Aidan continues to benefit from the pack's focus on Denali. He is frequently eating the excess deer carcasses, and has enjoyed some restful time in the straw beds. He and Maya had an issue when Grizzer and Denali were reunited, and it is clear that Aidan has gained some confidence. Aidan didn't have much for bite wounds, but Maya's ear and lip show the signs of a dominant female that actively shows her status. We continue to see Aidan foreleg stab to Maya despite the fact that she postures over him and chases him to the rocks in the front of the enclosure. We received a foot of snow, and Aidan still shows young animal tendencies playing in the snow.
Aidan is probably the best indicator of pack tension. As the omega, if there's tension, there's redirection to the omega, usually by Maya. If you get a chance to view the Youtube footage for this week, you will see Aidan moving about the enclosure with very little concern for Maya's presence. This type of response certainly indicates calm behavior. Denali continues to be a testing two year old, but his testing is less intense and he's actually been observed playing with Aidan again. Of course, if they wrestle and chase too much, it draws attention from Maya and Grizzer, but it's a good sign of pack cohesiveness. A wolf pack doesn't appear to function well with uncertainty of rank, if everyone knows their position, the pack has a much calmer energy.
Sorry for the delay, Delay challenged Grizzer for dominance on Friday, and we have been dealing with that issue for the last day. All is fine right now, and I will post more information on Grizzer and Denali's logs. Aidan has not been involved in any of the tension between Grizzer and Denali, with the exception of some chases issues with Maya, he's had some benefits. After the first challenge from Denali on Friday morning, we fed a deer to try to distract the wolves, it didn't work for Grizzer and Denali, but Aidan got to eat his fill of deer. He was later observed sleeping with Grizzer and he was also observed licking Grizzer's wounds.
Due to some cold weather and a temporary holding of Denali from the Exhibit, we've been feeding the wolves 3 – 5 lbs of chicken per day, per wolf. Aidan likes this management plan. He gets to eat in the medical pen without competition from anyone else, then spends his day resting. Since Denali's move off Exhibit (see Denali's log), Aidan has bee sleeping in the den with Maya each night, and hasn't used the straw under the eaves. The tension in the pack is much lower, and with Maya calmer, Aidan has no issues resting with her.
I'm not sure if you noticed, but since Denali's time out, Aidan has been spending much more time on the greeting rock. The reduction in tension has made his life easier. As I stated in the Youtube video, Denali gets reintroduced to the pack on Monday, that is, if Grizzer passes his Vet inspection. All indications look good. In an effort to aid the transition of Denali back into the pack, we are feeding extra amounts of food to all wolves to reduce the typical wolf competition they have while feeding on a deer carcass. We are also trying an all natural product called D.A.P., or Dog Appeasing Pheromones, which we are spraying in their straw beds. It is a safe product, and while we recognize wolf behavior is driven by instincts and is not the brain of a domesticated animal like a dog, we thought we would try it anyway. If it has even a small influence and calming effect it will be worth it. Mother Nature is cooperating as well, temperatures have moderated here, with highs in the 20's and lows near zero, much better than the -30 below weather that caused the last bout of tension.
Aidan has been very calm and socially interactive with staff this past week. We are very pleased with his progress in accepting some of the level 1 staff, although we are now seeing some increased testing behavior from Denali. The pack was stimulated by some wild wolf activity outside of the enclosure late last week. Wolf care staff member, Don Gossett, spotted a wolf right next to the perimeter fence before wolf care began. This created a chase around the enclosure for the pack, and some redirected aggression.
Most of the pack received their Parvo and Rabies vaccinations last week. I say most of the pack, so you will have to read Shadow and Malik's logs to know what that means. Aidan did very well with vaccinations, despite his looking over his shoulder to see Maya's location. Aidan's most enjoyable part of the vaccination protocol was when Maya was down on her side and the wolf care staff were vaccinating her. She let out an anxious whine which seemed to please Aidan. Aidan's photo this week really shows his submissive status to Shadow, and his desire to seek acceptance from him. He is extremely bonded to Shadow, and lately, there have been many reports of Aidan and Maya pair bonding together. Maya is still sporadic in her interactions with Aidan, some days she stalks, other day she socializes.
Spring weather is arriving very slowly in Northern Minnesota, and has an impact on wolf behavior. Usually by this time, temperatures in the 40's or 50's would be expected and the wolves would respond by being very lethargic. With temperatures still near zero at night, and daytime high's reaching into the 30's, the wolves are up and active. This means that Aidan hasn't gotten much relief from Maya, but he is tolerating the situation well, although Maya has a new scrape under her eye, one of Aidan's defensive moves. Snow is predicted for this week, and we anticipate another month before the spring melt allows us to begin enclosure clean up.
An April 1st snowstorm created a great stimulus, especially for the new pups. Spring storms tend to have wet, heavy snow that hangs on the branches, causing branches to be in reach of young wolves. In this week's video, both Aidan and Denali spent a fair amount of time jumping at the branches and attempting to break tree limbs. This is great entertainment for the wolves, but not so great on the vegetation. Aidan has also made great strides in accepting one of the handlers with whom he had some fear avoidance behavior. We will be very slow in making this reintroduction of the handler, trying to keep things positive.
The wolf logs will all be the same today, due to weather priorities… Yes, the weather plays a big part in what we do in wolf care and defines the hazards of the job. Today, we have freezing rain, which creates a hazard for wolf care staff and wolves alike. Staff are very vulnerable in slippery conditions, if a wolf jumps on us, and we fall, this can easily turn in to test. For the wolves, the icy conditions can mean a joint injury. Our job today is to keep the pack calm, and check everyone’s physical condition thoroughly. The wolves are using the dens and there is straw placed under the eaves to get out of the rain. In the videos this week, you will see the pond frozen from snowmelt conditions. Aidan does a stiff leg jump to crack the ice, and Denali comes up with an ice chunk to investigate. Shadow continues to show his leadership as he dominates Grizzer, but Grizzer is showing very submissive postures and is seeking Shadow’s dominance. Grizzer still socially interacts with the pups; Malik still follows Grizzer around looking for any opportunity to get a grab bite on Grizzer. Maya is still stalking and making Aidan nervous, but not as problematic as a month ago. All in all, the pack is well; the only other risk that we are dealing with today is the weight of the ice on tree branches that is starting to make branches break.
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