Grayson- Quick to Respond

One of the issues we face in the fall season is the migration of small songbirds and the unfortunate flight of some of these visitors into the auditorium windows.  Usually the birds are stunned for a short period of time and are ready for flight in moments, but unfortunately, being stunned in a wolf enclosure has an inherent set of risks.  One of those risks is Grayson’s quick predatory drive and tendency for eating his catch.  Axel and Grayson were dominating the feedings as pups are allowed to do, but as they are reaching maturity, they tend to go back to the bottom of the rank order.  Saturday night feeding program over the last few weeks have been dominated by Denali who allows Axel to eat with him, but is defensive about Grayson.  In response, staff are cutting up the Saturday deer carcass into multiple parts to allow Grayson (And Boltz) a chance to possess their own piece of the carcass and avoid the competition with Denali.  We continue to see a slower growth rate in Grayson than Axel, lagging 15 pounds behind Axel and showing less adult facial features.  

Grayson – Broader Muzzle- Maturing toward Adulthood

This week’s logs were written by the Bio 1476 – Wolf Ethology Students:

With the excessive heat, Grayson has been seeking a lot of rest and shade during the day, often lying near Aidan and Axel.  Even with the stimulating noon enrichments, investigating is short lived due to the heat.  Grayson was more active at night with the cooler temperature.  Grayson had a good time jumping in the air trying to catch bugs.  Maybe he was trying to get them before they got him.  During the Saturday feeding, Denali guarded Grayson from the deer carcass, which allowed Axel to graze for a while.  Grayson looked to Aidan for some reassurance, but with a full belly himself, he was of little assistance.  Grayson continues to be the smaller of the two yearlings, but circumstances can change from day to day.  Although the days of the “Pups” eating first and getting all the resources are probably gone.  Wolf Care Staff will evaluate the fecals color and condition to indicate the food resources for each individual wolf and make sure all get their fair share. 

Grayson- Processing his Surroundings

As a pup, Grayson was a bit more reserved, tended to watch before approaching and if it was too intimidating, he’d drop to a T-4 tucked tail posture and retreat.  As a yearling, there’s still some of that reserved behavior, but we definitely see him display more awareness of his surroundings and the behaviors of fellow packmates.  We have documented several instances where his observations have led to opportunities to gain a little status.  It’s what yearlings do and some do it better than others.  Grayson also seems to be more responsive to visual cues than Axel.  For wolf care staff, that is important when trying to assess and sometimes distract tension within the pack.  Grayson is known for giving an excited half howl when he’s made a visual connection with a wolf care staff member.   

Grayson- Expressions set the tone

In this photo, there are two separate conversations going on and we often look at the facial expressions to determine the tone of the interaction.  Let’s start with Grayson.  He has his ears flat in a submissive posture, his head is turned and dropped down to show submission, his eyes are slightly closed and he is touching Aidan under the chin.  This is a relaxed and submissive wolf that is greeting Aidan in a submissive manner.   Aidan is doing as stand-over Denali, with his ears pricked up, but turned sideways.  This ear posture shows that he is alert, but may be slightly intimidated (turned to the side) as he can’t see Denali underneath him and has Grayson involved in the interaction.  As the photo shows, Aidan is receiving a submissive response from Denali who has his forelegs relaxed. Grayson had a bit more focus from the other wolves while Aidan was recovering.  He definitely gets comfort and confidence from Aidan. 

Grayson- A Cool Rock

There have been several improvements in the Exhibit Pack thanks to a generous donation from an incredibly generous young woman, Anika Hahn.  Anika chose to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah by inviting friends and family to make gifts in her honor to the International Wolf Center. To read more about Anika’s commitment to wolf education, check out the Fall 2016 Issue archived on our website https://wolf.org/wolf-info/wolf-magazine/fall-2016/.  This week’s photo shows Grayson enjoying the benefits of a rocks in the pond to climb in and out of the water and find a cool resting spot on a summer day.  This is just one of the many projects funding by Anika.  Other projects include new shade trees, rocks in the pond to allow the wolves an opportunity to climb in and out of the water, a new pump housing to protect the electrical pumps and filters needed to run the pond and a new UV filter system to reduce algae growth.  It has been a busy spring getting all of these pieces in place and the improvements to the Exhibit have been a tremendous improvement for the wolves. 

In the last month, we have noticed a significant change in Grayson’s confidence, which is a change from the observations over the winter.  He has been observed doing chin rests, stand overs and ride up’s on not only Axel, but Denali as well. 

He also have had a good growth spurt in the last month.  Here are the weights in the last few months:

Date                      Age                        Weight                 Weight Gain

4/1/17                   11 months           82.6 lbs                 3.8 lbs

5/2/17                   12 months          83.8 lbs                 1.2 lbs

6/2/17                   13 months           91.8 lbs                 8.0 lbs

To watch how the yearlings are fitting into the social rank, we rely on behavioral observations independent of the regular wolf care schedule.  Recently, the Vermilion Community College Ethology class completed 100 hours of observation on the Exhibit Pack and had the following assessment on Grayson:

“Of the adult wolves, he seemed to be most comfortable and confidant with pack leader, Aidan, especially when feeding. Grayson generally tends to avoid confrontation, however on occasion instigates/participates in dominance/submission sequences. He seems to enjoy the advantage of height, on more than one occasion walking atop the rocks near the left fence line. In one such scenario, Boltz and Axel both approached him; Axel grabbing his tail and Boltz his scruff as they pulled Grayson down from his advantageous position on the rocks. Just one of several dominance displays exerted over Grayson throughout our observations.”

Grayson- Standing Tall

In this photo, notice the ears pricked forward, the extended legs and the “Standing Tall” pose of Grayson.  This is the sign of a confident wolf.  While he is still the smallest member of the pack (the yearlings will be weighed on June 2nd on their 13 month birthday), we have noticed a confidence that not only impacts the other wolves, but has been a bit challenging on our new trees.  Where Grizzer bites trees out of anxiety, Grayson focuses on new vegetation in a predatory fashion.  Grabbing, head shaking, prancing with a branch in his mouth as wolf care staff attempt to build protective rock barriers to the new trees.  The good thing is, we chose trees that are stump suckerers such as red maple and birch trees.  We can sacrifice a few upper branches as long as we can keep the root systems intact.  The roots can sucker up shoots at a later time and are less noticeable to the curious yearlings.  We had a good success rate with the trees this year, winning some and losing some, but overall, we appreciate the new shade and the cooling effect that transpiring trees have to offer the Exhibit Pack.   

Grayson – Submissive Ears

Grayson seems to mimic Aidan and while that can be a good trait when it comes to leadership qualities, it can also have a downside when it comes to intimidation about being moved off the Exhibit.  We have had several occasions to move the Exhibit Pack in the last month.  We had some significant hazard trees that needed to be removed before the summer windstorms became an issue, the Vermilion Community College Ethology class moved a lot of cover hay, the VCC fire class moved even more dead trees and branches.  The Working for Wolves crew did a significant amount of work cleaning up the Exhibit and thanks to a donation from Anika Hahn, we are putting misting systems in the enclosure to provide some needed relief from the summer heat, especially for the arctic wolves.  All of this work requires some type of movement for the pack and one thing about wolves, they don’t seem to like change.  Aidan has the hardest issue and we have been watching Grayson show some intimidation as well.  We are nearly done with the projects, the Exhibit is ready for summer and we hope to have many days relaxation to relax Grayson’s ear posture.

Grayson – Tails Tell It All

We’ve spoken about Grayson’s confidence when he’s near Aidan and certainly this photo of a T-1 (over the back) tail posture shows this confidence as Aidan does a ride-up behavior on Denali.   It’s been a long year, watching Grayson struggle with the focus of Denali and turn to Aidan for comfort.  Now, it appears that Aidan is far more than comfort, he is a source of power for Grayson.  This is why we say every pup introduction is different due to the dynamics of the pack they will join.  As the spring advances, we are seeing less ritualized dominance that can result in tension and more social rallies that result in tail wags and wolves in unison.  Grayson did better than Axel during the 17th April medical exams, he definitely sees the Wolf Care Center as a source of comfort.  Both recovered well and Aidan welcomed them back within 6 hours of their procedures (I just posted a Youtube video showing the pups being reunited with Aidan).   I received many questions as to why we choose to neuter the pups.  The Center is not a breeding facility and we started in 1989 before many of the birth control methods were proven effective or safe for use in wolves.  Our USDA Vet Care Plan established neutering and spaying as the recommended method for reproductive control to avoid overpopulating our Exhibit or having pups with no homes.  On a 4-year rotation, we acquire pups from other facilities to aid in our educational mission.  We chose to work with three different subspecies (arctic subspecies, northwestern subspecies and great plains subspecies) to highlight the varied geography and distribution of wolves in North America.  The three subspecies wouldn’t meet geographically in the wild, so allowing breeding in captivity between the subspecies would produce a cross that would be uncharacteristic of their wild counterparts.  None of the three subspecies are candidates for release in the wild, so any captive born wolf would stay in captivity, and demand in captivity may vary.   Our wolves serve as ambassadors to the wild and our management philosophy is to work with the safest and most effective physical care while paying attention to every detail that helps form a cohesive pack of wolves.  To help us celebrate Axel and Grayson’s birthday on May 2, 2017, follow this link to register for their birthday webinar. https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/

Grayson – Sharing Space or Being Social

This week’s photo captures a moment with two social species, our arctic wolf, Grayson and one of the Center’s frequent visitor, a raven.  We certainly see communication between the two species especially when there is an abundance of food.  This photo reminds me of a quote from Barry Lopez’s book “Of Wolves and Men”. This 1978 publication offers a variety of perspectives on wolves relationships with other species.  When I look at this photo, one particular quote comes to mind:  Barry Lopez wrote: “The wolf seems to have few relationships with other animals that could be termed purely social, though he apparently takes pleasure in the company of ravens.”

The wolf care staff that photographed this moment said that Grayson was interacting with this particular raven for about 30 minutes.  With that long of an interaction, there may be more going on than just two species sharing space. 

To learn more about the milestones of Axel and Grayson over the past year and our assessment of future pack dynamics, consider joining us for their Birthday webinar on May 2nd at 6 pm Central Time… Follow this link for more details and the registration for all of our wolf care webinars.  https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/

Grayson – Center of Attention

Grayson is continuing to show some confidence and he is back on track gaining some weight after a slow down from some parasite issues earlier this winter. But, when he finds a deer hide and becomes the Center of attention, his ears display that uncomfortable posture that we term “Airplane Ears”… When we see a wolf with this ear posture and a low tail and a curved back, we know they are not comfortable with the situation.  You may also note that Aidan is not in the vicinity of this interaction.  Grayson gains his confidence from Aidan; Without Aidan, Grayson is likely to be viewed as the bottom of the rank order.  But, Aidan was also the bottom of the order when he was a yearling and look what he’s become.  We are encouraged with the weight gain of Grayson.  While he continues to lag behind Axel, he is not that far behind Shadow our last arctic ambassador and pack leader that was born on May 8th, 2000 and weighed 87 pounds on April 23, 2001.  For those of you who remember Shadow, as an adult, he topped out at 95 pounds.  He may not have carried the weight of the Northwestern subspecies, Aidan and Denali, but his character and behavioral interactions carried far more stature in the Exhibit.

Here is Grayson’s progress in the last few months.

Date Weight Gain Since last weight Age
1/6/17 76.2 lbs 1.6 lbs 8 months
2/2/17 77.8 lbs 1.6 lbs 9 months
3/2/17 78.8 lbs 1.0 lbs 10 months
4/1/17 82.6 lbs 3.8 lbs 11 months