Aidan spent the weekend recovering from surgery that was performed on Friday, November 21st. In September, we neutered both pups, but unfortunately Aidan only had one testicle present, so we needed to reschedule him for surgery when it finally appeared. If it was a Crypt testicle, it could have been life threatening if it wasn’t removed. He did extremely well in the transport and recovery. He slept in the lab the first night, and went into the Retired Enclosure at 4 am the next morning, joining Denali, who had spent the day in the Retired Enclosure, but the night with the Exhibit Pack. When pulling one individual pup for surgery, it is important for pack dynamics to not isolate that individual, so by moving Denali around, the pack will be greeting both pups when Aidan is ready to go back into the group. Even though the incision was small, we felt it necessary to have 2 days of healing. To see more video of the reintroduction, check out our video on YouTube. This surgery and recovery was a great success and was critical for the long-term health of Aidan. Aidan weighed 87.5 lbs at the hospital and had a healthy blood test.
Aidan’s been getting a bit of dominance from Maya. There doesn’t seem to be any particular reason why Maya starts the dominance, but it can get quite intense at times. So, far she hasn’t shown the same behavior towards Denali. Aidan’s response initially was to growl and jaw spar with her, now, he submits and waits for her to back off, then leaves. In Maya’s video clip this week, you will see her doing a stand over Aidan, while Aidan continues to chew on a bone. The first snowfall of the year occurred on the 27th of October, and the pups enjoyed the opportunity to sniff and roll in the snow. With the snow, comes an increase in hormones and dominance displays are a normal part of wolf behavior this time of the year. The pups are doing well and interacting with the pack as a social unit.
Aidan did extremely well after his surgery and continues to associate most with Shadow in the pack. Maya has her moments, but her aggressive behavior has subsided a bit, and she has eased up on Aidan. Visitors often ask if we think the pups will test for dominance or climb in rank. At this point, they are very willing to submit and show no signs of climbing rank. Shadow and Maya are healthy dominant pack leaders and are clearly setting the tone for this pack.
Since Maya's euthanasia, we are seeing some very subdued behavior by both Aidan and Denali, as well as some rank order tension. Their response to each other is very reserved, laying on separate dens, and not engaging unless it's to guard wolf care staff from each other (they have become possessive for attention which is usually a response of young animals to changes in the pack). Aidan has initiated some low throated howls, with Shadow responding, and sometimes Denali joining in. This pack of two is not behaving like a pack that deposed their leaders, but a pack showing separation anxiety at the loss of pack members. While we will never know what happened to Maya, this behavior isn't consistent with wolf initiated injuries.
Aidan has been much more reserved than Denali in the last week, staying to the top of the den and making little effort to socially interact with Denali until yesterday. They both started to play again. This morning's wolf check had good social interaction with both individuals and no signs of guarding behavior of staff. Each individual wolf shows their response to separation anxiety in different ways. Aidan seems to be communicating with Shadow in this scenario, while Denali and Grizzer are communicating with each other.
Aidan and Denali both like the new densite recently constructed per USDA regulations. It allows them another place to climb and wrestle. Aidan continues to follow Shadow's lead, and he has become much more social with some of the staff, while staying aloof with others. He does loose out to Denali when it comes to food competition. On Wednesday mornings, an beaver is fed to the pups in the Exhibit. So far, Denali guards the food well, while Aidan will let Grizzer have it. To make sure they get enough food, the pups are still fed on a separate meal in holding on a daily basis. Aidan still loves his vitamins.
The wolf logs for the Exhibit Pack will contain the same text, due to extra time needed for Lakota (see Lakota's log). The Exhibit Pack is doing well, consuming a lot of food and spending quite a bit of time in and on the new den. The wolf care staff heard wild wolves howl several times on Saturday's overnight, which may explain why Shadow has been doing so many lone defensive howls lately. Aidan appears to be catching up to Denali's weight, and the pups continue to eat on a daily basis, either a carcass with the pack on Saturdays and Wednesday's or daily chicken, beef or venision during the other evenings.
Lately, wolf care staff have observed that Aidan’s anxiety seems to have lessened over the past week or so. Perhaps this is because Maya has decreased her dominance towards him and has been observed in pair bonding behavior with Aidan. On two occasions last week, Maya and Aidan were observed parallel gaiting with each other. Aidan has been much more social this week with both his packmates and the wolf care staff.
We built the new den in the Exhibit Pack yesterday, and Aidan did much better with the construction noise and equipment than Denali. He even dug in the den between loads of rock deliveries. Aidan continues to align with Shadow and he is very quick to submit to any adult wolf. The video clips posted with the wolf logs are very short, if you would like to see several minutes of the pack activitiy, we are now posting weekly videos on Youtube. To locate these videos, search for the International Wolf Center.
Written by assistant wolf curator, Donna Prichard:<br> This past weekend, Aidan did well with the activity from the Workin’ For Wolves weekend. He and Denali spend countless hours wrestling and chasing each other, and this behavior oftentimes gets directed at Grizzer. The wolf care staff have observed that many of Aidan’s behaviors and characteristics are similar to that of Shadow, the dominant male in this pack. Aidan also displays many predatory behaviors such as stalking and pouncing. This past week during wolf care, the wolf care staff observed Aidan stalking a small bird and attempted to lunge at it, to no avail. Aidan continues to maintain and good growth rate and recently lost an upper canine milk tooth due to teething. This is typical of the time frame of tooth development in wolves; replacement of milk teeth with permanent teeth generally occurs at approximately six to seven months of age.
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