Grizzer has been very excited about feeding lately, to the point where he’s becoming a bit anxious days, and especially the hour before the feeding program begins. He tests every gate, lock and chain to gain access to the food. This is likely caused by the cooler weather stimulating the wolves to put on winter resources. In an effort to maintain the best pack cohesiveness possible prior to the pups’ arrival, we will be adding a small feeding on Wednesday mornings that may become part of a Distance Learning program for participating schools. We will be watching the impact these feedings have on Grizzer’s behavior and weight gain.
In an effort to reduce some of Grizzer's excitement, which leads to testing behavior, we have changed the feeding program to include a mid-week light meal in addition to the Saturday night feeding. Grizzer had a pattern of getting hungry and somewhat anxious about feeding, creating a situation where he was redirecting aggression to Malik. While his physical body clearly indicates that he is well fed, his mind wasn't convinced. So, the pack gets, and in most cases, Grizzer gets either a Beaver or deer leg on Wednesday's. The first test of this schedule has revealed good results, with Grizzer remaining calm throughout the week, but he did have some intense redirection towards the vegetation when Lakota was immobilized for the surgery. As we were waiting for Lakota's drug to take effect, we could hear trees snapping in the Exhibit pack. Staff said as we left the site with Lakota, the Exhibit Pack howled intently. Wolves are very disrupted by change and inconsistency in their routines. This is why so many wolf care programs have so many prerequisites. Concerning Grizzer's weight, we are constantly amazed at how much hair Grizzer puts on for winter. He looks massive, but when we see his images from the July wolf logs, we see a lean mean young adult. If he does gain a few extra pounds this winter from the increased feeding, we expect chasing after 2 young pups will help him lose weight.
Due to some malfunctioning video cameras, we only have video footage for Grizzer, Malik and Shadow. All the other wolves are doing well, but our Digital Video camera is not. We hope to get the necessary repairs or a replacement by next week. Grizzer has taken to the new feeding protocol of twice a week feedings. He’s been the first to guard food, and you will see him carrying a still frozen beaver in his video, and actually guarding it from Shadow in Shadow’s video clips. The pack behavior has been very calm lately, even with temperatures cooling off.
There was some tension in the pack last week as a load of rocks was delivered for the pond project, and the activity in the wolf yard created some anxiety in the holding pen. A few days later, when the wolves were in holding for some minor routine maintenance to the Exhibit, Grizzer came out of holding extremely agitated and started to redirect to Malik. This created a cascading effect as Malik tested Shadow, and Grizzer attempted to pin Shadow. Eventually, the focus returned to Malik. It is critical that all actions around the enclosure be as calm as possible. As the projects for the fall and spring are planned, this will be our top priority.
Grizzer’s agitation level seems to be correlated with extended periods of holding. While holding the wolves off is a necessary part of working on the facility, we attempt to reduce the large periods of time that the wolves need to be held off. Another key ingredient to keeping the peace, is to have some type of treats scattered around the enclosure when they come out of holding. This is easier said than done when Maya or Shadow don’t go into holding. Staff can’t hide treats with those two following them around and Grizzer gets that much more agitated watching them near the treats.
Today was the introduction day for Aidan and Denali. Initially, Shadow met the pups first in the pack holding area with Grizzer and Malik locked in holding and Maya to intimidated to come through the gates (problem with some negative conditioning several years ago, and too many wolf care staff indicating that something was different). Grizzer was very tolerant of the 5 minute wait for Shadow to complete his introductions and dominance, and when he did exit, he remained calm. Shadow did dominate him when he was near the pups and that set the tone for the rest of the introduction. Grizzer used soft muzzle bites to interact and was observed bringing food to Aidan, even though he would sometimes have some food threat displays toward the pups.
Grizzer continues to show very social behavior towards the pups and he has to be the biggest surprise in our behavioral interpretation estimates between pre-introduction and post-introduction. We really though that he would be more inclined to show dominance towards the pups, instead, every day he is more likely to be on his back with at least one of the pups rolling around with him. I’m glad we were wrong about him, and it proves the point that there can never be an expert in wolf behavior, because every wolf personality in every situation is different.
When the pups were held from the pack for surgery recovery, Grizzer was the most affected. He spent the first day and night, whining toward the pups and pawing at the gate. By the second night, he settled down a bit, but he still made an scheduled stop at the pack holding area to check on the pups. He continues to be most submissive to the pups, and for now, seems to tolerate their climbing behavior.
Grizzer continues to be the ideal pup sitter, watching and playing with the pups more than any other Exhibit Pack member. He and Maya still share a special littermate bond, and he tolerates Maya’s continual dominance, even though it may prohibit him from chasing Malik. It is amazing how tolerant Grizzer is, whether it’s pups chewing on him, laying on him or grabbing him, he rarely exhibits anything but a soft muzzle bite toward the pups.
Grizzer has been practicing tolerance with Malik. He tries avoidance behavior as long as he can, while Malik snarls, growls and chatters in Grizzer’s ear. But, even the most tolerant of wolves gets sick of the constant noise. There have been two scuffles with Grizzer and Malik this week, one started when a level 1 staff person was testing by Denali, then Grizzer, when she left the enclosure, Grizzer redirected to Malik. The other was just Malik being Malik, causing Grizzer to say enough. Grizzer is still extremely submissive to Shadow.
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