Denali continues to show some real excitement towards the pups. It's much different than Aidan, who is calmer, whines at the fence, but doesn't jump excitably or show a high tail response to the pups. It's this behavior that has prompted me to design a plan where the pups meet Aidan first.
Denali has had far more interactions with staff, but we still struggle to get Grizzer to back off long enough to allow Denali to satiate with food. Grizzer is very possessive of Denali's food, but not Aidan's. This week, we will start to try the holding pen's again, to draw Grizzer and Maya off while we feed Denali. We will do this cautiously, as we don't want the separation to cause any tension. If this doesn't work, we will try additional wolf care staff for feedings to see if we can have enough distractions. Grizzer seeks out the attention of wolf care staff, and if we can give him enough social contact, and scratch his healing head (the new hair growth itches), we can generally keep him occupied long enough to give Denali time to eat. It worked today, and Denali ate 9 pieces of chicken, but with -39 below temperatures, we want Denali to have at least 5 – 7 lbs of food per day.
Daily feedings for Denali still require several wolf care staff and several pounds of chicken. Not because Denali eats that much, but because we need to satiate Grizzer and Aidan, and supply Maya with her daily supply of caches before Denali is comfortable enough to eat. We had a great check today, Denali actually came on the greeting rock with Maya, received good attention from staff even with Grizzer rubbing his head on the staff's legs next to the rock. A short clip is featured on the Youtube video, but we chose to shut the camera off and give Denali the attention rather than film.
We judge pack cohesiveness by the freedoms awarded lower pack members. This week, we have had a significant amount of activity with the entire pack in the upper enclosure, with very little aggression. This is a change from even a few days ago. Denali still has moments of excitability when he tries to grab Grizzer's tail, but Grizzer maintains status well. Denali does have a tendency to initiate actions, but lately Aidan has been an active participant keeping Denali occupied.
This is a continuation of Aidan's log, which detailed the altercation between Maya and Aidan. Denali showed minimal interest in testing Grizzer, but there must have been some altercation between the two because Grizzer's head wound was re-opened and there was some blood on Grizzer. Denali remained very calm, rubbing up against me while I inspected Maya and Aidan's body looking for wounds. Later, Denali would lie on the slate den and periodically would go to the top of the enclosure with Grizzer and Maya, but there was no dominance.
Denali's coat is very sleek, with long reddish guard hairs. He is developing well and is as tall as Maya. His ability to guard food is tremendous and he has the courage to take on any wolf except Shadow. Denali and Grizzer continue to be social companions, although Grizzer spends time with both pups.
The decision to hold Denali was not an easy decision. Anytime we pull a member of the pack, they could have issues with being accepted into the enclosure, and we want to always make sure the wolves are compatible. The issues we are having with Grizzer are rank issues, and Denali's opportunistic behavior. Socially, the wolves are engaging as a pack, rallying, howling together, but if there's any tension at all (strangers in the wolf yard, noise from the building, extreme cold, food competition), there is a escalation of this underlying rank tension. We know that winter hormones play a major role in this situation, and this tension is short-term, and we will do all we can do to get through this. Denali is the most relaxed wolf we've ever had in a holding situation.
Last Saturday at 4 pm, there was a short dominance interaction between Denali and Grizzer. There was an observation of Denali guarding a beaver carcass from Grizzer earlier in the day, which is a wolf social rule, regardless of rank, but may have caused Grizzer a little tension. All wolves had been fed 5 lbs of chicken the day before, and had a 120 lb deer waiting for the feeding program, but the night time temperatures had reach – 27 below, and cold weather can cause the wolves to be less tolerant. Maya also had a chase of Aidan right before Grizzer and Denali started, possibly increasing the tension. Regardless, Grizzer's sutures reopened, and even though the altercation was less than 6 minutes, and Grizzer was maintaining position of high tail and calm interaction after the scuffle, Grizzer needed to have veterinary treatment. The procedure was smooth, and we also looked at the tendon that seemed to be causing him a limp, and he was back in the pack within a few hours. But, we couldn't take the risk of having these sutures open again, so we moved Denali into the pack holding area and he will stay there until the Vet's give an OK to Grizzer's head. We are anticipating about a 14 day healing process. Denali is adjusting well, tail wagging with the pack through the fence, and is sleeping quite well with a significant amount of straw in the kennel. He has his daily meals, and has his own heated water dish. He howls to the pack, and is showing submissive posture when Grizzer is at the fence.
Denali's introduction back into the pack occurred on Monday,December 27th. We scheduled the introduction for noon because it is a calmer part of the day. Video clips from the introduction day are featured on the Youtube channel this week. Basically the plan included feeding Denali, Grizzer and Maya each a full 10 lb turkey at 9 am after Grizzer’s vet check, hoping to fill them up. After the release, there was some chasing behavior, but Denali was submissive and showed no signs of targeting Grizzer. The pack all bedded down at 2 pm, with Grizzer, Maya and Aidan sleeping together and Denali sleeping on a straw bed by the pond. At 3:30, they got up and Denali and Grizzer had a short 15 second dominance altercation in the pond, instigated by Denali, which we expected. They settled back down and video camera surveillance shows that they rested all night. On Tuesday morning wolf care, the pack was rallying together, with only slight tension between the group. We are feeding a bucket of chicken every morning, and all wolves are getting their fair share. We are not using the typical holding pens right now, as even a short separation gives Denali confidence to push his status. As I’ve said before, this is a combination of winter hormones and a young wolf that is trying to take an opportunity to climb rank. Grizzer is getting much better showing his status a dominant male, and our job is to keep things calm, and give each wolf the confidence to feel comfortable with their rank. My goal is to keep the pack together, but we have to know that all wolves feel comfortable in the enclosure. We judge that by the rallying behavior, and especially howling, so far, Denali howls right with the pack, and is tail wagging with the social group.
In the past two days, we've seen a change in Denali. He is right at the fence greeting wolf care staff, whereas, even earlier in the week, he was more isolating, and only joining the pack when there was howling. He's also shown more interest in engaging Maya in activity, a behavior that is typically Aidan's. Grizzer is showing dominance, but nothing physical, it's more posturing and charging. This has Denali a bit nervous, but the less Denali runs, the less Grizzer chases. There are still times when activity peaks, generally late afternoons we can expect to see some posturing, but Denali and Aidan have been trading off on the straw beds near the pond, and are spending time together.
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