Recently we’ve given Grizzer a few fawns during our What’s For Dinner programs, even a few adult does as well. This morning during wolf care we realized that he had consumed an entire fawn overnight, upwards of 25lbs. He demonstrates the wolf’s feast or famine diet very well with a meal like that, and due to a full stomach, he’s been spending a good lot of time under his favorite tree.
Luna will typically possess food whenever she can, regardless if she’s planning on eating it in the near future. The rest of the pack does eventually eat, but at times it can be a long wait before Luna is done with the carcass. When she does eat however, she eats well. Last weekend she possessed a majority of the beaver we had placed in the enclosure, she ate well that night. The next day she was a bit disinterested in the food the rest of the pack had, likely due to a very full belly.
When getting dinner ready for the wolves, we will typically try to pull them into our medical pen so that we can place the food in the enclosure with ease. Recently however, Denali seems to be the only one that goes into the medical pen when we need them all to. This has resulted in us just holding Denali off while we place the food in the enclosure. Recently we’ve done away with that method, it forces Denali to be the last at the carcass, and in the wolf pack, it’s not always the largest or the most dominant that eats. Any wolf that possesses food has the right to defend it, so a lower ranking animal may guard the food from the rest of the pack if they possess it first.
Wolf care staff always have to be mindful of how we interact with Boltz. Due to his late arrival to the International Wolf Center, he’s not as trustful as some other wolves. He has good days and bad days, some days he may come right up to wolf care staff and solicit a greeting, other days he may just want to sniff staff, and nothing else. His confidence has improved greatly this fall however, due to his independent sessions with wolf care staff, we see more of the social greetings from him day-to-day.
With the transition to winter, we typically add a second feeding time for the wolves in the middle of the week, usually Wednesdays. Having a full belly can help reduce the intensity of the interactions between wolves in a pack, as the dominance displays can become much more intense as we approach the breeding season. Aidan seems to have taken well to this transition, he enjoyed a beaver on Wednesday, focusing on the best part of course: the tail!
Every winter we place hay inside of our enclosures to ensure a warm place to rest for the wolves. We also try to put these beds in open areas that receive sun, and guests may be able to view the wolves from our observation area. For Grizzer, this means on top of the East Side den, and to that Grizzer appears to have no complaints.
During our last “Wolves to the Web” webinar, we placed hay inside of the enclosure for the comfort and warmth of our wolves. Luna is always quick to conquer these beds, but we were interested in observing which wolf would share with whom, and we were pleasantly surprised to see Luna and Aidan sleeping in the same hay bed with one another. We still don’t see much pair-bonding behavior, but research has shown that pair-bonded wolves tend to have closer proximities to one another when sleeping. It may still take a few seasons for Luna to get into the rhythm of pair-bonding, but we may be one step closer.
When activity spikes in the enclosure, Aidan will often redirect his dominance towards Denali, and the two-year-olds will often join in the dominance as well. Denali is probably the most unlikely to test Aidan, he is very quick to roll for the dominant male whenever the focus turns towards himself.
Aidan is known for his dislike of new routines and activities in the wolf yard. The Wolves to the Web webinar series is another routine that he is slowly getting used to. Some anxiety from Aidan though is picked up by Boltz, who is quick to take advantage of the situation and test for some status. For now, Aidan maintains his role well, and takes most of it in stride, but this testing behavior will likely determine Boltz’s place in the pack this winter.
Two-year-olds are often quite the handful, but Aidan takes many of their antics in stride. We’ve seen a lot of very social behavior from Aidan towards the rest of the pack this week, he has even initiated a few play bows and chases through the enclosure. The first snowfall of the season seems to liven the exhibit with new excitement for the winter.
