We have been watching Luna to see if she's going to show and pair bonding behavior this winter. Right now, she's still quite possessive about resources and it's quite understandable that Aidan doesn't show much interest in close personal pairbonding moments. But we did observe some interesting behavior between Denali and Luna, both in a side rest position with their paws wrapped around each others heads. Of course, right after that, Denali got up and tried to steal a deer hide from Luna and she lunged at his head… I think we will have a completely different dynamic with Luna as the dominant female.
Denali has been on the receiving end of some dominance. Most of it is stimulated by Denali wrestling with the pups and Aidan putting an end to it. These are increasing in intensity as indicated by the tucked tail and hackles on Denali, but they are short-lived. Biologists theorize that these short dominance displays clearly identify a rank order and can actually prevent more intense struggles in the pack hierarchy and provides leadership when the pack needs the support.
Grizzer seems to have caught the spring fever that is stimulated by those first days of 25 to 30 degree weather. He runs around the enclosure with great excitement, does a snow plow, runs again, rolls over on his back and jumps to make another lap. This has been Grizzer's wolf care routine and it repeats with every new day of wolf care.
Malik and Shadow are both feeling so much better than the mid-winter crud that they experienced a few weeks ago. Malik has reduced the amount of posturing over Shadow and is accepting the RLU over marks and chin rests that is a familiar trait of Shadow. Other than the behavioral interactions, Malik is gaining a lot of food resources as we increase feedings to help Shadow increase his weight.
We've had some great social dynamics with the recent return to 20 below weather. We've been placing straw in the front of the Exhibit to provide a sunny resting place as the daytime temperatures increase. Fortunately, the best sun location is in front of the webcam for the Exhibit Pack. Aidan has been observed resting with Luna and Boltz on several occasions. Of course, there are several beds in the enclosure, but the direct sunlight at the front of the Exhibit must feel good after a cold night.
We have switched the feeding protocol to 3 times a week for all the wolves until we can replenish the supply of deer. Boltz is still a challenge to feed smaller quantities. All of the other wolves show more food aggression and can actively take food from Boltz (except Aidan, he can, but doesn't). So, this means when smaller quantities are fed, we need to monitor Boltz's food consumption more closely. It's not an issue when you have a large deer because the other wolves will be satiated and there will still be some left for the more timid eaters, but when there's smaller quantities, we have to make sure Boltz gets his share. You may notice this on the webcams, we may spend a longer time just standing or sitting next to Boltz. Luna has no problems getting her fair share.
With the new feeding schedule, we have purchased some small chicken fryers. These whole chickens are about 3 – 5 lbs and a perfect size for a smaller wolf feeding. The good thing about this feeding versus the chicken wing, leg or thigh feedings is that the wolves seem to be stimulated with more carrying and guarding behavior than the smaller quantities of food. Grizzer seemed to really enjoy carrying around his chickens and even guarding them from staff.
Luna will be a year of age on Monday and she is an active, dominant, food possessive and overall healthy yearling. The last few sub zero nights resulted in some stiffness and limping but as soon as the sun appears over the tree tops, she's up and moving around. We are fortunate that she has the tenacity to compensate for a smaller size and limitations that may exist for her. We have also observed some very strong social interactions with Boltz as indicated by Boltz's photo this week.
Shadow has some quirks. He's very assertive with staff and is the reason there are a limited number of staff that can enter his enclosure. He is the master of chin rests, direct eye contact, posturing and all of the other traits that are associated with a dominant animal. He still psychologically leads the Exhibit Pack and is the source of most howling communication on site. The Exhibit Pack (Aidan as the leader) rarely starts a howl, but will respond if Shadow leads. This may be due to the fact that Shadow was never deposed as a pack leader, he was retired for health reasons. All the wolves seem to look to him as the leader even though they don't physically interact. But, when food is placed in his enclosure, he avoids conflict, but maybe that's also a trait of a good leader. Aidan seems to be the same way, deferring to the other wolves rather than taking if from them.
Luna's shedding in a strange pattern. Her neck hair is going first, then her belly hair and her back and tail seem to be holding a lot of hair. I suspect that her dark coloration will be returning as soon as she is done shedding.
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