Maya and Nyssa were not part of the recent medical exam, and were left in the main enclosure while the males visited the vet. They did fine without the others, but were interested in them when they returned. Maya actually did a ride-up on Grizzer, but wasn't too intense. Maya sought Shadow out when he returned to the enclosure, and laid on the hill with him during the late afternoon and evening after the exam. Maya has been noted as being more dominant over Nyssa and Shadow has shown more interest in hanging out with Maya. We don't think the rank order decision has been made with these females.
Nyssa seems to spend a fair share of her time with Grizzer. There's usually a chase or a grabbing of the neck scruff involved with the observations. Nyssa continues to be a bit skittish around new things, whereas Maya tends to be tolerant of the wolf care staff and all that they do. This may be why Maya is making ground over Nyssa in dominance. Nyssa's timid behavior may be perceived as a weakness that Maya takes advantage of.
On Thursday, November 11th, the Center Staff conducted a chemical immobilization on the three males of the exhibit pack. It was decided that Malik would receive a complete exam on his knee including x-rays, Shadow would get his ears cleaned and get a diagnosis of his problems. The vet exam revealed a problem with ear mites. Shadow's ears were cleaned and treatment was started for the Mite problem. Since the exam, Shadow has been holding up his ears in a more erect posture and has been much more social with the staff. He appears to be in less discomfort than in previous weeks. Mites in wolves are not very common, and this condition may have been something that he contracted from the pups (Grizzer and Malik tested positive for mites too, but weren't as bothered as Shadow), so all wolves in the pack are being treated.
On Saturday, December 11th, while the Exhibit Pack was dominating Malik, Lucas was observed bark howling. Even though he's aging, the hormonal surge during this time of the year tells him that he needs to keep the younger boys under control. While he's separated from the Exhibit Pack by the pup pen, he still has a raised leg urination pattern, telling all that he's still the dominant male. Of course, older hips don't let him extend his leg as high as he used to. Last week he was observed propping his back leg on a stump during a RLU. He may be getting older, but he is getting wiser.
Maya continues to be gentle and sweet with the wolf care staff, but you won't convince Nyssa of that. The two female pups spent the week alternating between play and bouts of dominance behaviors. The role of dominant female has not yet been decided, but Maya seems to be on top this week.
Aidan, Grizzer and Denali had their triannual medical exam on Tuesday. Aidan had a punch biopsy of his nose tissue and we are waiting for the results. We expect to get the results this week. Overall, Aidan is in great health. On the day of the exam, he had a bit of meat in his stomach, so his weight of 130.5 lbs could be a high estimate. No doubt, he has taken advantage of a higher ranking status and more food available this past year.
Grizzer had some known dental issues coming into the exam and took the longest amount of time for the check. It was determined that his tooth had an abscessed pocket below the gum line which determined that a tooth extraction was necessary. This was a premolar, which doesn't affect his tearing of meat or gnawing on bones like an incisor or molar. The gum was stitched with dis-solvable stitches and he was given a 7 day dose of antibiotics. He had a good meal of bone dust the day after the exams, and dug up a beaver head to gnaw on today. He shows no issues with the tooth removal and it probably feels better.
As I said in Malik's log, Shadow and Malik were scheduled for a rabies vaccination, but wolves don't always follow schedules. Shadow noticed the syringe within minutes and while he was excited to greet, he stayed far enough out of range that a safe injection couldn't be delivered. We will try again later. This is an important reminder that the young pups need to be exposed to all aspects of wolf care and that patience is a virtue. We didn't need to have the vaccine done at that exact moment, so there was no need to stress him out by restraining him. Perseverance and finding the ideal moment are the skills of a wolf care staff.
Grizzer had a long interaction with Oscar today. Of course, it was through the fence, but he rolled around at the fence while Oscar postured and barked. Grizzer just rolled and pawed, then got up and ran and repeated the rolling behavior. This went on for 20 minutes until Oscar grew bored with the interaction. Oscar has been great stimulus and Grizzer always looks for Oscar in the mornings.
Sorry for not posting wolf logs last week. I took the weekend off for a fishing trip with my grandson. I am also preparing for the Working for Wolves program this weekend, we will be making Grizzer a pond and getting some gate systems set up. I won’t have time to process video for Youtube until Sunday night, so thanks for understanding.
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