Denali has a strong food possession behavior. As a matter of fact, a strong possession of anything behavior. If he sees something he want, he is very physical in getting it. This includes deer hides, carcasses, wolf care staff rakes and shovels. Denali doesn't like to hear the word no from the staff or the other wolves. Shadow seems to recognize this behavior and has been showing much more dominance to Denali. Wolf care staff continue to make the pups submit, but with 6 wolves in the pen, anytime one pup is down, the others come over to participate.
Denali interacts with the whole pack in a similar manner. He's big and he likes food possessions, so he tries to get food whenever possible. He is displaying great defensive behavior and has taken to jaw sparring with Maya, especially if they're after the same item. Denali is not as focused as Aidan when it comes to dominance. When the pack is interacting and dominating an individual, Denali will run along side and be part of the pack, but Aidan will watch and take an opportunity to make a bite in a strategic place.
The wolf logs will contain the same text for each wolf, as snow conditions again dominate the staff's work load. The most noticeable snow issue was a recent clearing of the snow from the Center's roof. With over 2 feet of snow on the roof, and the predicted forecast of rain adding to the weight of the snow, the decision was made to shovel all the snow from the roof, which lands directly into the wolf enclosure. To avoid giving the wolves free access to the roof, the snow had to be blown out of the front of the enclosure, resulting in a large bank in the front of the exhibit, that is at least 8 feet from the roof line. You may have noticed increased activity in front of the pond cam, as the wolves have been very actively climbing and digging in the snow bank. The wolves have also been observed sliding down the snow bank, and pushing each other off the top of the hill. It is a great vantage point and wolves do enjoy the view from the top of the hill.
This past week, the curator was out of town attending conferences for the HP grant and the Society of American Foresters. While we manage with a style of multiple wolf care staff, the change in routine can have an impact on the wolves. To distract the pack from this change, items are given to provide them a behavioral outlet. Last week, a bison hide that was donated from a hunter was given to the pack on Monday. This provided a significant amount of behavior including tug of war, guarding behavior, active submission and dominance and overall excitement. While Aidan was more involved in the wolf on wolf interaction, Denali was completely focused on chewing the hide, no matter who was also on the carcass. This could explain why Denali has now surpassed the size (height anyways..) of all of the wolves in the enclosure. The full video clip of the bison hide will be included with the YouTube video this week.
Denali has become the food obsessive one of this pack, and as we've stated before, is very good at keeping a possession. As I write this, he's on top of the hill by the den, trying to keep the ravens off of the remaining deer carcass. Last Wednesday, we fed a turkey carcass as a mid-week snack. Maya and Shadow got most of it, and as you can see by Denali's video, he spent most of his time food begging to try to get his share. He certainly has been getting enough food based on his size, but he acts as if he needs to have all food brought into the enclosure.
Denali is becoming Grizzer. His mannerisms, love of food, bad habits with gate chains and jumping behavior is a repeat of Grizzer's juvenile period. Fortunately, we would be pleased if Denali became an adult resembling Grizzer. Grizzer's best qualities is his extremely calm behavior and willingness to be a social companion to pups. We can only hope that Denali has the same trait with the 2012 pups.
The wolf logs will all be the same today, due to weather priorities… Yes, the weather plays a big part in what we do in wolf care and defines the hazards of the job. Today, we have freezing rain, which creates a hazard for wolf care staff and wolves alike. Staff are very vulnerable in slippery conditions, if a wolf jumps on us, and we fall, this can easily turn in to test. For the wolves, the icy conditions can mean a joint injury. Our job today is to keep the pack calm, and check everyone’s physical condition thoroughly. The wolves are using the dens and there is straw placed under the eaves to get out of the rain. In the videos this week, you will see the pond frozen from snowmelt conditions. Aidan does a stiff leg jump to crack the ice, and Denali comes up with an ice chunk to investigate. Shadow continues to show his leadership as he dominates Grizzer, but Grizzer is showing very submissive postures and is seeking Shadow’s dominance. Grizzer still socially interacts with the pups; Malik still follows Grizzer around looking for any opportunity to get a grab bite on Grizzer. Maya is still stalking and making Aidan nervous, but not as problematic as a month ago. All in all, the pack is well; the only other risk that we are dealing with today is the weight of the ice on tree branches that is starting to make branches break.
The wolves are all doing well, and the wolf care staff certainly are appreciative of all the support from members and viewers of the wolf logs. As always, the wolf care staff will be doing wolf care throughout the holidays and people can rest assured that the wolves and wolf care will always main our first priority at the International Wolf Center. Have a great holiday season, and check out the Youtube video, it shows the pack in good spirits, especially Grizzer and Denali who have become great pals. Malik is joining in on pack howls, and has adjusted well to life in retirement.
Denali is still maintaining some juvenile traits. These include wrestling with Aidan and Grizzer, getting excited with treats and curling up in any straw bed that is present. With temperatures reaching -16 degrees on Saturday night, staff put some straw in the open areas to get some daytime sun on Sunday, and Denali was first to possess the new straw.
The logs will all be the same this week due to some other obligations of the Curator. Malik has adjusted well to the new privacy fence erected on the fence line facing the Exhibit Pack. He still has an area to view the pack between the fences at the main entrance gate, but by having the 100 foot wall protected, it gives him more security. There was a lot of debate about the wood privacy fence among staff. We weren’t certain that he would have more anxiety if he could hear the pack, but not see them. We also had to determine if his anxiety was about getting back in with the pack, rather than not being the focus of the pack. If he wanted to get back in with them, he would likely become more excited at the lack of visual connection. If he was insecure about them seeing him, and wanted to be protected from them, then he would likely relax. The fact that he was sleeping comfortably in his den within 15 minutes of the fence completion is probably indicative of an attitude that he wanted protection from the pack. He is very relaxed, and as I write this (we have a security camera on him so he is always visible in the lab), he is very relaxed, watching ravens on his food caches. Many people have asked when we will put a webcam on his enclosure, at this time, we don’t want to make any changes to his environment, and want to give him time to adjust. The webcam boxes are large and bulky, necessary to keep the cameras heated in winter, but a bit intrusive for a wolf that is getting used to his life and enclosure. He will be filmed for the weekly YouTube video, and when he is ready, there will be a camera. The main pack is very calm, Maya and Aidan still have some issues, actually, Maya is just dominant, she has no issue. Shadow is extremely social with all pack members, and Denali likes to wrestle, eat and foreleg stab at things. Grizzer is extremely calm, and the removal of the stress between he and Malik has done wonders for him, and the pack tension overall.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.