Aidan has had a great week. We finished the major construction issues and the summer wolf care staff is done for the season, which means less traffic in the wolf yard. Aidan continues to be very excited and social to see Oscar, who can now freely romp in the wolf yard with protective fence keeping him from putting a nose or paw through the chainlink fence. As was reported in early July, Aidan had lost some weight and was down to 120 lbs. During the last Planning for Pups program, we were happy to report he has gained weight and now weighs 127 lbs (of course, he did still have a full belly from feeding).
The summer is nearing an end, and the cooler weather is a welcome relief for wolves. The logs are all the same today, As I write there is an approaching thunderstorm and I don't have much time. Aidan continues to show relaxed behavior coming in and out of the medical pen. Denali's increased interest in Oscar makes Oscar a bit nervous, but they are getting along well. Grizzer is very relaxed, and when Oscar returns from field trips, he play bows and rolls over at the fence line. Shadow is showing more dominance which is typical of this time of year. Malik is a bit nervous of the change in Shadow, but does respond with the appropriate body postures.
Aidan is so relaxed these days, it's hard to believe it's the same wolf compared to the stress of the construction days at the beginning of summer. His confidence is reflected in his appetite and his posture as he is observed doing stand over behaviors to Denali. What is most interesting is his continued interest in Oscar. He continually whines at the fence when Oscar approaches and he has been pawing at the medical pen gate to get into holding. What a difference from the months of June and early July when we couldn't get him into holding.
It's great to be back on the website with wolf logs. Sorry for the issues, we hope we have the problem solved. Aidan has had a good week, and has grown a considerably healthy winter coat. There have been a few Behind the Scenes tours for some special individuals, and Aidan dominates most of the wolf curator's time when she is lecturing. We do try to spend extra time with Denali, but Aidan reaps the benefit of a few extra hours of lecture.
Attila is 26 days old today. The pups had a busy day on Thursday with a media event at 4 pm and an open house at 5 pm. The media event was outside in the grassy area adjacent to the building. The pup program for the open house only required 15 minutes in the building. After the programs, the pups were tired. The audio you hear for both pups reflects this desire for sleep, Red Paw lets out a sigh in his audio and Attila is snoring at the end of the day. The pups did additional programs on Friday, there was no whining from pups, and they went after birch bark with hair stuffed inside. They favored deer hair over wolf hair, pulling both out of birch bark. Attila is taking to the bowl and lapping formula well; we are trying gruel today, and hope to transition them to bowl feeding soon. Starting this weekend, the pups logs will only include an image and growth data only. Video and audio will be processed during the week only.
Pups are certainly getting more mobile and more curious. Attila is really focused on the sounds of the main pack, howling, growling and general noise makes him alert. In today’s audio, you will hear Attila pawing at the chain link gate when the wolves are howling in the background. During the auditorium programs, Attila seems to be more nervous than we expected. He likes to step on the ledge and look out into the enclosure. Sometimes Grizzer comes to the window and they look at each other. Attila is taking to the bowl lapping better than Red Paw and may be a good transition since he has such selective bottle feeding traits. The video shows the pups in the auditorium for a public program. They do programs at 11, 1, and 3.
Aidan and Denali have yet to show respect for each other’s cache. If Denali caches food, Aidan quickly digs it up and runs with it, causing Denali to chase him. That may have been the motivation all along. Aidan has developed a bit of an allergy to the high volumes of pollen produced during this wet summer. His eyes are cleaned daily, and we hope this clears up when fall arrives and cooler weather prevails. To get the pups more actively feeding on deer carcasses, we are leaving a deer leg with the pups each evening, weighing the pre and post leg, the pups usually consume a pound or two of meat each night. In the video clips today, you will see Aidan actively consuming the venison.
It is amazing how pups change during this time termed the Transition period, before their hearing is fully developed. Noteable behaviors and physical developments that occurred today include: Ears standing erect for short periods of time, awareness of gate noise and human voices, pups very alert to the howling of the Exhibit Pack, growling and barking in their sleep, and teething, as the upper incisor teeth emerged early this morning. Wolf Pup # 2 has been demonstrating dominance behavior towards Pup # 1, not unusual for a smaller pup to compensate for size by being more physical. He is also responding to external stimuli and noises. After the morning feeding and the morning visit with the Exhibit Pack, he fell asleep, only to have his dream state growling and barking jolt him awake. He ran to the wolf care staff for comfort, a good sign that the intensive time for socialization is working.
The wolf logs are all the same this week due to the obligations to the Ethology class and an 80 degree heat and humidity spell that requires the curator to be spending time keeping the wolves cool. We had a great Ethology course this week, and the staff at the Center learned some great new techniques for managing anxiety, thanks to some tremendous resources among our program participants. The wolves did extremely well, even allowing for small group tours of Grizzer’s enclosure extension on the last night. Grizzer’s ground wire is in place, the next week will focus on burying the ground wire, completing the concrete pads and laying out the den. Our hope is to move him by July 15th. Shadow and Malik have a significant amount of hair remaining, but we continue to hand pluck the hair on a daily basis. Today is extremely warm and humid, so extra sprinlker time and use of the water hose is critical. Enjoy the 4th of July weekend, and be safe. Someone had asked if the wolves panic due to the fireworks noise, and the answer is no, we do some very positive conditioning as pups to fireworks, and they are very accustom to thunderstorms, showing no negative issues with this noise. Wind on the other hand, makes them nervous.
Aidan is still acting a bit anxious about any enclosure work but as soon as projects are done for the day, he's back on the greeting rock. He's had a noticeable change with some handlers, displaying some anxious grab biting. These handlers are staying out of the enclosure until construction is done to avoid creating a negative situation for both Aidan and the staff.
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