Today Maya is 64 days old. Maya was the target of a mob attack today. Nyssa and Grizzer drug her out of the den and chased her around the enclosure, dominating her.
Today Nyssa is 57 days old. Nyssa continues to be very gentle and submissive toward her handlers, but has also continued domination attempts with Maya and Grizzer. Nyssa has become more exploratory, constantly finding her way into new and unexpected places.
Today Nyssa is 58 days old. Nyssa was was being very aggressive with a deer hide and wsa able to get it away from Grizzer and Maya several times. Nyssa has been showing her dominance over both Grizzer and Maya more often. Due to the heat, Nyssa has been relaxing under a wet blanket that had been frozen.
Nubee is 34 days old today. Voters in the 'Name the Pup' contest recognized this little package of love, dominance, and strength of spirit for what she is…a "Mischievious Elf," the Scandinavian translation of "Nyssa" which is Nubee's official name. She continues to dominate the other pups despite her small size and she generally is unphased by the crowds and the noise of "Pups 101." She typically is the crowd favorite due in part to her small size and a sense of confidence that shines through chain link fence and into the hearts of visitors to the Center. Nyssa is showing more interest in the blended pup food as she is slowly weaned from liquid formula.
Maya did well during program. She played tug-of-war with beaver tail with Grizz and was very vocal when he tried to take it from her-lots of growling. Maya enjoyed being outside. She rolled over and exposed her belly while greeting the arctics at the shared fenceline. She was wagging her tail rapidly and whined vigorously. She enjoyed attempting to dominate Grizz and Nyssa.
Grizz and Groan very active, Nubee distracted by their play. Nubee was feeding very vigorously. Nubee did well during most of the program. She walked around and explored the pen. Towards the end she was whining to get out. Did well during program-slept and exlored the pen. Also played with Grizz and Groan. Nubee howled with staff, adult wolves and the other puppies. Active today, engaging in play with Grizz, Groan and staff.
Grizz went into a stalking mode and went after Nubee from across the pen. Grizz did well during the first program. He was exploring the pen, rubber Kong, and deer hide. He initiated dominance displays with both Nubee and Groan. Grizz did well during most of the second program. He was very interested in the rubber Kong that was stuffed with deer meat. He sniffed it and rubbed his head against the meat. Towards the end of the program, he was anxious to get out. Grizz's attention was focused mainly on the deer leg that was one of the stimulus objects in the pen. He spent the majority of the last program chewing on it and food guarding it from Groan. Grizz is persistently going after Nubee in dominance interaction attempts. Grizz was heaving before feeding, and coughed up small amount of bile. He was extremely startled by Nubee being put down near him. He growled and exhibited a defensive stance. It lasted only a few seconds, and he was not aggressive toward Nubee when she approached to sleep.
He seems to be more comfortable with having the pen cleaned. He was very playful with Groan and Nubee during the cleaning. Grizz was whining and begging for the bottle while Nubee was being fed. During an interaction with Nubee, he seemed to allow her to dominate. Grizz was very anxious during a special Girl Scout morning program. He was continually at the gate wanting to get out. He may have been too hot in the pup pen due to the morning sun coming through the windows. Griz handled the introduction of the fan (for cooling) really well. (Staff decided to use a fan in the auditorium to cool the puppies off.) Wolf Care and Program staff will lower shades in the auditorium to lessen the morning sun, hopefully this will cool things off. During the 11:00 program, Griz was exploring the puppy pen and did well. Nubee exhibited some dominance behaviors over Griz by grabbing his neck and standing over him. Grizz also did well during the 1:00 program. He interacted with Nubee and played with a pine cone and piece of deer hide. He appeared to be relaxed and at ease. During the 3:00 program, Grizz did well in the first part of the program, and was very interested in the beaver tail. He interacted with both Groan and Nubee. Grizz was persistently pursuing Nubee's bottle, ignoring his weening formula.
Groan seems to be sleeping more independently. She will get up and move off to an area by herself to sleep, away from Nubee and Grizz. She is chewing more vigorously on toys and shoes. She also displayed food caching behavior with an empty paper towel roll. Groan was very anxious during a special Girl Scout program this morning and wanted to get out. She may have been too hot in the pup pen due to the morning sun coming through the windows. Groan handled the introduction of the fan (for cooling) really well. Staff will now lower the shades in the auditorium to decrease morning sun. During the 11:00 program, Groan like Griz investigated the puppy pen. Groan seemed to seek out her littermates for comfort. Groan did well during most of the 1:00 program and was interested in the pine cone and chewing was on a log. Towards the end of the program, she she became anxious to get out and started putting her paws on the gate. Groan did well during the 3:00 program. She interacted with both Griz and Nubee. She attempted to paw at and chew the blue tarp on the floor. She became anxious at the end of the program when 20+ people entered.
After a big snowfall, it’s time to replenish the straw piles that provide a warm comfortable place to rest. The den boxes stay warm and dry, but wolves prefer to sleep outdoors. In this week’s video clip, you will see Lakota investigating a new straw bale as it’s put in the corner of the enclosure.
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.