The Working for Wolves crew did a tremendous job in removing wet straw and replacing the bedding areas with clean wood shavings. Aidan did well during the period of time when the pack was placed into the holding are for the cleaning projects, but we did see an increase in his redirected aggression. By Sunday morning, he had resisted going into holding for some final work projects and stayed in the Exhibit while we had an ATV move some of the large rocks under the eaves.
Written by Pups at One Year participant Andi Nelsen: At the Pups at One Year program, participants, the majority of the time, was spend with behavioral observations of the pack and speculating on what the future may hold. Wil Aidan and Luna pair bond? As the current dominant male in the pack, Aidan has a very dynamic role in the Exhibit pack. As Shadow tended to do, Aidan is generally the one who hangs back and observes and subtly controls the the behaviors of the others. For example, at the enclosure enrichements and the Saturday What's For Dinner program, the others engaged before he did. But eventually, he did eat and marked some of the enrichment items (ice block). In addition to the Pups at One Year program, a bus tour from the Twin Cities came up, with large Behind the Scenes group. This is a scenario that can create stress, but Aidan handled it quite well. With fly season in full swing, a new spray for the pack was applied, seemingly with success. All wolves seemed to be shaking their heads less after application.
Aidan's been showing more active dominance over Denali and it's usually stimulated by Luna. He continues to show some protective nature over the pups, and if Denali is too intense, Aidan quickly puts an end to interactions. We have been watching for more signs of pair bonding between Aidan and Luna. Even in a spayed and neutered Exhibit, pair bonding can occur between the dominant male and the dominant female. Behaviors may include shoulder to shoulder parallel walks, sleeping in close proximity to one another, rolling over for each other and facial greetings that display a strong social bond.
Aidan has been observed in some increasing social behavior with Luna and Boltz, but there still seems to be some antagonistic behavior from Luna that results in jaw sparring and dominance from Aidan. We've also noticed that when Aidan and Luna are jaw sparring, Boltz has been quick to help Luna by jumping and grabbing Aidan from behind. This clearly creates some anxiety for Aidan and he usually retreats. It seems Aidan would rather avoid conflict, but Luna seems to seek it out.
We've been watching the interactions between Luna and the adult males to see if there is any closer social relationship building as the lone female. It's a bit young for pair bonding of a dominant pair, but we did experience pair bonding between Maya and Shadow by February 2005. Of course, Maya was a bit more mature than Luna is right now. So far, we still see Aidan rolling over for both pups, he is more watchful of their interactions and does show some dominance to both pups. We will continue to watch interactions in the upcoming months to see if pairbonding is going to occur.
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.
Sorry for the break between log postings, the daily tasks of managing wolves on frequent feeding schedules and dealing with the icy conditions of spring melt seemed to dominate my time this week. I did make a trip to another cooperative wildlife project that had some spare roadkill and added five deer to the freezer. This certainly helps. I would like to thank all of you who sent a donation during this time of food shortage and who honored the pups during their birthday. I am extremely appreciative and humbled by the sincere support of our ambassador wolves. I know that the educational mission is accomplished when people take the time to connect with these ambassador wolves. Aidan is doing well, he seems to still assert some status over Denali, but things are calming a bit. There is no indication of the Discoid Lupus condition that was an issue last winter, maybe the pups are good for the immune system.
Only days after I posted the notice that I thought Aidan's Discoid Lupus had cleared up, did we notice a small pink spot on his nose. We've also been observing some reserved behavior and irritability from Aidan. Some of it is understandable, Luna jumps on Aidan every chance she gets, but there seems to be more to it. We will activate a treatment for his condition if we see continued advancement of pigmentation loss.
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. Aidan had a tough start as an Exhibit Pack member, Maya was an active dominant female who, in the absence of another female, seemed to focus on Aidan. There were times in his life where his movement was restricted to certain portions of the enclosure, and any indication that he strayed would result in an active pin to the ground. As a yearling, his first set of guard hairs were thin, possibly due to stress, but maybe due to the fact that Maya rolled him into a submissive posture more than any of the other wolves combined. He had scrapes on the back of the legs from being a half step to slow for Maya's stealth interactions. He accepted it as a lower ranking pack member and later began pair bonding with Maya. Now, he leads this pack and his change in status has revealed a calmer, more socially interactive dominant male.
Sorry for the delay in logs and Youtube, last Friday's snowstorm resulted in 16 inches of new snow and several feet of drifts. Staff concentrated efforts on snow removal and access issues. This week's Logs and Youtube are dedicated to Aidan and Denali, who will be 5 years of age tomorrow. Visitors always want to hear about the pups, or the arctics and sometimes overlook the middle aged pair. Aidan has some tremendous qualities as a pack leader, has shown strong guarding behavior toward the pups and has been through a lot in his 5 years of life. Aidan was the omega of the pack after Malik was retired and had many restrictions enforced by Maya. He has come a long way and is admirable to watch in his behavioral patterns.
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