Aidan continues to show more relaxed behavior on the greeting rock. We still don't have any word on the camera repair for the Exhibit Pack, but will place this as top priority to install them once they are returned. Aidan and Oscar have really developed a great relationship and Aidan watches for Oscar when he comes on and off site. During the day, Oscar has been spending time alone in the wolf yard, safe behind the protective panels. Staff have observed both Aidan and Denali rubbing up against the fence with Oscar in very social greetings.
Aidan has been showing a lot of status and is definitely very confident in the main exhibit, but when he went into the pack holding area for some recent concrete work, Denali took advantage of his intimidation of the holding area. And this is how it goes between these two individuals. Denali is not bothered by holding areas, construction, strangers etc. and will use this to his advantage. Aidan is much more reserved and his anxiety is a sign of weakness. Our job as wolf care staff is to recognize these issues and make sure we minimize the outside influences that intimidate Aidan.
The logs will be all the same for this week. We did some concrete work in the Exhibit Pack on Wednesday which took precedence over all filming. The back of the den site in the Exhibit Pack had some old logs as a cover to prevent snow or rain from getting into the den. These logs were starting to rot and with Luna still being vulnerable and extremely active near the den, we decided to concrete a 3 foot by 6 foot overhang at the back of the den site. You may have noticed the densite webcam showing the fencing used to keep the wolves out. They were extremely good about the fencing and other than Denali on circling the fence on the first night, they didn’t dig or push on the fence. This allowed the concrete to dry thoroughly before the form and fence were removed on Friday. Grizzer, Shadow and Malik have had a quiet week and we will have more to report next week.
At the end of the Behavioral Observation week, I asked the team members to write a paragraph about their impression of the individual wolves. The following logs were written by Behavioral Team Members:<br> Nykia Steger<br> Laverne Logan<br> Joyce Riveroll<br> <br> "After the excitement of the pups had subsided, Aidan displayed more calm behavior. The pups kept him busy engaging in numerous play and chase behaviors. He continues to display intense guarding of the pups from Denali, especially if play becomes rough. He was observed on several occasions bringing food to the pups. Aidan is showing more interest toward interactions of the pack and is actively engaging during high activity. It will be interesting to see if he will assume the dominant male role in the pack."
Aidan has really developed into a attentive, social and defensive pack leader. He is always aware of the pups presence, continues to bring them food and has some very intense dominance interactions with Denali when there's a lot of activity around the pups. What's most impressive is his strong interest in Luna, he clearly seeks her out for interaction. This doesn't mean that he ignores Boltz, but there seems to be a stronger bond forming with Luna. Aidan has characteristics similar to Shadow and certainly all indications are that he will be the ultimate leader of this pack (if it's ok with Luna)…
I posted these logs as 9/1 so they wouldn't go into archive status after today. Aidan is doing such an amazing job with the pups. His guarding behavior of Denali is increasing and he's showing some very dominant postures, including a tail posture with a slight rise at the base (remind anyone of Maya?). What's most amazing is his tolerance of the pups while we are feeding. He waits patiently while the pups are being hand-fed and doesn't show aggression or over anxious behavior to try and get the food. We reward him often for this behavior, compared to Denali who we now lock into holding when we try to feed the pups. Aidan is no longer receiving any treatment for the Discoid Lupus, his pigmentation on his nose is nearly back to normal.
Aidan's change in behavior has resulted in some increased feeding bouts. Aidan actively guarded Denali from the deer carcass last week and still carries a significantly large belly showing that he is still eating caches. We also had an enclosure enrichment which included the feeding of a beaver that was used for a dissection for the Pup Summer Day Camp program. Even though it's hot, we aren't taking that much excess food from the enclosure.
Due to the Planning for Pups weekend, the excessive heat and the ongoing work on Grizzer’s habitat, this week’s logs will contain the same content for each wolf. Aidan was weighed during Planning for Pups and he's lost a few pounds, down to 120 lbs probably due to construction. Denali was weighed and has increased by a pound, up to 125 lbs. The first thing we need to do is introduce the newest member of the wolf care team. Oscar, a collie mix dog, was recently adopted from the Range Regional Animal Rescue facility in Hibbing Minnesota. We decided to look for a dog that could help provide some social stimulus to Grizzer (through the fence, not as a pack mate) as well as serve for a role model for the 2012 pups. Grizzer is very social, rubbing up against the fence when Oscar approaches, of course, Oscar is always on a leash and under direct supervision, Grizzer is still a wolf. We discovered Oscar and his perpetual grin on his website photo stimulated our application for adoption. Aidan is excitedly whining towards Oscar and Oscar has also helped some of Aidan’s anxiety going through the medical pen gates. Shadow and Malik are stimulated as well, allowing staff to liberally coat fly ointment spray on their heads and ears as they watch Oscar. This is a bonus, as they are usually hard to treat. Oscar has a large extended family, with many staff offering to take him for walks and social time with staff off-site, but Oscar’s home is the Center, and each night, he settles into a sleeping bag as staff put on a CD of music, set the air conditioning to 72 degrees and allow him a good night’s sleep in the safety of the wolf lab before he begins another day of playing in the wolf yard. Oscar’s photo is posted on Malik’s site, the arctics were too hot to come out of the shade for a photo this week, so we used a winter photo of Shadow, reminding us of cooler weather and Oscar did a stand in for Malik.
Aidan continues to show very strong social behavior towards Oscar. We are building some separation panels for the Exhibit fenceline to protect Oscar so he can go visit Aidan and not risk a nose or paw getting caught in the fence. The panels will be made of hardware cloth which is very small metal fencing which is mounted on 2×4 panels and bolted to the fence. Today is the first day of cooler weather in a week, with a daytime high of 60 degrees, Aidan and Denali have been very playful. The Youtube posting for this week will be delayed until Monday, Grizzer will be introduced to his new habitat and we will post his interactions in the new area.
Aidan continues to be a bit of a challenge for some of our staff. With certain individuals, he is completely relaxed, for others, the construction seemed to have triggered some negative conditioning and he has shown some aggressive behavior to a few individuals. Socialized wolves can be far more dangerous than wolves who have not been bottle fed and handled at a young age. We will keep analyzing this situation and trying to determine the best course of action to help him gain trust of some staff. This is the reason why we don't have an open access policy to the wolf enclosures and why it is very rare that people join wolf care. Aidan also helped identify a leak in the concrete pond. This will be on the list of things to do for the Fall Working for Wolves… for those of you registered, the list is growing daily.
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