Attila is 20 days old today. Someone asked why we nicknamed him Attila? To sum it up, this wolf snaps first and asks questions later… meaning, he is quick to deliver a decisive response, regardless of the situation. He has begun to test staff, biting and grabbing them, which should result in a firm, but not aggressive roll-over by the staff. These are all behaviors that the mother wolf would encounter and a soft grab of the muzzle will show the pup that the behavior is not tolerated. Unfortunately, human handlers don’t have muzzles, so we must use our hands to grab the scruff and roll them over until they submit. Attila did a head on growl to the wolf curator again yesterday, looking directly in the eye and protesting about something, we really weren’t sure what. He rolled over and after a few seconds went on to grab the blanket. The vet did another check on the pups yesterday when he was on site for a Lakota post-surgery visit. The pups are in good condition, and their lungs are clear. We are waiting for warmer weather to get the pups outside in the sun, but spring has been cold here. We have been changing straw on a regular basis to keep the dust down in the lab. It also appears that the pups have discovered that the other pup has a tail, and they spent 10 minutes trying to grab the other pup’s tail. When one tired, the pup turned to chasing their own tail.
Red Paw gained .6 lbs in 24 hours, this is when pups start really having a growth spurt. Red Paw is 21 days old today and wolf care staff began conditioning the pups to the auditorium where they will be featured in an open house for the surrounding area residents. Red Paw is showing some fear avoidance behavior and it is very critical that he has some positive associations with the building before he enters it with a large crowd. In order to accomplish this, staff waits until the facility is closed, and brings the pups into the auditorium with their familiar blankets, stuffed animals and anything else that makes for a positive experience. Assistant curator, Donna Prichard and wolf care staff member, Jen Westlund brought the pups in during their shift. They exhibited a lot of whining and Red Paw was a bit nervous before settling down and playing with Attila. During the first few days of working with this pup, he demonstrated some independent and timid behavior, where he would retreat to a corner when anxious. While he occasionally reverts to that behavior, in the auditorium, he sought comfort from Jen and Donna, and fell asleep by Jen. These nightly sessions will continue until the Open House on Thursday, May 22nd. The Wolf Curator brought in a stuffed moose that was originally purchased when Malik and Shadow were pups. Red Paw was curious and attempted to dominate, but was intimidated when he rolled off the moose. The audio clip for today is an example of what we term "Exploratory whining", when a pup is walking around checking things out, but gets intimidated by the new environment.
Grizzer’s response to the pups at the fence has been very interesting and leaves us cause to wonder how he will interact with his future pack mates. He displays high pitch whining, licking response and an almost obsessed look when the pups approach. This could be very good for the introduction if he takes some ownership in the pups. It could also mean obsessive behavior that may get a bit intense. The introduction is months away, but these daily fence visits will be observed carefully to gleam any indication of future issues. Other than the pup activity, the pack is very calm, and Grizzer and Malik have very few dominance interactions at this time of year. The presence of the pups seems to have stimulated Prolactin hormonal development, with the best indicator of this being the calm behavior. Grizzer was the first wolf to start the shedding process, where wolves lose the dense undercoat, leaving the permanent guard hairs as the dominant coat in summer. This makes wolves look extremely thin, including Grizzer.
Part I As I wrote in last week’s logs, “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. The improvement we saw was from the pain killer, by the time we came back from picking up the pups (2 days later), we observed something more significant, a growth on the bottom of Lakota’s paw. After a vet check, it was determined that surgery was the only option. On Friday, May 16th, we drugged Lakota and took her to the Ely Vet Clinic and had a 2 inch benign tumor removed from the bottom of her paw. The tumor grew quickly and had caused significant irritation to the bottom of her pad. Concerned about the issues of stitches on the bottom of her pad in a dirt environment and the possibility of her ripping her stitches, the Vet asked us to keep her inside the lab for a few days with the bandage on, and under 24 hour surveillance.
Today Nyssa is 64 days old. She did well through the programs, sleeping through most of them. She didn't want to leave after the five o'clock program and growled mildly at the handler. She was the most active of the three pups during feeding and ate continuously without distraction.
Today Nyssa is 36 days old. Nyssa is becoming more vocal everyday. Nyssa is very assertive when Grizz and/or Maya try to take things, such as toys, away from her. She is attempting to dominate Grizz and Maya more, and is less tolerant of their domination attempts. When in outdoor pup pen, she greets Shadow & Malik and also shows an interest in the retired pack. Today Nyssa appeared anxious and uncomfortable in the the Pup 101 program. She whined a lot and made relatively aggressive efforts to escape the pen. Staff have been trying new and creative stimulus items to distract her, Grizz, and Maya. Nyssa is gaining weight steadily and is being weighed in an International Wolf Center tote bag, having outgrown the bucket.
Grizz has been showing signs of wanting to go out of the pen in the mornings. He is very restless, whining, scratching at the walls under the window frame. He was distracted with ice cubes but only for seconds at a time. Grizz did well during the programs. He played tug-of-war with Maya with a beaver tail, and enjoyed chewing on some ice. Grizz also enjoyed being outside. He chased after Maya and Nyssa and greeted the artics well. He dug in his den and rested there. Grizz has been very aggressive toward the nannies and staff members. He is attracted to long hair and bites and tugs on it while growling. Flipping him over and dominating him seems to calm him down.
Nyssa did well during program. She played with the pig ear and tried to join in taking beaver tail from Maya. Nyssa did very well in the outside pup pen. She explored, greeted the artics and played with Maya and Grizzer. She responded with whines whenever the retired pack whined at the pups. She seemed very interested in the retired pack and paced back and forth by the fence near them. It is getting progressively harder to weigh Nyssa. She recognizes the bucket and the bag and squirms when being held.
Grizzer is 44 days old today. During pup pen cleaning, the pups ran around the auditorium with leashes on to condition them to wearing leashes. Pups did very well and explored the auditorium and went into pup pen. Grizz did well during the programs-he became anxious but was able to be redirected with stimulus items such as pig ear and beaver foot. Just before feeding, all three pups displayed interesting, possibly new (Maya and Grizz pair dominating Nyssa) behaviors. The play went on for 10 minutes and was captured by staff on videotape
Maya is 63 days old today. Maya watched the arctics intentely and started whining at them. Maya is showing the most interest in the arctics on a consistent basis. Maya was trying to pull Grizzer out of the den in the late afternoon.She seemed to want him out so she could go in.
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