The logs will all be the same this week. It has been an extremely busy week for the wolf curator between the job at the college and the Center. Wolf care is still done, but all other activities such as email, logs and reports are on the back burner. We had a relatively calm week except the return of the sled dogs created some stress for Shadow. He did some pacing, and in the warmer than average days, he got a bit overheated. He eventually settled down by mid-morning, and was fine the next day. This is the last trip for the dogs, and they will be moving back to their home turf by Wednesday. Aidan was less anxious and a bit more dominant, Denali got very playful, Grizzer howled, Malik ignored everything and Shadow paced. We are in the process of finalizing the Pup Care teams, and will be making decisions and sending notifications by the first week of March. We should return to a full set of logs next week.
Denali is scheduled for full blood panel as part of this upcoming exam. He doesn't have any other issues, except some recent bout of scooting behavior which might indicate parasites. We did take a fecal to the vet clinic today, so we should get the results of that before the exam. It is customary for all wolves that may have nose to nose contact with the new pups to have a complete exam with blood work to make sure there are no issues that may affect the pups. Grizzer, Denali and Aidan will all have nose to nose contact through the fence. Due to Denali's tendency to test Aidan, he will stay in the medical pen for recovery until Aidan is completely back on his feet. It's been our experience that the rest of the day is spent sleeping, so fresh staw will be part of the plan.
Since Grizzer's enclosure faces the wolf yard and the pups may interact with him through the fence, Grizzer will have a full blood profile as well. We also have some dental work for Grizzer, cleaning some plaque and determining the condition of one of his premolar's that's starting to lose some dentition. Grizzer has a good history of immobilization and we expect things will go smoothly. The temperatures will be in the 40's, warm enough to work and not too warm for a wolf to overheat.
Malik is really focused on the raven activity. Ravens are very active due to the colder weather and the pattern of scavenging on food within the enclosure. Of course, since it's gotten colder, there's not much food lying around that the wolves haven't eaten. Malik does seem to fair the colder weather better than Shadow. While Shadow is very stiff, Malik is very spry for a wolf nearing 12 years of age.
I'm posting this early as I will be out of town on Friday. The week has little to report as far as changes in behavior. We still have some following/chasing behavior, usually instigated by Denali who does some play bow/testing towards Aidan and Aidan responds with a chase. We have had no progression on the pigmentation loss on Aidan, which may lend some evidence that this is a nose scrape from caching in low snow conditions. In our previous experience with Lucas, his pigmentation loss spread from his nose to the pads of his feet within a month. Aidan and Denali are both scheduled for a medical exam prior to the pups, if this persists, we can do a biopsy and determine if it is a systemic problem.
This week, the US Forest Service had some sled dogs that were on site across the road from the Center. It's common practice in the wintertime to use sled dogs to haul cargo into the wilderness when the lakes are frozen and travel is easy. We were aware of their potential to be on site, but didn't really have an idea how the wolves would respond, especially since Oscar has tendencies to bark instead of howl. We thought the wolves might be getting accustomed to barking. We were wrong. They're getting accustomed to Oscar barking, but not barking in general. On Wednesday, we saw varying degrees of tolerance. Aidan was more anxious than any of the other wolves, choosing to stay on his straw bed with ears perked forward, but slightly off to the side. He stayed very close to the wolf care staff and avoided going to the top of the enclosure. He did spend time with Oscar at the fence and frequently rubbed the fence while Oscar enjoyed a moose jaw. Read the other logs to see how the other wolves responded.
Of all the wolves here, Grizzer had the most stimulus howling with the sled dogs (not sure how the sled dogs felt). Grizzer initiated several howls, had some directional whining and did more racing around the enclosure than he usually does. He was excited, jumping on the den, off the den, over the wolf care staff and back again. His initial howls were territorial, then he went into a higher pitched social rally. The sled dogs are only at the USFS office between trips, and as we are experiencing a warm spell, the ability to do trips into March may be compromised by weather. This excitable stimulus may be short-lived, but enjoyed by Grizzer.
Malik did howl to the dogs, but he wasn't as territorial as Shadow. He was far more cautious, more likely due to the fact that when Shadow gets territorial, Shadow gets dominant. On another note, we did hear from the facility that provided Shadow and Malik to the Exhibit. Shadow and Malik's mother recently passed away at the age of 21. So, when we view retirement as the waning years, with this genetic history, we might just be in a mid-life stage for the arctics. One other interesting even this week, when staff did an enclosure check around the retired pack, there were deer tracks right next to their outer perimeter fence. That's probably a bit frustrating considering the deer usually arrive in a wheelbarrow.
Of all the wolves on site, Shadow was the most territorial to the howling from the sled dogs. This was easy to predict, as Shadow is still the pack leader no matter where he resides. The behaviors he displayed initially showed some panting, which is usually associated with an increased body temperature and can be stimulated by a stress response. We also saw Shadow posturing towards the back of the enclosure and his low throat howl is also an indication of his message. Shortly after the howling, he did some posturing over Malik and some intense chin rests, but later surveillance video showed them sharing the top of the den. The dogs are back on trail, and the next time they are back at base, Shadow is likely to remind them that he is the pack leader for all canids in the neighborhood.
Aidan's nose is showing more signs of pigmentation loss. Aidan, Denali and Grizzer are all scheduled for a complete physical and blood draw in the next month, and we will follow up with a tissue biopsy to determine cause. This is looking more similar to the issues we had with Lucas in the winter of 2001. We are currently review lab and incident reports, but we won't know much more until the biopsy. There seems to be no impact on behavior, feeding or activity, just appearance. The Veterinarians have been consulted and we will share more information after the exam. We will likely wait until daytime temperatures are in the 40's to do the exams.
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