The Wolf Logs for the week will contain the same text for each wolf. The curator was at a conference during the week, and time is limited for Friday duties. The pack did well in the Curator's absence, it is important that wolf care is not dependent upon one individual, but a multitude of individuals that can meet the wolves' basic needs. There are 16 people associated with the wolf care program and all have their own strengths and skills that help manage the packs. Aidan continues to be confident and Grizzer is still showing some anxiety when Aidan puts his tail in a T-2 posture and follows him. There will be a Vermilion Community College Ethology class beginning some observations, and we hope to have some good data to share by the end of April.
In the last week, we have observed an increase in play behavior between Aidan and Denali. Vermilion Community College students observing the Exhibit have recorded recent chasing bouts with Aidan chasing Denali and Denali chasing Aidan. The difference is, when Aidan catches up to Denali, he does a play bow and fore leg stab. When Denali catches up to Aidan, he tackles him and does some jaw sparring. These two do have different personalities. The other observation is that they are decreasing distances between each other when resting. Initially, Aidan would be on the main den with Denali on the Slate Den. Recently, Aidan has moved himself to the base of the Slate Den while Denali continues to rest on top of the Slate Den.
Staff have recorded that Aidan has been more likely to seek attention than Denali when staff come to the fence. This is a change from previous months when Denali was always first at the fence. Another behavior that may support the interpretation that Aidan is decreasing in confidence is whining. Aidan is becoming much more vocal towards staff that are in or near the lab. He still is very guarding of staff when they are in the enclosure. We’re not sure what precipitated the change, every wolf deals with separation anxiety differently. It appears that Denali has returned to normal exuberant and sometimes over excited behavior, where Aidan seeks passive, submissive and seems to prefer quiet time.
Aidan continues to be very needy with wolf care staff. He clings like glue and guards defensively when Denali approaches. This diminishes with time in the enclosure, but reoccurs every time wolf care staff enter. His social behavior with Denali is increasing, with several play bows and wrestling bouts on the den sites. They have started sleeping near each other again, with Denali on the top of the slate den, and Aidan at the opening. The pond has been a source of interest, as the temperatures have cooled again to below zero mornings, the pond melt water has frozen solid, creating an ice rink for the wolves to investigate.
Aidan continues to roll over and socially engage these pups, even after Boltz started to do a little testing behavior. Aidan clearly favors Luna over Boltz, which reinforces Luna’s confidence. But, Aidan is starting to get a lot more intense with Denali, and Luna is right there to help Aidan. The winter season is known for intensity, and while it may look like they are picking on Denali, the reality is, a wolf pack works best if the rank order is clearly defined. Aidan is defining Denali to be below the pups. This will change when the pups reach full adult size and may no longer be viewed as pups, but for now, this is life in an Exhibit Pack that seems to have a defined pack leader.
There were several observations of Aidan rolling around in a submissive posture and both pups asserting some dominance. Initially, Aidan took it in stride, but as the day turned to evening, he started to get a bit anxious about this new found pup confidence and started to show a bit of dominance over them. Boltz immediately submitted, but Luna rolled over then came back with more intensity. I would suspect we're going to start seeing some more active dominance from Aidan towards the pups, but he seems to content rolling over for them until they start getting a bit too excitable.
Aidan continues to display some very social behavior, rolling over for Luna and Boltz and generally showing a very relaxed behavior. We've come a long way with Aidan from the yearling years of being the omega to the current status as a confident and very relaxed pack leader. The Discoid Lupus condition is nearly gone, and as an auto immune disorder, certainly the change in his stress level may be a factor.
Pup # 2 is 18 days old today and has been temporarily nicknamed Attila. We look forward to the name the pup contest and hope people are following the logs to get a sense of the pup’s behaviors and personality. We nicknamed pup # 2 Attila because he has a very feisty personality. He is quick to assert dominance over his more passive littermate, and in the logs from the 13th of May, he snapped at one of the handlers when they touched him. He has also growled at the Wolf Curator, Lori Schmidt, and learned about active dominance and being rolled over in a submissive posture. It is critical that the pups are shown their limits of acceptable behavior. It is better to teach them lessons now, to make them more manageable as adults. Pups will keep testing their limits, and if there is no discipline, they will continue to escalate potentially aggressive behavior. The adult members of a wolf pack would be doing this to their pups, so when humans socialize wolf pups and replace the candid influence, they must assume that role. The pups will be learning this first hand when they join the Exhibit Pack in August. As far as pup management, we are still struggling with the right flow of the formula from the bottle. We have tried several brands, even the models that were preferred by the 2004 litter don’t seem to be favored by these pups. If the pups struggle with the flow of the nipple, they expend a lot of energy that should be going into growing, get worn out and don’t feed. A flow to fast can result in pups aspirating formula, too slow and they give up. There were some issues with the shifts last night, but with perseverance and patience, Attila did consume nearly 25 ounces of formula in 24 hours. This compares with 13 ounces when he was 13 days old. The pups had their first outdoor session in the sun today while the pen was being cleaned.
We have many observations of Aidan rolling on the ground for Luna and Boltz. He seems to increase his social interactions on a daily basis, but as Denali comes over to show a bit of status, Aidan is quick to lunge and drive Denali away. We did get a weight on Aidan this week, he is now 136.4 lbs.
Aidan continues to have moments of social behavior where he stimulates interactions by rolling over on his back. While he does stimulate behavior, he doesn't always get the behavior he wants. Luna typically comes over and does a scruff bite and Boltz comes over and climbs on him, and when Aidan gets up, Boltz continues to ride-up. This doesn't discourage Aidan from greeting, but you can see the frustration in Aidan. These pup's will take 2 years before they're fully mature, it will be a long maturation period for Aidan.
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