Grizzer – Contact Outside of the Enclosure

Grizzer has been having a bit of howling stimulus from outside of the enclosure lately.  It is the wild wolf breeding season, and certainly wild wolves may be more actively defending territory.  We haven’t been fortunate enough to catch it on camera, but the surveillance camera and our closest neighbors have been providing time and dates of these communications.  Otherwise, Grizzer has been extremely fortunate that we have an excess amount of deer in the freezer and he has shared two deer torso’s this month with the ravens.  You can definitely see why wolves have evolved to eat large portions of food at one time, the ravens can make short work out of any deer carcass left in their view.

I wanted to comment on a question asked in one of my recent YouTubes about Grizzer’s blink response in his right eye.  Grizzer had some altercations with Denali in the winter of 2010/2011 that resulted in some wounds to the top of his head.  Two things resulted from these altercations.  Grizzer was retired and he has some nerve damage that controls his ability to blink his upper eye lid.  If you look at Grizzer’s infrared video (our night time webcam view), you will see his blink reflex does occur, but it’s from his 3rd eyelid blinking from below.

Denali- Back to Food Possession

Wolf Logs written by Wolf Watch participants Steve Houglum and Marcia Mummau. 

Denali is feeling better!  During the Friday evening Wolf Watch program, two small deer legs were given to the pack.  Denali possessed both legs and displayed a number of lip curls when Luna attempted to take possession of one of the legs.  If you read Luna’s  log, you will see that her subtle posturing won her one of the legs, but Denali managed to keep the other.  We are just happy to report that he is feeling so much better and is willing to possess and defend food.

The Wolf Watch program is generally offered on the first Friday of each month, allowing participants to join wolf care staff as they observe the pack interactions and record any behavioral data that helps determine pack dynamics.

Aidan – The Stoic Leader

Wolf Logs written by Wolf Watch participants Steve Houglum and Marcia Mummau. 

Aidan is a stoic, quiet, but alert pack leader who doesn’t interfere with the pack dynamics unless he deems it necessary, which isn’t very often.  Aidan, Boltz and Luna had a howling session early Saturday morning, awakening the wolf watch group before dawn.  The howl seemed to originate with Grizzer as the first howl heard was off in the distance.

The Wolf Watch program is generally offered on the first Friday of each month, allowing participants to join wolf care staff as they observe the pack interactions and record any behavioral data that helps determine pack dynamics.

Boltz – Still Plays Like a Pup

Wolf Logs written by Wolf Watch participants Steve Houglum and Marcia Mummau. 

Boltz is still such a juvenile wolf at times.  During the Wolf Watch program, participants observed he and Luna jaw sparring, tail wagging, chasing each other with what appeared to be little regard for energy conservation.

The Wolf Watch program is generally offered on the first Friday of each month, allowing participants to join wolf care staff as they observe the pack interactions and record any behavioral data that helps determine pack dynamics.

Luna-The Sneak

Wolf Logs written by Wolf Watch participants Steve Houglum and Marcia Mummau. 

During the Wolf Watch Friday evening program, the “Wiley Luna” waited for the opportunity to take one of Denali’ deer legs.  she positioned herself near Denali and slowly made her move by getting a front paw on one of the deer legs.  At this point, she shares possession and all she needs is time and Denali moved away. 

The Wolf Watch program is generally offered on the first Friday of each month, allowing participants to join wolf care staff as they observe the pack interactions and record any behavioral data that helps determine pack dynamics.

Aidan- Caching in a Fresh Snow

Of all the wolves on Exhibit, Aidan displays the most caching behavior.  His pattern of burying food resources always involves a pile of untrodden snow, and his face shows the intensity of his task to keep his resources from the rest of the pack.

Boltz – The Face with a Thousand Expressions

Wolves are social carnivores and when we talk about social interaction, they can be very expressive.  Boltz is one of those wolves who seems to always have a look that indicates a complexity to an interaction.

Grizzer – Who are you Calling Retired

Grizzer may live in the Retired exhibit, but he is far from the view of a retired wolf… This week’s YouTube shows the famous Grizzer 500, where he excitedly races around the enclosure in response to wolf care interaction.  It’s enjoyable for both wolves and humans.

Luna – Subtle Posture

Luna is displaying a “Stand-Over” behavior to Denali.  This is typically a passive show of dominance and can be a method for getting another wolf to get up and leave a certain area.  Notice this behavior is occurring on the cover hay beds, which Luna possesses on a regular basis.   But, if you look closely, Denali is chewing on a bone, and this behavior could also be motivated by food possession.  Denali displays another common wolf behavior…Ignore.

 

Denali – Ears Tell the Story

Sorry for the lengthy delay, it took about a week for Denali to return back to his usual active self and another week for us to make sure everyone else was healthy.  Based on his blood work and symptoms, we believe it was a viral infection that caused his discomfort and lethargic behavior.  When dealing with pack animals, we are always worried about spread to the remaining pack members, but so far, the rest of the pack had no issues.  In this week’s photo, we see the ear posture showing a defensive threat over a piece of venison.  Attitude toward food possessions is another way we can tell Denali is feeling better.   It may be hard to believe, but while he was sick, Denali wouldn’t even take a meatball.  During his first few days of illness, any medical treatment he needed had to be delivered with a subcutaneous injection.  We know a wolf doesn’t feel well when they are easy to hand inject and they allow a blood draw.