We don’t have an explore.org camera in retirement, but staff photograph on a weekly basis to capture the moments we cherish on a daily basis. I like to call this one, “Two Ships Passing”. Definitely Retirement is about co-existing and understanding each other’s idiosyncrasies.
Since we established the partnership with Explore.org in 2020, we have definitely been enjoying the many images submitted by the viewers in their Gallery. I search the gallery to get an indication of the behaviors, feeding patterns, and overall dynamics of the Exhibit. This week’s photo shows the “Interspecific (between species)” interaction between a raven and Axel. I would like to thank Explore.org camera viewer “mashaka2020” for sharing this mirror moment between two social species.
It has been a great winter to be an older wolf. With nighttime temperatures staying above zero, there isn’t much stress to the body when living outdoors. Grizzer also has a great appetite which helps keep his calories up and his immune system strong. He is very good about taking his morning nutritional supplements; all factors are making the winter of 2021 a great winter to be an older wolf. We are noticing some challenges with Grizzer’s vision and hearing, but he has certainly not let that impact his activity or comfort level moving throughout the three retirement areas. Denali is an important part of providing that comfort for Grizzer with the many greetings, tail wags and nose to nose greetings that keeps them both up and active. Their behavior brings many smiles to the faces of wolf care staff and webcam viewers alike.
We are still experiencing some warmer than average January Weather. Not only has it been stimulating wolves in an interesting way, but it has also been beautiful to photograph. You may have noticed some recent facebook posts by staff showing the “Hoarfrost” back drop of the trees in our Exhibit Pack.
According to the definition on Britannica.com
Hoarfrost, deposit of ice crystals on objects exposed to the free air, such as grass blades, tree branches, or leaves. It is formed by direct condensation of water vapour to ice at temperatures below freezing and occurs when air is brought to its frost point by cooling.
With these background images, the wolves have been providing many behaviors to interpret. Normally January is filled with dominance, but this warmer weather is bring out a more social, bonding behavior. There are many bouts of chase, resting in close proximity, nose to nose moments that are not part of our usual winter dynamics. Will this behavior continue? We will wait and see as a cold front is approaching and returning our winter norm temperatures back to zero and below. To find out how the winter dynamics will change, log in to our website and join us for the “Winter Dynamics” webinar on February 4th at 4 pm Central time or sign up for the entire Webinar Series of 14 webinars, with many including the dynamics of our 2021 pup adoption.
Photo by Tanya Roerick
While we had snow in early October, the post-holiday winter has been a pattern of limited snow and warmer than average conditions. Even though we still think it’s winter, the thick coat of these arctic wolves may make some of these mild days a bit too warm for much activity. We have been observing a lot of rest periods during the day when the wolves would normally be active, but like clockwork, they always seem to get up at 4 pm. Visitors to the Center’s webcam or Explore.org’s two Exhibit cams will catch the action of the day. Here are some examples from recent Explore.org gallery posts.
I took a while, but Denali is back to his pouncing, playbowing, social, tail-wagging self. The transition was actually quite short, only 2 months and he has healed physically and mentally accepted the pack next door without showing anxiety about their dominance or focus. I like to think that Grizzer had a lot to do with helping during this transition period.
Thanks for all of your support this past year. We are grateful for the support of the Explore.org folks and their many, many images in the gallery of Axel and Grayson. As arctic subspecies, they definitely thrive in winter conditions.
Photo by Sherry Jokinen. Trouble Identifying Axel? Look for the longer, straighter muzzle
We are so grateful for everyone’s support during 2020, a most challenging year for many people. We still mourn the loss of Boltz, but seek comfort in Denali and Grizzer having such a strong kinship in retirement. Here’s to better times in 2021, with pups back in the plan and hopes that Grizzer does well as we head into the heart of winter.
In the last week, we have witnessed a significant increase in social behavior between Grizzer and Denali. Denali seems to be the instigator of the interactions, either spring up in a playbow towards Grizzer, doing a foreleg stab to get Grizzer to interact or just standing near him with his tail wagging over his back. This is the pre-retirement Denali that we know so well and it has taken nearly a month of retirement for him to return to his normal behavior. These interactions are not only good for their physical health, but it definitely is helping Grizzer’s cognitive abilities as well. We hope the behaviors continue as the winter advances.
Winter is officially here on December 21st, although snow and cold arrived in October. Wolves tend to increase dominance during this seasonal change and in the months to come, we expect more dynamic interactions. This is typically a time of posturing tails, barring teeth and loud vocalizations that is part of wolf communication. In this week’s image, there’s several things to notice. Grayson (on the right) has his lip curled over his canine, his ears pricked forward, but slightly turned to the side in intimidation and his hackles are raised. This is a pretty direct threat display that catches Axel off guard a bit as indicated his his ears turned in a more sideways position. While this may look like they are fighting, this method of expressing dominance makes it clear which wolf is higher ranking and actually avoids more scuffles for rank. With this small social group of two brothers, Axel is the more dominant wolf, but as we make plans to adopt pups and add to the pack in 2021, there may be opportunities for rank to change. Time will tell, but for now, staff record data and photograph and track the communication.
