Of all the wolves on site, Shadow seems to seek the most pleasure from fresh snow. He displays many episodes of a behavior we term “snowplowing, this is where a wolf puts their head down in the snow, and pushes their face through the snow like a V-plow. It is usually followed by roll over in the snow, a fast jump up and a race around the area. If wolf care staff are close, he jumps up for a quick face greeting and runs off. He’s pretty spry for a wolf nearing 8 years old. Today during wolf care, Shadow actually submitted for curator, Lori Schmidt, something that her rarely does for anyone but Nancy Gibson, the board member who bottle-fed him and created the strongest bond with him during the critical bonding period in the first few months of life. This was an incredible honor for Lori to have Shadow in such a social mood and willing submit to a belly scratch. This situation with Malik showing more dominance toward Grizzer may also be impacting Shadow. Shadow can relax a bit more without having to keep a constant dominant role over Grizzer.
This morning Nyssa greeted staff and then went to howl with Shadow next to the puppy fence, she did a nice "grown up" howl. Nyssa very relaxed and submissive towards staff member's two male dogs. A good sign that she may be relaxed and submissive towards Malik and Shadow when they are introduced.
Today Maya is 73 days old. She continues to be very calm and submissive towards people, and has no problems during programs. She has been climbing up on logs in the pen and attacking her packmates as they walk by.
The following text was written by Workin' for Wolves participants: Liana Volpa and Linda Duffy. A camera crew came Sunday morning and Shadow got unnerved by strangers. Grizzer tried taking advantage of the situation by stalking Shadow and trying to unnerve him further. Shadow wouldn’t allow Grizzer to take advantage and did a chin rest and later stood over him. Grizzer accepted Shadow’s dominance by putting his head further under Shadow and averting his gaze.
The following text was written by Workin’ for Wolves participants: Andi Nelson and Lori Rhodes. During the Workin’ for Wolves weekend, participants helped with spring clean up of the retirement enclosure. In Mac’s photo this week she’s demonstrating a dominant stand over Lakota; possibly a direct result of the anxiety over the noise and activity generated from wolf lab cleaning. The retired wolves, at fifteen years of age, are adept at demonstrating hierarchy displays although they may appear more subtle than their younger counterparts.
The following text was written by Workin’ for Wolves participants: Joanne Wessels and Debbie Puett. Malik continued with his attempt to maintain some dominance over Grizzer he gained since the winter’s snowfall. He followed Grizzer closely making him aware of his presence. Malik initiated lots of chases and playing with Maya and Grizzer.
Malik continues to take advantage of Grizzer's calming nature, and Grizzer is taking it well, submitting to Malik and ignoring some of Malik's postures. This has helped Malik relax a bit, and he is spending more time in social interaction without the anxiety he displayed this winter. He continues to show associative behavior with Shadow as his littermate and is often found lying in close proximity to Shadow.
Maya continues to have issues going into holding, when staff pressure washed the pond on Friday, she stayed out while the staff worked. She remained calm with the activity, but we need to start working on positive association with the pack holding area, so she will freely go into the area when the pup introduction occurs. Of course, the motivation of seeing the pups will likely draw her in, but we don't want her displaying anxiety with holding that may influence the pups response. After the pond cleaning, Maya and Grizzer scent rolled on the area where the pressure washer was located, and on the debris that was removed from the pond.
Shadow is doing extremely well, in a very social mood and interacting with each pack member in a special way. He frequently does a parallel gate with Maya, walking shoulder to shoulder. He rolls over for Grizzer without showing any loss of status, more of a social, let's interact behavior. He and Malik often rest together, and Shadow is right in the mix when Malik starts to test Grizzer. But the most noteable behavior from Shadow is the alert and watchful behavior of a dominant male. He is often on the greeting rock or on the hillside, watching, sniffing and responding to anything that approaches his pack.
Grizzer and Maya are four years old today, May 5. It is hard to believe four years have gone by since we selected these pups to join the Exhibit Pack. Grizzer continues to maintain the testing status of adult, while occasionally reverting back to a pup mentality when interacting with his littermate, Maya. All of the wolves received a complete medical exam on Friday, including detailed blood work, ear treatment for flies, and a tick treatment. The results of the blood work won’t be back until later in the week, but it is critical before the pups arrive that we know all individuals are healthy. Wolf care staff attempted to get weights on Grizzer, but he bottomed out the scale at 110 lbs. So, this likely means that he is a healthy amount over 110 lbs. He generally loses this extra weight during the summer, but the only opportunity we have to weigh him is when he is sedated for an exam. We won’t need to do another routine medical exam for three more years. The video for the Exhibit pack was taken a day after the medical exam, prior to the Saturday night feeding. As you can see, everyone recovered well and was excited about the deer feeding.
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