Every day we do wolf care, staff write notes in the logs to inform other staff of any issues or concerns as well as give overall status information on the individual wolves. I thought I would share some of these comments in this week's logs. <br> On 5 September, staff wrote:<br> "Denali is acting like a big pup. He has to investigate everything the pups have, tries to play tug of war and steal the pups food and is easier to manage if he just waits in holding until the pups are fed. Fortunately, Denali is very tolerant of holding and has no anxiety, he spends his time looking for meat particles and items the pups may have left behind." <br> As the curator, I cover most of the pup feeding shifts morning and night and I actually wrote the log notes for Denali. Most people thought that when the pups were in the pack that the work and hours would be reduced. Until these pups reach adult size (sometime in early December), we will be focusing on the pups food and nutritional needs. This means that Denali will get extra treats and extra staff time as we move wolves around to find the best arrangement to get food to the pups. Denali has had more time with staff in one week of post introduction pup care than he did most months last winter when Aidan was guarding staff from Denali.
Denali has started to take more of an interest in Oscar. He is frequently at the edge of the fence whining when Oscar is in the wolf yard. We completed the protective panels for Oscar (and eventually the wolf pups). These panels are framed in cedar and hold very small mesh hardware cloth that prevents a nose or a paw from coming in contact with a wolves mouth. Oscar had a few bouts of aggressive growling towards the wolves, but it was after some excited play with other dogs and once he calmed down, he was back to his same calm, happy go lucky dog behavior.
Due to the Planning for Pups weekend, the excessive heat and the ongoing work on Grizzer’s habitat, this week’s logs will contain the same content for each wolf. Aidan was weighed during Planning for Pups and he's lost a few pounds, down to 120 lbs probably due to construction. Denali was weighed and has increased by a pound, up to 125 lbs. The first thing we need to do is introduce the newest member of the wolf care team. Oscar, a collie mix dog, was recently adopted from the Range Regional Animal Rescue facility in Hibbing Minnesota. We decided to look for a dog that could help provide some social stimulus to Grizzer (through the fence, not as a pack mate) as well as serve for a role model for the 2012 pups. Grizzer is very social, rubbing up against the fence when Oscar approaches, of course, Oscar is always on a leash and under direct supervision, Grizzer is still a wolf. We discovered Oscar and his perpetual grin on his website photo stimulated our application for adoption. Aidan is excitedly whining towards Oscar and Oscar has also helped some of Aidan’s anxiety going through the medical pen gates. Shadow and Malik are stimulated as well, allowing staff to liberally coat fly ointment spray on their heads and ears as they watch Oscar. This is a bonus, as they are usually hard to treat. Oscar has a large extended family, with many staff offering to take him for walks and social time with staff off-site, but Oscar’s home is the Center, and each night, he settles into a sleeping bag as staff put on a CD of music, set the air conditioning to 72 degrees and allow him a good night’s sleep in the safety of the wolf lab before he begins another day of playing in the wolf yard. Oscar’s photo is posted on Malik’s site, the arctics were too hot to come out of the shade for a photo this week, so we used a winter photo of Shadow, reminding us of cooler weather and Oscar did a stand in for Malik.
Denali seems more interested in Oscar this week and Oscar has been responding with some growls and barks over the interest. It seems that Denali's body language is a bit more aggressive than Aidan's. Oscar can be standing with Aidan socially engaged and tail wagging and as soon as Denali comes over, his attitude changes. Body language is the key to understanding behavior and Oscar is much better at reading it than humans. In this week's photo, there are two opposing behaviors displayed. Aidan is doing a stand-over Denali as a show of dominance and Denali is trying to do a chin rest as a show of dominance. Denali weighed in at 124 lbs.
The summer is nearing an end, and the cooler weather is a welcome relief for wolves. The logs are all the same today, As I write there is an approaching thunderstorm and I don't have much time. Aidan continues to show relaxed behavior coming in and out of the medical pen. Denali's increased interest in Oscar makes Oscar a bit nervous, but they are getting along well. Grizzer is very relaxed, and when Oscar returns from field trips, he play bows and rolls over at the fence line. Shadow is showing more dominance which is typical of this time of year. Malik is a bit nervous of the change in Shadow, but does respond with the appropriate body postures.
Denali has been spending a lot of time watching and attempting to catch red squirrels. But, the red squirrels continue to elude him and chatter at him from high in the tree tops. Since we've had wolves on this site since 1989, we are probably seeing smarter squirrels. The fall migration of songbirds will be starting soon and for those that land in the enclosure, Denali will practice his hunting instincts.
Denali has had his fill of deer this week, with a large torso fed on Saturday night and several days of caches, he didn't even get up to howl today. He chose to howl from a nice cool resting spot. Of course, it didn't help that the humidity was over 80% today, the news called it tropical. We call it miserable and so do the wolves who are growing a winter coat.
It's the fall migratory bird season and Denali is actively on the hunt for unsuspecting birds. So far, he's been missing some, but this 80 degree heat has probably taken a toll on his agility. The trees are starting to turn colors, and we expect the peak to be in late September. Denali is very photogenic on the greeting rock with a backdrop of red maple.
Denali is spending time investigating the tall grass areas and has done many "Stiff Leg Jumps", a behavior where the wolf rears up and pounces with stiff front legs to drive rodents from the grass. This has been a great summer for vegetation, warm and wet. So, if we have a lot of vegetation, we have a lot of rodents. So far, Denali may kill something, toss it in the air, but not consume it. The next big activity is the migration of small song birds, there are many seed sources in the enclosure which provide good resources prior to the flight south. Denali is less successful on birds that can fly.
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