Nancy Gibson writes: The pups had their bi-weekly weigh-in on June 22 and Shadow (red collared wolf) continues to gain on his brother with 12.2 pounds. Malik (blue collared pup) only gained an ounce at 11.7 pounds. The pups are much more active now so their weight gain will not be as rapid as it has been. Both of the pups gave up nursing from the bottle yesterday, but they will continue to be fed the formula in a bowl for a couple of more weeks in addition to their solid food. The wolf pups did quite well at their first public appearances and howled in response to the children's howling contest. They are beginning to feel comfortable sleeping outside for short periods of time in preparation for their journey to the International Wolf Center where they will be housed outside permanently. Their feet are getting quite large in addition to their long legs.
Nancy Gibson writes: The pups had their bi-weekly weigh-in on June 22 and Shadow (red collared wolf) continues to gain on his brother with 12.2 pounds. Malik (blue collared pup) only gained an ounce at 11.7 pounds. The pups are much more active now so their weight gain will not be as rapid as it has been. Both of the pups gave up nursing from the bottle yesterday, but they will continue to be fed the formula in a bowl for a couple of more weeks in addition to their solid food. The wolf pups did quite well at their first public appearances and howled in response to the children's howling contest. They are beginning to feel comfortable sleeping outside for short periods of time in preparation for their journey to the International Wolf Center where they will be housed outside permanently. Their feet are getting quite large in addition to their long legs.
Mackenzie fence fighting with Shadow, a log bench in the enclosure was chewed to pieces. Gretchen Diessner and Lori Schmidt removed the bench and provided Mackenzie with a beaver to chew on."
Good interactions with all, Mackenzie's eye is still irritated. Noticed fly bites on both Lucas' ears. Will start using fly ointment on a daily basis. Malik was anxious in the holding pen, so he was released almost immediately. Lakota is very relaxed in the pack holding area despite the construction.
At 8 pm, Mackenzie located and killed a ground squirrel from under the rocks in front of the observation windows after nearly 33 minutes of digging, whining and lunging to get under the rock. The pups watched intently and even began digging adjacent to the rock. After Mackenzie ran off with the squirrel and she guarded it from all including the puppies, but at a later observation shift ( 5:40 am on the 16th) the pups play tug a war with the squirrel and both end up eating it.
All wolves asleep by 12:45 with the pups laying about 12 feet apart in the grass of the lower enclosure. The adults slept in the straw beds next to the observation window. There was no further activity until 5:30 am when the pups woke up and approached the adults and then went exploring. At 5:40 am, Malik re-appears with the squirrel that is likely to be Mackenzie's earlier catch. Shadow and Malik tug on the squirrel until they tear it in 2 halves. This brought the interest of the adults and Lakota attempted to take the squirrel away from Shadow. Shadow aggressively growled and snapped at Lakota and managed to keep the squirrel. Malik cached his 1/2 then attempted to take Shadow's 1/2 of the squirrel. Shadow aggressively growled and barred teeth at Malik when guarding, Malik growled back and later let go. Shadow continued to possess the squirrel until all wolves headed for the woods at 6:15 am.
Grizzer has developed a very dense coat this winter. When doing the daily wolf checks, it's hard to get below the fur to really check him out. He continues to stimulate interactions with his fellow pupmates as well as with the arctics. This time of the year is the most aggressive and as Shadow and Malik have their domiance issues, and Maya and Nyssa have their own issues, Grizzer is sometimes left out of the action. He's been observed chasing his own tail during some of these moments.
Meds to all; fed artics two deer legs for "What's for Dinner" program. Shadow and Malik took off with the deer legs up the hill and out of sight for the program. This is why we like to feed a deer torso or beaver rather than a small leg…
Larisa did the feeding tonight; Shadow had to be bribed with meatballs to go into the pack holding area. He showed some anxiety while in holding, no anxiety by Malik today. The holding pen issue seems to be tied to the people outside of the enclosure rather than the pen itself.
SMZ/TMP to Mack and Lakota, regular vitamins to all. Good greetings from all. When Lucas yawned, staff caught a glimpse of his teeth which appeared to have a black spot on one of the molars; during the next visits, staff should try to get a closer look at his teeth (also not an easy task on wolves)
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.