Grizzer – A Cache of Food

Grizzer has many cache’s throughout his enclosure.   Last weekend was our annual Working for Wolves program and the crew did an OUTSTANDING JOB!!!!, not only cleaning the straw from the enclosure and preparing the ponds for summer, but also reducing the dead and downed wood within and adjacent to the wolf enclosure that could be a fire risk for our packs.  Grizzer spent a bit of time searching for some cache’s that were buried in the straw, but he soon forgot them in favor of the new treats used to keep the wolves content while in holding.

Grizzer – Have you Seen my Pearly Whites?

We do enjoy photographing the wolves for logs, educational programs and retail items, but our primary purpose is wolf care.  When we get a chance to do a dental inspection without having to hold open a mouth, we take it.  As you can see from Grizzer’s photo, he has limited tartar build up, his canine teeth look sound with limited war and he clearly has good jaw bone mobility.  Of course, we need a photo of the uppers too, but that can be accomplished when he’s on the den.

 

Grizzer – Thick Pelage

Grizzer seems to find the muddiest holes and he comfortably spends the day in them.  I suspect with his winter coat, he needs some cooling off.  Fortunately, he has plenty of shade in his habitat.

Grizzer – Listening Ears

Grizzer – Strong Communication With Malik

As we observed Malik and studied the surveillance cameras, we did identify a strong connection between Malik and Grizzer with several howling bouts between them in the last week.  This was very unusual in many ways.  Malik rarely started howls in retirement, he usually responded to Shadow’s howling.  But, starting on Monday night the 17th, we saw a daily/evening pattern of Grizzer facing retirement and howling in response to Malik.  These howls were not the dominant,  high tail, posturing howls that Grizzer usually displayed when facing Malik, but were the subuded, low throated tones of an animal after a change or a loss of packmate.  Maybe Grizzer new things before humans did.

Grizzer – Remote Pack Connection

While wolf care staff worked with the construction crew to remove snow from the Exhibit Pack roof (yes, again), Grizzer is isolated in the back of his habitat.  The front of the habitat is where we draw the Exhibit Pack when we need them out of the main enclosure.  While in holding, the wolves can see Grizzer, but don’t have direct contact.  Grizzer is kept occupied with some food treats, then upon his return; spend most of his time scent marking where the wolves have been.  Grizzer still has a connection to the Exhibit Pack, even though it is spaced remotely in both time and place.

Grizzer – A Prized Possession

This week’s photo shows Grizzer carrying a deer head.  What’s so unusual about that, nothing, but it offers us a chance to reflect to one of our “Gone, but Not Forgotten Packmates”.   Carrying possessions is the most effective method to get food away from a killsite, which is always a gathering place for scavengers.  So, it’s not unusual for wolves to carry food, cache it and come back to it later. What does seem to occur in captivity is the tendency for wolves to carry food and travel within in feet of another wolf, before going off to chew on the possession.  Lucas, the dominant male from the 1993 litter, used to carry the deer head, drop it in front of his packmates, growl in defense, pick it up and trot off.  If the packmates wouldn’t follow him, he would continually bring the head back to them until he got a response.  Grizzer lives alone, so his deer head possession was brought to the wolf care staff, needless to say, we didn’t follow.

Grizzer – Instincts Abound

Grizzer has a great clip on Youtube this week showing him caching a deer leg.  It is amazing to watch a wolf cache, then go home to my pet dog and watch the exact same behavior from pushing with the nose to the tamping motion to make sure it’s covered well.  There’s a lot of new genetic research about the origin of the domestic dog, and whether it is related to current day wolves or wolves that have long been extinct, there is no denying there are some very strong behavioral correlations between our pet and wolves that developed behaviors necessary to survive in the wild.

Grizzer – Howling or Chatter

Grizzer had some great excitement while the Exhibit Pack was using the front portion of his habitat.  Grizzer was fed a portion of a deer carcass and moved to the back side of his habitat while the exhibit pack created a wide variety of smells, caches and overall stimulus in the front half.  As soon as the Exhibit Pack was released, Grizzer was allowed to return and spent a good hour rolling, marking and eventually howling which is featured on this week’s Youtube video.  Although, his howling sounds more like chatter.

Pelage changes

Grizzer will be ten years old in May and his pelage is showing some gray.  The tips of his tail are all silvery gray and his guard hairs throughout his face have the same pattern.  At this age, the best interactions for Grizzer are the massages from the wolf care staff.  He often rolls to the ground to get attention and quietly lets his eyes drift shut.  Although, when there’s a fresh snowfall, he runs like a juvenile, stopping long enough to rub his face in the snow before making another lap.  It’s nice to see the older animals with this kind of spirit.  Even if their pelage says they are aging, their behaviors offer a different take.