show a bit of intimidation when the retired wolves howl. She tends to run back and forth to the Arctics looking for contact. As the arctics howl, she nervously runs away from them. Behavioral Observation team members noticed that Maya is more anxious after dark. On the first night, she stayed close to the building, she frequently put her head up to listen for the other wolves, but didn't join them. Later, she curled up with Grizzer.
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