Aiden was extremely interested in the deer leg offered during the Pup 101 program. Last Saturday, he discovered the beaver thawing for the Exhibit Pack and became extremely excited, causing staff to move the wheelbarrow outside. Now that he has a taste of venision, all future deer will be thawed outside of the wolf yard. Aiden came out of the program with excitement and growled aggressively when staff tried to take the deer leg back to the freezer.
The Pups are 47 days old today and received their official names. The winning names were Aidan and Denali. Originally, Aiden was on the list for Wolf Pup # 1 – or Red Paw, but after further research into the name, we learned that the name Aidan is an Irish Gaelic name, a diminutive of Aodh and usually translated into English as "little fiery one. Based on our behavioral experience with Pup # 2 (nicknamed Attila), Aiden seemed to fit. We also noticed that Attila was responding to the A sound of his name, so we wanted to keep a consistent name. We are planning to post video again this week, please let me know via email if you have difficulty in playing the video. My email address is curator@wolf.org.
The pups are 52 days old today, we don't have weights today, we are waiting for the new scales arrival tomorrow, so we don't have to weigh them with the sling. Aiden moves too much and is too alert for the sling. The following logs were written by Jill Badyrka. : Both pups received a veterinary visit today in the Wolf Lab. Initially, both displayed a bit of shyness with Chip, but ultimately both pups came to Chip and sat quietly during the exam. The curator held each pup for their vaccination. Both pups remained relaxed for the remainder of their exam, without incident. In their first Pup 101 of the day, Aiden continued to display increasingly focused food aggression with a beaver tail, although Denali was successful in distracting him away from the tail with the peeling of bark from a birch log. It is quite interesting to watch their cognitive and strategic skills develop, while abiding by innate “rules of the pack such as food possession.
Welcome back to the logs, we're not sure what happened, but it is repaired now. We have a bit of data to post today, the pups were 8 weeks old yesterday, they gained weight and we have some new measurements. One of our team leaders pointed out that Grizzer's and Maya's body measurements weren't matching Denali and Aidan's. The issue is the change in body measurement positions. After reviewing a few research projects, the standard measurement we agreed upon was to measure the sagittal crest of the pup with the head held down at a 90 degree angle measuring a straight line distance to the base of the tail. In 2004, the measurement was a combination the nose to sagittal crest, the sagittal crest to base of tail and total length of tail. When we total this for Aidan, it measures 101 cm total nose to tail length. Also, even though Aidan is smaller than Denali, he is still larger by age than Grizzer was. Aidan stands 43 cm tall at the shoulder, he has a slimmer frame than Denali and seems to have longer legs. Aidan's video shows the pups on the back side of the pup pen, with Lakota having access to the wolf yard from the back. Lakota is free to walk in and out of the retired enclosure at will, and often comes to check out the pups. If they are too much for her, she goes back to the Retired Enclosure. As you can see, the pups are excited to see her. We do watch the packs response to greetings with Lakota, but so far, as long as she's not physically coming in contact with the pups, they are not defensive.
Logs written by Team Leader Jill Badyrka. Both pups are beginning to exhibit predatory behavior with stimuli other than each other. Aiden and Denali stalked and followed back and forth a small bird hopping along the fence line in the wolf yard. Aiden has displayed a continual desire to be outside in the wolf yard even at night, with random yet prolonged periods of scratching at the door. His intense curiosity appears insatiable.
The following was written by Team Leader Jill Badyrka: While there are general stages of development, and the pups are now in the Socialization Period, having transitioned from the Transition Period, the uniqueness of each pup’s development is a true wonder to witness. Aiden weighs approximately 2 pounds less than Denali, yet is wiry strong with agility surpassing that of Denali. For example, Aiden is able to easily climb the den box in the lab enclosure, while the larger Denali is still clumsy and not able to jump up and maneuver his large paws. However, in the evening Pup 101 program, Denali displayed more food aggression than Aiden with a stand-over and a squash, and Aiden actually submitted with several submissive paws. This is rather new for Aiden who has been the main aggressor. Today was also the first day in the outside pup enclosure, where they both spent about an hour. Both pups displayed much curiosity and interest while inside, and once brought back out to the wolf yard, returned to the gate of the pup enclosure and tried to paw their way back in.
The pups are 53 days old today. The new scale arrived and it is very easy to use. Aidan walkded across the scale, stood there, the digital reading flashed and he walked off, no stress. I do need to clarify, that I mispelled Aidan's name initially. Now, I an spelling it correctly. When I searched the web for this name, Wikipedia's definition is <br> Aidan is an Irish Gaelic name, a diminutive of Aodh and usually translated into English as "little fiery one" or similar. Formerly common only in Ireland, the name (together with variants) has become common in the UK and the United States. I will try to spell it correctly from now on. The following logs were written by team leader Jill Badyrka.<br> Communication is developing with a constant influx of increased vocalizations. When the Exhibit Pack howled at 1:45 am, and again beginning at 6:25 am for two distinct sessions, both pups woke and joined in. The range of intonations is increasing, as well as the types of vocalizations. The pups are emitting barks, yelps, squeaks, and various combinations of these interspersed with the howls. During Pup 101, for the first time, the pups shared a deer hide from which they both tore and ingested small pieces. Aiden seems to especially enjoy the tearing and shaking of his food, exhibiting a stronger predatory instinct than Denali. After two days of not being able to obtain accurate weights with the sling scale, the arrival of the new scale today enabled an easy weigh of 17.8 pounds for Aiden.
Written by team leader, Ann Beyer, and program participant, Lee Williams. Aidan had a busy afternoon. He did well in the afternoon programs, enjoying a new toy he could chew on to help his teething. In the 5PM program, Aidan was relentless about trying to steal a beaver tail from Denali who wasn’t about to give it up. Afterward, in the pup yard, he slid down into the den and explored it, even rushing at the video camera when he exited the den. He unearthed a cache that was promptly stolen by Denali. The brothers had an active game of tag, mostly initiated by Aidan. At the fence line he spent time with Maya, wagging his tail and trying to touch her nose.
Written by program participants Gail Ramee and Andi Nelson: The pups are 60 days old today, and are very anxious to spend time outdoors now, frequently whining and pawing at the door to the Wolf Yard. This morning Aidan initiated a howl chorus from inside the Wolf Lab, and was quickly joined by Denali and then by the adult wolves outside. Once outside Aidan enjoyed a game of chase with his brother and interacted with Maya at the fence. Later in the afternoon, Aidan fished for venison ice cubes and soaked the floor of the Wolf Lab in the process. He has made the transition to a meat diet now and seems to be enjoying chicken along with gruel. Aiden gained a pound since yesterday, weighing in at 20.8 pounds.
Written by nanny team members Lee Williams & Ann Beyer: During these “wolf days of summer, the pups sleep frequently, seemingly recharging for the next round of explosive play and exploration. Aidan is a lot like a light switch. He’s off, laid out and sleeping, or on high, interacting with Denali or getting into (or onto) everything within reach. Right now there’s no low or medium speed. Once up this morning, Aidan was all over the wolf lab, checking for things he could pull off counters or chew. He used his problem-solving skills to manipulate and move objects and tested ways to get high enough to get up to the counter tops. Actually, he acted like he wanted to get onto the counter tops. He even jumped straight up in the air to reach something. Today, when anyone has gone to the fridge, Aidan has been right there ready to grab something. Is he hoping for more bagels like yesterday? In the wolf yard, Aidan and Denali ran, tails wagging excitedly, over to greet a whining Maya. As she paced the fence line, the pups ran back and forth right beside her. After wearing himself out from all the romping and playing, Aidan nonchalantly walked into the lab, plopped down, and went immediately to sleep. The switch is off.
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