Lakota and MacKenzie had two treats in honor of their 15th birthday. On Monday, April 28th, the actual day that we celebrate as their birthday, they shared a bag of dried cranberries. Wolves have a bit of a sweet tooth, even in the wild; you can occasional blueberries in wolf scat. We don’t make a habit of this because we did have an issue a few years ago when Lakota over indulged on raspberries that she picked on the edge of the enclosure, but it is a good treat. The second treat came in the form of a roasting hen that they received as their mid-week meal. What a difference a few days can make, the photo of Lakota digging in the snow for berries was a Monday photo, the photo of MacKenzie carrying the chicken in a nearly snow free enclosure was a Wednesday photo.
Medical exams are hardest on the pack leaders, as they tend to resist letting go of their control and struggle to fight the drug, and express anxiety as the rest of the pack is separated. The tail wags in Shadow’s video clip show the strong social relationship these wolves share. They are a compatible pack and get along well together. You will also notice in Shadow’s video that he is scratching his ears. This is one of the reasons Shadow and Malik have had more extensive veterinary exams in the last few years. In 2005, it was discovered that Shadow had ear mites, after several treatments, those were cleared up and no evidence of mites were detected in 2006, but he still showed irritation in his ears. So, in 2007, he had an exam with a full ear cleaning, again, no problems were identified. In this exam, it appears that there are small areas of irritation that could be related to allergies. Staff will be working with the Veterinarian to attempt to give Shadow some relief.
Grizz is 91 days old today. The pups received their vaccinations today. Grizz was a bit hesitant to meet the Vet, but relaxed and approached without problems after Curator, Lori Schmidt picked him up to greet. All pups are healthy…As you can tell by the weights, Grizzer is eating well.
Grizzer is 93 days old today. He tried to attack Nyssa through a V in a birch tree. He would growl and stick his muzzle through the V and try to bite her. She would do the same until she figured out that he was just around the trunk.
Nyssa and Grizzer had a dominance display with a lot of jaw sparring. Afterwards, they began grooming each other. Nyssa did most of the grooming and Grizzer seemed to lose interest. He even got up and left once but came back. Nyssa left at the end to go chew on a tree root which was more attentive than Grizzer.
Behavioral notes for Pup # 2 from the logs in the past 24 hours include:<br><br> 2:56 am – Pup awakes, stands and shakes. Whines, walks to stuffed wolf, lays down, kneads and suckles on wolf. Walks to den box, whines, returns to stuffed wolf, kneads, suckles and sleeps. <br><br>3:10 am – Pup # 2 is very tractable to people and seeks out the crook of human elbow where he returns to sleep. <br> <br>6:15 am – Pup # 2 is also teething with upper canines and incisors coming through. So far, now indication that the lower incisors have emerged.<br> <br>6:40 am – He also is responding to the adult wolves who did a rally outside, and resulted in squeaking sounds from Pup # 2.<br> <br>9:17 am -This pup does a lot of growling in his sleep, and he woke himself up by growling and barking, startled into fear avoidance and solicited comfort from humans.<br><br> I'd like to comment briefly on some of the audio being posted. Prior to the pups full hearing development (18 – 20 days of age), moans are the most common pup sound, and will decline as they get older. Pups moan while nursing, asleep or resting. Researchers suggest that that moans may be a passive consequence of respiration, but that they are also likely to provide a continual signal to the mother in a dark den. The moan doesn't elicit a response from the mother, but an absence of moaning may indicate something is wrong. Whining is higher pitched than moaning, and is often associated with a discomfort or desire, such as the need to feed, be warm, socially interact or escape. Squeaking is usually developed after 15 days of age, and by week 4, is the most common sound in the pups vocalizations.<br><br> The audio you hear is of Pup #2 nursing on the bottle.
This pup continues to display very independent behavior, he seems to seek out corners of the enclosure after feeding, and doesn't want to be touched, but wants to lie flat on his belly. This is likely a temperature response, the concrete floor is cooler. One noteable behavior that occurred on Sunday at 6:20 pm, was a howling response to the pack. The Exhibit pack started howling and Pup # 1 walked out of his den box, defecated and started howling.
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. When we first picked Maya, we nicknamed her groan, as she was very vocal as a pup. She’s still that vocal today, expressing any uncertainty or anxiety with a high pitched whine. Maya was included in the medical exam, as she has not had a blood draw since 2005 and our Vet Care Plan calls for blood work at least once in 3 years. She was a bit anxious about being separated from Shadow, but after her reversal, she immediately ran to him and greeted with a full face licking, submissive paw and facial rub on Shadow. You will see her doing the same thing prior to the Saturday night feeding in the video.
Pup number two had a bit of a transition to the bottle and wasn't actively feeding until 8:30 am, when he consumed 4 ounces from the bottle without stopping. He was very content after this, and had some great audio of snoring and contented groans. This pup spent the evening sleeping with Assistant Curator, Donna Prichard, and her wool lined carhart coat. While we originally intended to acquire a male and a female pup, the litter produced 5 males and 1 female. After a physical assessment of their condition, it was determined that the best choice for the Center was the two largest males. As the days progress, individual personalities will be more prevelant, please check the individual logs for details posted Monday – Friday.
Staff noticed a limp on Lakota's back leg early last week. Since then, she has been treated with an anti-inflammatory, and seems to be improving. As you will see in the video, it still appears as if she is splaying her back feet out. This may be in response to pain, or it may be an indication of something more significant. We will keep you posted. We don't introduce the pups to the retired wolves, since we don't want the Exhibit Pack to associate the pups with the retireds. There's some history of aggression between Mac and Shadow, and we don't want the pups rejected because Shadow sees the association with MacKenzie.
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.