This week, the US Forest Service had some sled dogs that were on site across the road from the Center. It's common practice in the wintertime to use sled dogs to haul cargo into the wilderness when the lakes are frozen and travel is easy. We were aware of their potential to be on site, but didn't really have an idea how the wolves would respond, especially since Oscar has tendencies to bark instead of howl. We thought the wolves might be getting accustomed to barking. We were wrong. They're getting accustomed to Oscar barking, but not barking in general. On Wednesday, we saw varying degrees of tolerance. Aidan was more anxious than any of the other wolves, choosing to stay on his straw bed with ears perked forward, but slightly off to the side. He stayed very close to the wolf care staff and avoided going to the top of the enclosure. He did spend time with Oscar at the fence and frequently rubbed the fence while Oscar enjoyed a moose jaw. Read the other logs to see how the other wolves responded.
Aidan's nose is showing more signs of pigmentation loss. Aidan, Denali and Grizzer are all scheduled for a complete physical and blood draw in the next month, and we will follow up with a tissue biopsy to determine cause. This is looking more similar to the issues we had with Lucas in the winter of 2001. We are currently review lab and incident reports, but we won't know much more until the biopsy. There seems to be no impact on behavior, feeding or activity, just appearance. The Veterinarians have been consulted and we will share more information after the exam. We will likely wait until daytime temperatures are in the 40's to do the exams.
The logs will all be the same this week. It has been an extremely busy week for the wolf curator between the job at the college and the Center. Wolf care is still done, but all other activities such as email, logs and reports are on the back burner. We had a relatively calm week except the return of the sled dogs created some stress for Shadow. He did some pacing, and in the warmer than average days, he got a bit overheated. He eventually settled down by mid-morning, and was fine the next day. This is the last trip for the dogs, and they will be moving back to their home turf by Wednesday. Aidan was less anxious and a bit more dominant, Denali got very playful, Grizzer howled, Malik ignored everything and Shadow paced. We are in the process of finalizing the Pup Care teams, and will be making decisions and sending notifications by the first week of March. We should return to a full set of logs next week.
Aidan's had a great week of fresh snow, fresh straw beds and a lot of attention from wolf care staff. Of course, the wolf care attention is never an issue as he guards the staff and keeps Denali away, but he has been more submissive this week, with a lot of active submissive roll overs. This is a positive conditioning piece that we encourage from the time they are pups and is very critical for the upcoming Pup Care Participants to practice on a daily basis. A scratch of the belly gives them positive reinforcement to be submissive to handlers. This is fairly easy when they are pups and appreciated by the staff when the wolves are adults.
Aidan's results from his biopsy of his nose tissue revealed a diagnosis of discoid lupus erythematosus. We are currently treating this with a course of antibiotics, Vitamin E and Niacinamide (B vitamins). We chose not to use the steroid treatment as his weight is a bit heavier than we would like. As spring approaches, the wolves traditionally lose their winter weight. We will be using this treatment for 3 months and reassess as time progresses. In addition to the oral medications, we will be applying a UV lotion to his nose to reduce the harmful effects of UV rays.
We have scheduled the Veterinary Exam for Tuesday, March 6th. Aidan will have a biopsy to help reveal the cause of his pigmentation loss, as well as a complete blood profile. This will be his first full immobilization as an adult. When we don't have a history of immobilization, we tend to dose light and monitor the effects. It is also important to keep in mind the rank order issues. We will recover Aidan in the enclosure so he has time to be mobile before Denali joins him. Aidan is likely to take longer to burn off the drugs as he is carrying more body fat.
On Tuesday, we pressure washed the pond to clean a winter of snow melt and debris in preparation for the spring and summer. Since Aidan doesn't like to stay in holding very long, we decided to leave him out while the Curator ran the pressure washer. Aidan did really well except for pulling the hose a few times, he stayed out of the way and enjoyed some kibble at the gate. After we finished, he did proceed to mark areas around the pond. The water line thawed in about 3 days, and he was wading and splashing in the pond by Friday.
Staff have commented on how much calmer Aidan has become in the last week. We see these seasonal changes in hormones that will be reflected in a wolf's overall attitude. Some of this is triggered by temperature, a warm day in March results in wolves that tend to be very sedentary in activity. While last week's temperatures motivated staff to get the pond filled, this week's temperatures and last nights snow reminds of that spring can bring a wide variety of conditions.
Behavioral notes for Pup # 2 from the logs in the past 24 hours include:<br><br> 2:56 am – Pup awakes, stands and shakes. Whines, walks to stuffed wolf, lays down, kneads and suckles on wolf. Walks to den box, whines, returns to stuffed wolf, kneads, suckles and sleeps. <br><br>3:10 am – Pup # 2 is very tractable to people and seeks out the crook of human elbow where he returns to sleep. <br> <br>6:15 am – Pup # 2 is also teething with upper canines and incisors coming through. So far, now indication that the lower incisors have emerged.<br> <br>6:40 am – He also is responding to the adult wolves who did a rally outside, and resulted in squeaking sounds from Pup # 2.<br> <br>9:17 am -This pup does a lot of growling in his sleep, and he woke himself up by growling and barking, startled into fear avoidance and solicited comfort from humans.<br><br> I'd like to comment briefly on some of the audio being posted. Prior to the pups full hearing development (18 – 20 days of age), moans are the most common pup sound, and will decline as they get older. Pups moan while nursing, asleep or resting. Researchers suggest that that moans may be a passive consequence of respiration, but that they are also likely to provide a continual signal to the mother in a dark den. The moan doesn't elicit a response from the mother, but an absence of moaning may indicate something is wrong. Whining is higher pitched than moaning, and is often associated with a discomfort or desire, such as the need to feed, be warm, socially interact or escape. Squeaking is usually developed after 15 days of age, and by week 4, is the most common sound in the pups vocalizations.<br><br> The audio you hear is of Pup #2 nursing on the bottle.
Pup number two had a bit of a transition to the bottle and wasn't actively feeding until 8:30 am, when he consumed 4 ounces from the bottle without stopping. He was very content after this, and had some great audio of snoring and contented groans. This pup spent the evening sleeping with Assistant Curator, Donna Prichard, and her wool lined carhart coat. While we originally intended to acquire a male and a female pup, the litter produced 5 males and 1 female. After a physical assessment of their condition, it was determined that the best choice for the Center was the two largest males. As the days progress, individual personalities will be more prevelant, please check the individual logs for details posted Monday – Friday.
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