Nubee is 19 days old. Nubee met Shadow & Malik again today and wanted to get closer to them. She continues to do well during the public programs. Her activity level is increasing daily and her appetite has increased. She is also gaining weight steadily and appears much more stronger than in previos days. Today she grabbed a stuffed toy and shook it. She has also been trying to dominate Grizz, who has been very gentle with her during most of their interactions. Nubee is also seeking out more contact with her siblings. Her bottom incisiors are starting to develop.
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Today Grizz is 28 days old. During the Pup 101 Program, Grizz was taken out a few minutes early due to anxiety. At the 3 p.m.program, he was very calm and preoccupied with a piece of deer hide. During his noon feeding, he ate a 1/4 cup of weaning formula given in a bowl and was not interested in feeding from the bottle afterwards. The precaudal gland is evident in both Grizz and Groan. This appears as a darker, diamond-shaped patch of fur located about halfway down the tail. He continues to try to dominate both Groan and Nubee but is submissive with his handlers.
While staff has been observing some very mature dominance behavior from Grizzer, they also still see the pup tendencies in his behavior. He willingly submits to staff, and he spends time wrestling with Maya. In this week’s video, you will see Grizzer attempt to subtly take a possession from Maya. It starts by laying close by and ignoring her. But, when the opportunity is right, he rolls over and tries to lie on top of the possession. Maya’s usually quick enough to escape before she loses.
Groan has been increasing her dominance behavior over Nubee and has been increasingly interested in the pen entrance as the escape route. She has also submitted to one of the wolf care staff members. She greets the wolf care handlers very enthusiastically often getting on their laps expecting a bottle feeding. She remains a very vocal pup and expresses herself when disturbed by growling and groaning at the staff.
Today, Nubee is 17 days old. Nubee has been seeking interaction with her littermates more frequently. Although her littermates are readily able to dominate her she remains very fiesty and is often able to withstand their dominant behavior. Her feeding behavior has also began to pick up. Just days ago staff often struggled to feed little Nubee, but now she seems to readily take to the bottle.
Today Grizz is 27 days old. First morning with the pups program started. Griz slept on the concrete floor and did not appear to be bothered. He was much more relaxed than in previous presentations. Grizz is also starting to show more dominance to both Nubee and Groan, but is still submissive to his handlers. Grizz has been feeding voraciously from the bottle and is still not eating very much weaning formula given in a bowl. He is gaining weight steadily and growing fast.
Today Nubee is 21 days old. She continues increasing in coordination, mobility, and strength. She is doing well in the public programs and has been sleeping through them. Nubee has a large vocal variety. She frequently growls when she is displeased with staff and littermates. Nubee initiated dominance over Groan – Groan remained on her back – letting Nubee bite her. During feeding times, she does not like to be held for long, and likes to feed from the bottle while lying next to her siblings. Nubee's bottom incisors and canines are continuing to develop and erupt.
It's the start of the 25th anniversary celebration weekend, and the Youtube Posting will be delayed until Monday to show some of the weekend events. Grizzer did some fairly intense testing of Shadow on Thursday morning. It was preceded by some time spent in holding, when the wolves can get extremely excited. The upper windows of the Exhibit were washed, which requires all wolves to be locked off, and staff were prepping the wolf yard for the first Behind the Scenes programs of the summer. These changes to the wolves environment were enough to cause some tension, and redirection. It is very important to understand that wolf management requires a consistent and calm style, and when that changes, any underlying tension comes to the surface.
Grizzer has been receiving some increased dominance from Shadow, and some testing from Denali. The concern that we have is that Shadow may be overcompensating his dominance due to his joint stiffness, and Grizzer may redirect to Shadow if Denali continues to take advantage of him. Normally, Grizzer is very non-confrontational. His observations are more likely to show a calm wolf with a few bouts of chasing and wrestling, then more calmness. Managing wolf exhibits requires constant observations of all wolves, their normal behavioral patterns and any deviation from normal.
Staff have observed the pack in the last week, and there seems to be a pattern of Maya lying closer to Aidan and Grizzer associating with Denali. Aidan still has some anxiety, and receives some dominance when there is excitement in the enclosure such as enclosure enrichments or delivery of fly ointment. Overall, Aidan does seem to tolerate the situation, even though he is vocal about the attention. After he receives dominance, he follows Maya and begins soliciting attention almost immediately. He has displayed more fore-leg stabs than any other wolf on exhibit.
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