Denali had a relatively calm week, participating in a few chases, guarding a few meals, getting said meals stolen from him by Luna. We’ve noticed Boltz and Denali interaction very well on a regular basis, typically with Boltz fully submitting to Denali. It is interesting that Boltz so willingly submits to Denali, the second ranking male, but is less likely to submit to the dominant male Aidan.
Boltz wasn’t in much of a mood to interact this week, but he played an active role in the pack antics. Luna commonly instigates said antics, and Boltz is often ready to get after his pup mate. The interactions between these two have been a bit more intense as the winter has progressed. Perhaps Boltz doesn’t like the idea of being subordinate to his sister.
There are many misconceptions that the older a wolf gets, the calmer, more docile, and generally safer the animal is to interact with. This is often a common mistake we see in wolf care with new staff entering retirement enclosures. Just because a wolf is older, does not mean they become doglike, or tame. Even at 6 years old, Aidan demonstrated to us very well the other day that he’s readily able to keep up with the 2 year olds. In this week’s photo we have Aidan, who had just leaped over several rocks, cutting off Luna’s path during a chase.
We’ve had a lot of animal activity outside of the enclosures recently. Earlier this week, a volunteer who had stayed overnight at the center woke to Grizzer bark-howling. This is often a territorial response, a severe warning to another that they need to back off. We do know that there is a wolf that has frequented the exterior of the enclosure, but we were unable to do a perimeter check before the snow had covered any potential tracks.
Luna has claimed her straw bed for the season. It’s not an uncommon sight to behold Luna resting in the front-most straw bed. She’s often resting in it by herself, but we’ve seen the other wolves join her now and then. Thankfully, she’s not as possessive of straw beds as she is of beaver.
Denali does have his limits, you can only be the focus of a mobbing for so long before it becomes much more irritable. In this week’s photo we have Luna in the process of pushing a few of Denali’s buttons, with another wolf already on his back. Currently Denali maintains himself as the second ranking male, and though Boltz shows few signs of really testing Denali’s position, the ranks could easily shift this winter.
Boltz is a very social wolf. More social with other wolves than humans perhaps, but a social wolf nonetheless. Very frequently he’s found sleeping beside another wolf, food begging to Denali, or perhaps playing with Luna. Lots of social behavior comes from Boltz to all of the pack members, but testing behavior comes with it as well. We’re seeing a very strong focus from Boltz towards Aidan. Whether this will lead to a change in status this winter is uncertain.
With the coming of winter, the wolves tend to become much more visible in the International Wolf Center’s observable enclosure. Wolves are built to thrive in the cold. Contrary to a hot summer day, the wolves have had an increased bout of activity during the day, and Aidan is an active participant in the activity. We’ve seen more playbows and other social activities from him, a break from the more stoic overseer we commonly see Aidan as.
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.
