Many people ask how to tell the Exhibit Pack males apart. Certainly, Denali is easy, he’s the largest pack member and he has a distinctive color. Aidan and Boltz are much harder. Boltz still has the smaller body size consistent with a two year old that needs to fill out, but it won’t be long before that occurs. Our best descriptor for telling these two individuals apart is that Boltz has a unique and mesmerizing stare like not other Exhibit Pack member. This week’s photo is a perfect example.
Boltz Wolf Logs written March 9, 2014 by Photography Workshop Participant Abbie Elrod.
Boltz gets last pick when it comes to food. He’s even challenged for leftovers, as seen in this photo. He put up a fight until Denali’s size overpowered him. As the summer progresses, Boltz will finish developing into his adult size and reach his potential adult weight. Since Boltz is a wolf more representative of a Great Plain subspecies and Denali/Aidan are representative of the Northwestern subspecies, it is unlikely that he will ever reach the size of hsi older pack mates.
Boltz’s status as they youngest male in the rank order is typically on the bottom of the rank order. Boltz is experiencing the difference with a pup mate that so quickly elevated to a dominant pack member. For most pups, they can wrestle and show dominance, and it is often ignored by the older animals because it’s just pups, juveniles or young adults. But for Boltz, wrestling with Luna has a different meaning since, as the only female, is the dominant female by default. If Boltz and Luna would have joined a pack with an adult dominant pair, they probably would have had the same number of wrestling matches, but they wouldn’t have drawn much attention from a functioning dominant pair. Now, when Luna asserts some status, the rest of the pack is bound to be engaged. The good thing for Boltz is that he seems to have learned to stick close to Aidan. If Denali and Luna are too intense, it isn’t long for Aidan to intervene. Maybe the next pack leader is learning some tips. Aidan will be six years old in April, most pack leaders start the decline by 9 or 10, one thing is for certain, each individual has their own personality and the dynamics of the pack is always a factor.
When Boltz has an opportunity to make a few status point, even if it’s over the pack leader, the young adult behavior stimulates him to take the opportunity. These opportunities exist when Aidan is in a strong social mood and displays a snowplow in the fresh snow. A snowplow involves rolling on the ground and pushing your nose through the powder snow. But, this is a vulnerable position if there’s a young adult close by. When Aidan is on his back, the opportunity exists for Boltz to show some status and as this photo shows, he shows some intensity. But, Aidan is strong and confident, a quick snarl and some forward motion reminds Boltz that it will be a few more years before he can attempt the pack leader role.
Boltz continues to show tendencies to be the lowest ranking pack member and we have spent a lot of time trying to keep his confidence level up and make sure he takes enough initiative to get his fair share of food. He does seek out the straw beds and is frequently resting with Luna.
Boltz will be reaching 2 years of age in a few months and he is reaching the final stages of maturity where his muzzle is elongated and he looks like an adult. Because Boltz was integrated in a pack with strong pack leadership, he maintains a lower ranking posture. He attempted a few dominance tests of Aidan during the fall, but Aidan quickly showed dominance and the tests ended quickly. Boltz spends most of his energy jaw sparring with Luna in some residual dominant behavior and taking advantage of Denali, because Denali allows it.
Boltz seems to be less likely to test for status and more inclined to be compatible with the male rank order. There are still moments where his intensity is a bit increased, but this is typically stimulated by Luna and he is easily distracted. We are still working with some shyness issues with Boltz. We didn’t meet Boltz until he was beyond our typical critical bonding period (less than 21 days), which means he will probably always have the weakest social bonds of any of our pack mates. There are staff that are very important to Boltz and it is our priority to make sure we have time to allow Boltz to greet on his terms.
This log written by Wolf Care Staff volunteer, Cameron Feaster. It’s hard for wolf care staff to determine who’s getting how much food in the exhibit, as the wolves often feed off of carcasses, and other tasks around the center make it impossible for us to see everything that goes on in the enclosure. Boltz performed some odd behaviors this week, leading wolf care staff to believe he was not eating much of the food given to him. Later however, he was seen guarding and feeding off of a beaver for a large portion of an afternoon. Every wolf has their quirks, one of Boltz’s seems to be his feeding schedule.
This entry was written by visiting Wolf Care Staff Volunteer, Cameron Feaster. Boltz’s ability to guard food from the other members of the exhibit pack has increased greatly in the past year. When he was much younger, Boltz would often abandon food he had possessed rather than defend it, leading wolf care staff to worry about his nutritional intake. But we’ve seen his ability to take possession of a deer leg, or a scrap of meat, grow rapidly. This week he was seen actively defending his portion of a deer leg from Luna, who is perhaps the most food possessive of all the packmembers.
I would like to thank all of the members and donors who support our educational mission at the International Wolf Center. I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and would like to report that all of the wolves are doing well. We have some great pack interactions as the winter begins and our wolf care staff are so honored to work with these incredible ambassador wolves.
