Aidan seems to enjoy the fresh snow. He has a lot of opportunity this year, as it seems we are getting a new base of snow every other day. The exhibit takes on a whole new level of work in the winter. Gates need to be shoveled, snow is removed from the wolf yard to allow for access of wheelbarrows and overhanging security fences need to be cleared of snow. These tasks generally result in wolf care staff being covered from with snow, somehow, we don't seem to enjoy it as much as Aidan.
One of the staff members recently wrote: "This morning when I came in and I opened the office door to go out to the viewing area they all came running and wagging their tails and looked in the window at me. Then, Aidan started jumping in the snow and play bowing to Maya and jabbing her." This observation best describes the change we've seen in Aidan. He is a very social omega, and even though Maya shows him dominance, he wants to engage her in activity. Aidan seems very satisfied with the excess food, and is usually observed throughout the day eating among the ravens (no, not eating ravens, but feeding on beaver carcasses while the ravens scavenge).
We allowed the pups some outdoor time yesterday, it was finally warm enough and the sun was shining. Aidan was extremely interested in the pups and afterwards, rolled on his back and pawed socially at Denali. A clip of this will be in the Youtube video this week.
Aidan, Grizzer and Denali had their triannual medical exam on Tuesday. Aidan had a punch biopsy of his nose tissue and we are waiting for the results. We expect to get the results this week. Overall, Aidan is in great health. On the day of the exam, he had a bit of meat in his stomach, so his weight of 130.5 lbs could be a high estimate. No doubt, he has taken advantage of a higher ranking status and more food available this past year.
Sorry for not posting wolf logs last week. I took the weekend off for a fishing trip with my grandson. I am also preparing for the Working for Wolves program this weekend, we will be making Grizzer a pond and getting some gate systems set up. I won’t have time to process video for Youtube until Sunday night, so thanks for understanding.
It's been quite a week, as you may know, the pups were born early and we brought them on site last Friday. Aidan was very stimulated, frequently licking in response to a probable hormonal surge. Aidan was very protective of the pups, and looks like he has the skills to be a good pack leader to the pups. In honor of the new pups, we are featuring a pup photo for each wolf. Aidan was famous for sleeping on staff pillows.
Aidan has shown some guarding behavior towards the pups. This is a good sign for the pup introduction, but could be problematic for wolf care staff that don't have a strong bond with Aidan. We discovered this last week when the pups were outside on a sunny afternoon. A level one handler approached the fence to pick up Peanut and Aidan jumped and snapped at the fence. When the Curator picked up Peanut, he had no response. During this critical time of social bonding for the pups, we will also need to have core wolf care staff increase their social contact with Aidan. We are happy to report that Aidan is starting to show signs of pigmentation regrowth on his nose. The Antibiotic/vitamin treatment will continue for another month or so.
Aidan's making great progress with the Lupus condition. We have one more month of treatment, and every day is progress. The one issue that continues to be a challenge is the application of suntan lotion. I have to do this as the last activity before I leave the enclosure because he refuses to approach me after I apply the lotion. Thankfully, it's raining as I write this so no lotion tomorrow. Aidan and Bolts have developed a special relationship and Aidan continues to be selective on his response toward the individuals that approach and handle the pups at the fence. He even showed some threat display towards Oscar, when he and Bolts were wrestling. We keep Oscar on a leash the at all times in the yard, but we did construct a gate system in the runway next to the yard to allow Oscar some off leash time next to the pups.
On Wednesday, we fed some scraps from the freezer. These are usually donations from other people and may include venison roasts, chicken or other meat products that are a bit outdated for people consumption. These are great treats for wolves, and Aidan had some fun with some cornish game hens. The excitement of a new smell resulted in 30 minutes of scent rolling. While Denali had the same response, he lacked the vigor of Aidan who really dived into the bird.
I'm posting this early as I will be out of town on Friday. The week has little to report as far as changes in behavior. We still have some following/chasing behavior, usually instigated by Denali who does some play bow/testing towards Aidan and Aidan responds with a chase. We have had no progression on the pigmentation loss on Aidan, which may lend some evidence that this is a nose scrape from caching in low snow conditions. In our previous experience with Lucas, his pigmentation loss spread from his nose to the pads of his feet within a month. Aidan and Denali are both scheduled for a medical exam prior to the pups, if this persists, we can do a biopsy and determine if it is a systemic problem.
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