Groan has been persistently going after Nubee in dominance interaction attempts. Groan did well during most of the program, but became stressed towards the end. She explored the pen, rubber Kong, and deer hide. She also initiated dominance over Nubee. Groan did well during most of the second program. When she had the deer hide, she was was exhibiting food-caching behavior. Towards the end of the program, she became anxious to get out. Groan did well during the last program and appeared to be more relaxed. She was interested in the deer meat inside the Kong and tried a few times to take the deer leg away from Grizz. Groan has been going after Nubee consistantly in dominance attempts.
Nubee growled at Groan when she came over to investigate Nubee's bottle. Nubee was also showing dominance over Griz after pen cleaned. She was standing over him and grabbing his neck. Nubee was anxious during the early morning Girl Scout program. She went to the gate continually wanting to get out. Nubee did some dominating of Griz. Nubee handled the introduction of the fan (for cooling) really well during the 11:00 program. Nubee tested the dominance phase with both Griz and Groan. Nubee slept through the entire 1:00 program. Nubee did very well during the 3:00 program. She was very active, and interacted with both Groan and Griz during the program. She appeared relaxed and at ease. When Grizz persistently pursued Nubee's bottle, she growled back at him. Nubee is starting to be very vocal when expressing her displeasure with her packmates. She not allowing Grizz and Groan to dominate her as much.
Grizz is 33 days old today. The pups were put in the outside puppy pen adjacent to the main exhibit. ML & SD showed excitement and greeted the puppies with whines and wagging tails. Pups were also excited with wagging tails as they greeted the arctics throught the protective hardware cloth fence. Pups spent some time exploring the pen, but Grizz became excited and anxious, vomiting .5 oz formula. Grizz was also digging under edge of concrete pad. During this time, the retirement pack got their first physical look at the pups and MacKenzie showed aggressive dominance toward Lakota and Lucas.
Nubee is 26 days old today. The pups were put in the outside puppy pen adjacent to the main exhibit. ML & SD showed excitement and greeted the puppies with whines and wagging tails. Pups were also excited with wagging tails as they greeted the arctics throught the protective hardware cloth fence. Her coordination is increasing, she was able to crawl out of a hole in the outdoor puppy enclosure. She's also initiating dominance interactions over Grizz and Groan. She even growled at Shadow thru the fence. Shadow didn't respond negatively. He just continued to whine at her.
Today Grizz is 34 days old. Grizz is becoming more active as he is chewing and biting at toys, logs, people, and stuffed animals. He is also becoming more vocal with his handlers and packmates. Grizz was anxious in response to Groan during pen cleaning. Growled at staff members but submitted after being rolled over. He was taken into new pup facility. He played, ran, and got into the pond. Grizz explored the most of all the pups. He would come back for reassurance and go off exploring.
Groan is 34 days old today. She is still exhibiting dominance over Nubee and Grizz. Groan also howled when she heard a squeaky toy. Groan was extremely anxious during pen cleaning. She began to be anxious after the door was opened. She paced the edges of the pen and whined loudly, howling slightly at times. Staff hypothesizes that she was anxious to get outside to freedom. Groan was taken into the pup enclosure today. There she interacted briefly with Malik and Shadow, whined a bit, and explored a little. Groan then sought refuge with a nanny.
Visitors frequently ask about the Name the Pup contest and how/why the names were chosen: The nickname Grizz was chosen from the minute the pups were picked up at the game farm. Grizz has a grizzled gray appearance to the start of his guard hairs and is getting the classic wolf ruff around his neck. Wolf care staff were happy to see one of the names selected for voting was Grizzer… Garnett was also selected for the Name the Pup Contest. Garnett is representative of Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves superstar and 2004 NBA MVP.
Visitors frequently ask about the Name the Pup contest and how/why the names were chosen: As Nubee grows and increases her mobility, it’s time to recognize that she’s not a Newborn anymore… The Name the Pup contest judges selected three potential names for Nubee. KoKo (which happens to be the name of Grizz and Groan’s mother); Nyssa (pronounced knee-sa) which was described as Scandanavian for “Mischevious Elf and Teaka which reminded staff of the unique coloration of teak wood. Given Nubee’s recent exploits in dominating Grizz and Groan while they’re sleeping, the Mishevious elf description is looking more fitting each day.
Grizz is 49 days old. Grizzer has been very restless, often pacing from one place to another. Staff was successfully able to use music as a calming stimulus for Grizzer and his littermates when they were worked up during the early morning. When Grizzer gets worked up he keys in on the window as a source for escape and repeatedly tries to get at the windowsill. Grizzer has shown little interest in weaning formula which could be the result of a recent tapeworm diagnosis. The tapeworms are currently being treated with a dewormer not only in Grizzer, but his littermates as well. Grizzer sometimes seems willing to come to Nyssa's aid when she is being dominated by Maya, but when Maya is being dominated by Nyssa, Grizzer joins in on the domination. When staff brought in the weighing materials Grizzer tucked his tail and ran to the opposite side of the corner. Due to his intense fear response, staff did not attempt weighing him at that particular time.
Maya is 83 days old today. She played in water from the hose during the hottest part of the day. In one program, she walked to the crowd and greeted them with flat ears and low rear. She tried to nip at toes through sandals. Then she chewed on a deer leg with Nyssa and Grizzer.
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.