Maya greeted staff with wagging tail and submissive posture this morning. Whenever she is playing and Nyssa goes after her, Maya is more fearful of Nyssa, she tucks her tail, shows her teeth and her hackles are up Maya continues to be the most submissive wolf. During interaction with two male dogs of staff, Maya was fearful of new dog, Slade. After Slade left, she was more relaxed – extremely submissive – with Jake, the curator's dog that she has already interacted with.
Today Nyssa is 78 days old. She has certainly learned to use her vocal chords to make up for her smaller size. This is clearly demonstrated when pups are given a deer leg as a distraction. Nyssa commands the deer leg, not by physical strength, but by loud growls and whines. She's often so loud that the public can't hear the interns lecture. She was too wigly to have an accurate weight today.
Today Grizzer is 94 days old. Grizz was very active today because of the cool weather. He was running around and playing with his littermates for most of the day. . Grizz had a piece of hide which he wouldn't let go. He is getting stronger every day and when he gets ahold of objects such as a hide it is often very difficult to get them back. With the high activity level Grizz fed very well during the evening feeding as he ate about three cups of meat mix.
Today Maya is 86 days old. This morning Maya initiated a chase with the other pups. She was playful and ate well. She walked up to the fence to greet Shadow. Maya put her paw through the fence and nipped at Shadow's ear. During the Pup 101 program, Maya was interested in the beaver foot and seemed to have very little anxiety during the program. Although she did not get any of the deer fetus, she ate all of her evening meat mix. We were unable to get an accurate weight for Maya.
Today Maya is 87 days old. During the 5:00 pm pup program Maya was more aggressive in her attempts to feed on the deer than usual. Often, Nyssa's aggression around a single food source is enough to prevent Maya from feeding while Nyssa is eating, but today Maya was more assertive in getting her fill. She has also discovered how to climb on top of the pup house. While she was on top of the pup house she was playing king of the hill with Grizz who wasn't quite able to get up there.
Today Maya is 89 days old. With the day of the planned introduction into the exhibit pack fast approaching, staff has been monitoring Maya's progress very closely. She is well on her way to meeting the 40 pound target weight and staff is optimistic. Maya has been showing more interest in the Arctics lately, even abandoning food to run to the fence and greet them. Due to the heat today, she was not very active and growled at staff and nannies when they attempted to move her.
Today Nyssa is 82 days old. Nyssa, when compared to Shadow and Malik at her age, she is one and two pounds heavier than they were, respectively. Nyssa's development becomes more obvious day by day. Nyssa is very independent and is sometimes reluctant to do programs. However, once in the programs, she did well today and spent most of the programs chewing on either a deer leg or beaver foot.
Grizzer is 90 days old today. He seems to have lost patience with being taken into the building for programs. Grizzer was mobbed by Maya and Nyssa in several games of chase during the hours after dinner. He redirected onto a person, who rolled him over three times, until he finally submitted. He liked jumping onto the log, where he could swipe at the other pups from a height. When a male came into the enclosure, Grizz went over and sniffed him, and later submitted to him.
Nyssa is 83 days old today. She did well in Morning with Pups program. She wanted to greet the crowd and spent time eating beaver tail and playing with Maya. She made play bows and grabbed the blanket and shook her head. After dinner, Nyssa was the target of some aggression by Grizzer and Maya and frequently submitted. She sat out several chases. She also ran into the dogloo and stood her ground.
Maya is 90 days old today. She was quiet during presentations. She and Nyssa competed for the chew hoof. Maya had hoof first, then Nyssa took it away and Maya reclaimed it easily later. After dinner, Maya was aggressive in chasing Grizz and Nyssa, instigating several chases. She liked to be in posession of the stuffed animal. She grabbed Grizz several times, shaking her head. She was very comfortable with a male in the enclosure and received lots of petting from him. Late in the evening she climbed up on a stump and nibbled on an overhanging balsam branch.
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