MacKenzie is very alert to the noise of the construction across the road. During this past week, she has been pacing a bit, but settles down after some time alone. As previously loggrf, her favorite new spot is just beside one of the den boxes. She also enjoys laying down on the grass, and getting some breeze from the sprinklers.
The weather in Ely continues to be hot, humid, and buggy with brief respites during the rain. The wolves have been staying up in the cooler, wooded areas of the enclosure during the hot afternoon, with activity increasing during the cooler morning and evening hours. These are the best times of day for visitors to observe the pack. Typically wolves in the wild follow the same pattern-decreased activity in the afternoons and more activity during early morning and night hours.
In this week's photo, you can see Malik in a submissive posture to Grizzer. The wolves had just been given frozen fish filets as a treat, and Malik attempted to take one from Grizzer, who promptly proceeded to defend his. In this photo, you can see that Malik is averting his gaze from Malik with his ears back. This is one of the ways that, through body language, wolves show their submission or intimidation.
When Kiana arrived as a pup, we knew we had a special wolf. Staff experienced a curious pup that wasn't afraid to explore her world. One of the most memorable Kiana pup stories was prior to her arrival the Center's grand opening ceremonies. All the wolf pups were raised at the Kawishiwi Field Lab south of Ely, and Kiana decided to climb out of her enclosure and discover the wildlands of Minnesota. Thanks to the help of Outward Bound Staff, she was discovered nearly a mile away from the lab. She was only about 8 weeks at the time, quite a trip for such little legs.
Grizz is 46 days old today. Grizz tends to get a little anxious during the morning (11:00 am) pup programs, but seems to do better during the afternoon programs. Today, during the 1:00 pm program Maya helped distract him by playing tug of war with a beaver tail. When Grizz and his littermates were taken to the outside puppy pen he ran straight for the den Malik and Shadow had made. He then immediately started to dig in the den. Interactions between the pups and the arctics (Malik and Shadow) remain very positive. Malik and Shadow greet the pups with whimper-whines, wagging tails and facial licking through the fence which are all nurturing behaviors found in wolves. Grizz also did well during the 3:00 pm pup 101 program. During the program Grizz stole Maya's beaver foot and he then proceded to play keep away while Maya chased him around the pen in a losing effort to retrieve her beaver foot.
Maya is 46 days old today. As of lately Maya has been doing very well during programs. She often occupies her time during the programs playing with ice, toys, and beaver feet and tails. Today during the 11:00 am program she played tug of war with Grizz over a beaver tail. Maya was very vocal when Grizz tried to take the tail and she displayed lots of aggressive-growling directed at Grizz. When the pups were brought out to the outside puppy pen Maya ran up to greet Malik and Shadow and at that point she rolled over in submission. Maya likes to spend her outside pen time climbing on rocks and logs, den digging and greeting the arctics (Malik and Shadow) through the fence. Maya and Grizz have been frequently teaming togehter in dominance interactions over Nyssa, but despite Nyssa's smaller size she fights hack with great vigor.
Maya is 48 days old today. Maya was chasing a squeaky toy soccer ball along with Grizz & Nyssa. She was also playing tug-of-war Grizz with a blanket. Maya does more pouncing on the other pups… much more predatory stalking as well
Nyssa is 60 days old today. Nyssa is really developing well. In comparison to Maya and Grizzer at this age, she is only .2 lb lighter. She is starting to develop the characteristic wolf ears, and facial features.
Today Grizz is 47 days old. When in the indoor pup pen, he sometimes becomes anxious to go outside and walks the perimeter of the pup pen looking for a way out. Staff have been distracting him with water, ice cubes, and other stimulus items which seem to be successful in redirecting his attention. During interactions with his packmates, he has been showing stalking and pouncing behaviors. For instance, when Maya had a beaver foot today, he pounced on her to try to take it away. During Pup 101 programs, he has been kept occupied by beaver feet and tails. He becomes very possessive over them, and will growl at Maya or Nyssa if they come near him. Grizz was also tugging one of the birch logs across the pen. Grizz is becoming more aggressive with both his packmates and handlers. He has exhibited head-shaking behaviors while initiating dominance attempts with Maya and Nyssa. He has been responding to the older wolves' howls by howling back. Grizz is no longer receiving the bottle and is instead eating weaning formula during feeding times.
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.