Someone recently asked me if I had a favorite wolf. Certainly some people may think it's hard not to think of some individuals with a greater concern because of their individual needs, but the reality is, every wolf is different and they all have some unique characteristic to make them special. So, I thought I would dedicate this week's wolf logs to those unique characteristics. Boltz is extremely timid and he has a way of looking at staff or wolves, with his head down and a gaze of mistrust. This may be a result of him being much older than the neonate stage when we acquired him, or the challenging summer of keeping Luna protected by stopping Boltz's dominance interactions. Staff need to move very slowly around Boltz, quick movements make him nervous. He shows trust in staff, but only if it's on his terms.
Denali has a great photo this week. What's so great about lying on the den? Well, he seems to know when it's best to just let the yearlings do their thing. It's the facial expression as he watches them that I find interesting.
Luna has started to shed some of her undercoat, but most of that shedding is a result of Boltz (or Denali) jaw sparring with her and getting their teeth caught in her hair. We have noticed that her coat is really getting lighter, this could be the effect of sun fading or the undercoat becoming more prominent. We do notice her frequently lying in the sun, even on the warmest days. This may feel relief on a winter's worth of sore joints.
Denali is the largest wolf we have ever managed and he is one of the calmest in behavior and interactions. He is most tolerant of any management activity from vaccinations to brushing and he is quite tolerant of the yearling exuberant behavior which sometimes borderlines on obnoxious. We weighed all the wolves this week and Denali weighed in at 130 pounds. Here's a review of his annual weights since he was a yearling. <li> 4/22/2009 Denali 108.03 lbs (YEARLING) <li>4/29/2010 Denali 107.36 lbs <LI>6/5/2011 Denali 124 lbs <li>6/14/2012 Denali 123.5 lbs <li>6/4/2013 Denali 130 lbs <br> The wolves will reach their peak size between 3 and 6 year of age.
The last time we weighed Luna was in October of 2012 when she weighed 67 pounds. We were hoping for 70 lbs as her yearling weight, and we were quite surprised when she weighed in at 79.5 pounds, which was the same weight as Maya when she was a yearling. Luna has nearly completed the shedding of her undercoat and it appears she will maintain a whitish tinge to her dark guard hairs. She continues to assert a significant amount of dominance over all the other wolves in the pack, including Aidan.
Malik has been shedding sheets of undercoat and has been very willing to allow staff to groom him with both brushes and bare hands. For a 13 year old wolf, he is very spry and agile, if he doesn't want to be brushed, he manages to get away. For the first time in several years, we managed to get Malik to willingly walk on the scale. As the lower ranking wolf, he's often very timid and won't allow a weight, but with some great staff and a lot of patience, we were successful in getting a current value. Here's his weight history since he was a yearling. <li>4/23/2001 Malik 86.5 11 month old <li>5/16/2005 Malik 89.5 5 yrs <li>7/7/2008 Malik 88 8 yrs, 2 mo <li>4/21/2009 Malik Not able to weigh 9 yrs <li>4/29/2010 Malik 91.09 10 years <li>5/25/2011 Malik 92 11 years 2 weeks (weighed during a medical exam) <li>6/4/2013 Malik 91.7 lbs 13 years 1 month
As the dominant pack leader, Shadow is very confident. This includes standing on the weight scale. We have no issues weighing Shadow, he's actually very cooperative. This week, he weighed in at 89.5 pounds, which is a good weight for him and is consistent with last year's weight. Here's a summary of his weights since he was a yearling. <li>4/23/2001 " 87.3 11 mo <li>5/6/2005 " 95 5 yrs <li>7/7/2008 " 92.5 8 yrs <li>4/22/2009 " 88.6 8 yrs 11.5 mo <li>4/29/2010 " 87.12 9rs 11.5 mo <li>5/25/2011 " 92 11 years 2 weeks <li>6/14/2012 " 89.5 12 Years 1 month <li>6/4/2013 89.5 lb 13 years 1 month
All the wolves were vaccinated this week for Rabies, and the wolves under 10 years of age were vaccinated with a 5 way vaccine which protects against parvo, distemper and a few other things. Aidan and Denali did extremely well with their vaccinations, Luna and Boltz need a bit of work. Aidan is responding well to the new treatment for his Lupus condition and doesn't seem to have the discomfort and lethargy associated with Doxycyline. Aidan utilizes the den or the wood chips to escape the bugs and the heat. He is the least likely wolf to be out on display to the public.
Boltz was the most nervous about his recent vaccinations. He has a certain level of mistrust that is quick to activate when something is different. Fortunately, he allowed two of the staff to vaccinate him while he was in the medical pen. There may be some association with this area and staff handling from when he was a pup. Boltz is the oldest pup we have ever socialized (over30 days before we began our socialization process) and even though he was handled in the neonate stage at his natal facility, there's a difference in getting a wolf to trust our staff and our facility. We will continue to work with him to build his trust and have positive experiences with staff. Today, while I was in the enclosure trying to film, he got so excited that he climbed on my lap. That's definitely positive reinforcement.
Malik has a lot of hair. He is shedding in 1 foot long sheets and the lower branches in the enclosure are covered with white hair. Otherwise, he's been very interactive with Shadow and they frequently share the den space. He is the most reluctant wolf for basic medical care, but one of our more experienced wolf care staff managed to vaccinate him without any issues. At this age, they are no longer at risk for Parvo and the protective titers shown in their blood work show that they have good protection, but we do vaccinate for rabies on an annual basis.
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