Data recorded through the last 24 hours included: <br>3:37 am – Took 30 seconds to lock on to nipple. Then voracious feeder. Post feeding, climbed on top of stuffed wolf for additional suckling. <br> <br>5:01 am – Growled and barked during sleep. The two pups are sleeping together with stuffed wolf. <br> <br>6:15 am – Slow to latch on to bottle, wanted nipple rubbed on gums. Upper canines and front incisors have emerged. <br><br> 6:30 pm – Head shake on stuffed wolf and displayed a little howling when the video editing camera was downloading data of the Exhibit Pack howling. <br><br>Play behavior is increasing in intensity as mobility is improving on both pups. This dominance behavior is inherent to wolves, and they will continue to alternate dominance postures throughout their juvenile stage until one pup clearly becomes dominant. At this time, the higher ranking pup is usually the one who wakes up first. Pup #1 did a head shake on pup # 2 while pup # 2 was sleeping. <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 sound you are hearing is Pup # 1 responding to the video tape download of the Exhibit Pack howling.
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As you may already know, the pups arrived on site at 2 am on Saturday morning, May 10th. When the temperatures warmed a bit, wolf care staff, assisted by VCC student, Kristen Flowers took the pups outside to meet the adults. Malik initially showed interest in the pups, but then, he focused on Grizzer who was a bit preoccupied with the pups. When staff brought the pups blanket in for the Exhibit Pack to investigate, all wolves but Malik sniffed the blanket. Malik tried to grab it from our hands.
The pups are 17 days old today. Here are some notes from the observation data sheets: <br> <br> 12:20 am – Woke from deep sleep to sound of Jess's motorcycle, stood up, walked around then curled up and fell asleep <br> <br> 3:39 am – Discovered bad nipple- excessive flow caused Pup # 1 to aspirate and refuse to feed, changed nipple, note to staff…always check flow before feeding <br> <br> 10:24 – After much shopping and testing, Playtex Drop In "Variable Nipple" seems to be working. <br> <br> 3:10 am – Took bottle well w/ "Variable Nipple" No coughing. <br> <br> The bottom incisors have erupted on both pups, the pups have begun to start the jaw sparring behavior, which includes wide open mouths, grabbing back and forth with their heads turning at an angle. Pup # 1 was a bit shy when he first arrived, crawling to the corner and trying to escape people. Since the socialization process began, he has now become accustomed to handlers and seeks them out to sleep on laps. It is noted that when he lies on someone’s lap, he submits without stimulus. If the human moves, he throws up his head to reposition himself on his back. The video you see for Pup # 1 today is shows him investigating some branches and logs brought into the pen today for stimulus. It is critical that the pups begin to associate the smell of the adults, so we gathered items from the Exhibit Pack enclosure. The audio clip demonstrates the struggle we face when bottle feeding, it’s a case of the hiccups. It is critical to get the right flow, and reduce the air consumed when the pups feed, they can get over excited about the feeding and aspirate fluid in their lungs which is very serious or get the hiccups, which is uncomfortable.
Red Paw is 19 days old today and is really starting to show more coordination and more active interactions, rather than the passive receiver of Attila’s dominance. After eating, he is actively biting hands, clothes, logs, anything that will help relieve the pain of teething. One new behavior observed was food begging behavior, prior to a bottle feeding Red Paw was licking the sides of Attila’s face. Physically, his snout is elongating and his ears are showing more signs of being pointed and held upright, but the ears don’t stay up for long. We do see more evidence of their hearing improving. Unfortunately, it’s in the form of fear behavior. Red Paw was startled by the gate and ran and hid in the corner. We have a lot of socialization work to do with this pup. Although, later in the morning, when the staff brought Lakota into the garage after foot surgery (details of this will be posted in Lakota’s log on Monday), Red Paw sat alert at the gate sniffing the air. Curator, Lori Schmidt let Red Paw out and he followed her into the garage, sniffed some more, then took a tour of the lab. He found the pup toy box, played with the football, went under the desk, explored the cabinets, and then went back into the pup pen.
As you may already know, the pups arrived on site at 2 am on Saturday morning, May 10th. When the temperatures warmed a bit, wolf care staff, assisted by VCC student, Kristen Flowers took the pups outside to meet the adults. Shadow was very excited to see the pups, and while no wolf regurgitated for the pups, Shadow can be observed licking with increased salivation, generally an indication of some stimuli. Shadow and Maya were sleeping near the wolf lab last evening.
Red Paw is 20 days old today and has been showing more coordination, and has been stimulated by the presence of the logs and branches, stimulating the chewing response to alleviate the discomfort of teething. Red Paw is taking the initiative to dominant Attila while he’s sleeping, but as soon as Attila wakes up; it’s a one on one match. The most noteworthy behaviors that have happened in the last 24-hours include a full body shake, a hop and a little run of excitement. While Lakota is recovering from surgery, we have the door open to the garage. It’s a bit cooler in the garage, and we want to make sure Lakota stays warm. This has been a source of interest to Red Paw; he bobs his head while scenting the cool air coming from the garage. There has been an increase in social behavior and we are seeing tail wagging during these interactions. This is new, as muscle control of the tail is still developing. The top canines are definitely coming through and could be a reason for slightly diminished weight gain in the past 24 hours. His ears are held erect more often, but they still return to the folded down position at times and are not permanently erect yet. Red Paw continues to be a healthy eater, and a calm pup for staff to work with. He willingly rolls on his back and presents his belly.
Nyssa is 86 days old today. Her food consumption seems to be better than the other pups. She frequently eats 3 cups of food per meal, twice a day. Her daily meals combined with extra venison from deer legs during programs translated into 3 – 4 lbs of food per day. Not bad for a wolf that only weighs a little under 35 lbs.
Pup #1 has been temporarily nicknamed Redpaw and is 18 days old today. We look forward to the name the pup contest and hope people are following the logs to get a sense of the pup’s behaviors and personality. We nicknamed pup # 1 Redpaw since we used red finger nail polish on his front left paw to help ID him. It is critical that there are no misidentifications when it comes to food consumption, so we try to distinguish the pups in some way to be certain that we record data accurately, especially when staff are tired and have been on a long shift. Redpaw is the largest pup as you can see by his growth rate, he is a robust healthy pup. He is also extremely calm, and while he had some anxiety and avoidance of people in the first few days of socialization, he now is comfortable with approaching people and seeking interaction. He is most know for resting on his back and enjoying the comforts of staff blankets and pillows. Since we brought the logs and branches in, he likes to burrow under them and sleep. He’s also very determined, if something is in his way, rather than go around it, he plows right through it. We brought him a tuff of Shadow’s hair today, and he was very stimulated when he smelled it. As far as pup management, we are still struggling with the right flow of the formula from the bottle. We have tried several brands, even the models that were preferred by the 2004 litter don’t seem to be favored by these pups. If the pups struggle with the flow of the nipple, they expend a lot of energy that should be going into growing, get worn out and don’t feed. A flow to fast can result in pups aspirating formula, too slow and they give up. There were some issues with the shifts last night, but with perseverance and patience, Redpaw did consume nearly 25 ounces of formula in 24 hours. This compares with 13 ounces when he was 13 days old. The pups had their first outdoor session in the sun today while the pen was being cleaned.
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.
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