Grizzer has been active and a bit unpredictable lately. One minute he's mild mannered, enjoying the day, the next he's responding to the hormonal surges that seem to drive him into behavior that appears to lack judgement. Today was one of those days. During Wolf Care, Grizzer decided to do a bit of jaw sparring and ride up behavior towards Shadow, and we had the camera ready. Shadow was less than thrilled with this new side of Grizzer and promptly reminder Grizzer who runs the pack. Of course, Malik saw Shadow a bit occupied and came running with a high tail to see if he had a chance to gain some status. In the end, Shadow spent time reminding the whole pack and the humans associated with wolf care, that he's calling the shots. (check out Shadow's photo this week)…
The wolves are doing well during the recent cold spell (although, temperatures didn't dip much below 25 below zero, so not cold by Minnesota standards). On Saturday nights feeding of the Exhibit pack, 8 beaver carcasses were fed, with the intentions of filling the wolves up with a higher fat diet during the cold. Staff expected them to quickly devour the food, but the wolves weren't as hungry as we expected. Several beaver remain 4 days after the feeding, with limited interest. I guess the weather was only cold for the humans, for the wolves and their thick hides, it was just another day.
Grizzer's been asserting his status with a bit more authority lately, and the wolves have noticed. If you check out Shadow and Maya's logs, you will see their response to his demonstration of status. Maya seems to be the most inclined to show Grizzzer his place, and she is strongly supported by Shadow. The behavior sequence photographed for the logs actually started with Grizzer doing a playbow, a behavior where one wolf crouches low on their front haunches, encouraging other wolves to chase or interact. Grizzer did manage to stimulate the other wolves to interact, not sure if the result was what he wanted. These dominance rituals may appear intense, but in the nature of the wolf communcation structure, they're just an every day communication. As quick as they are stimulated, they tend to end and the wolves go about their business of finding something else of interest. I posted two photos today, the most interesting distraction has been the melting ice in the pond, Grizzer attempted to pick up a 4 foot sheet of ice.
Grizzer has a full winter coat and appears to have put on a few pounds. He is definitely trying for status with Malik, and has Malik on the run. So far, no signs of intense dominance. Grizzer has been a bit more active towards the handlers. Last week, when Grizzer did a grab bite on the Curator, Shadow immediately came over to put him down. It pays to be friends with the dominant male. We don't think Shadow was defending the curator as much as keeping Grizzer from gaining status, regardless who he takes on.
Grizzer is doing well, he's been occupying his time with Maya lately. These two still have strong pup instincts to chase each other around and wrestle each other to the ground. Shadow and Malik, as 5 year olds, often sit and watch the antics of the youngsters, but don't join in. Everything is very calm this week, with no noted dominance behavior between the males.
Grizzer was very active this week and seemed to be enjoying the milder temperatures. Several times per day the exhibit pack engaged in enegetic rounds of chase. This week's photo shows Grizzer rapidly changing direction to go after another target.
Wolf care has been going extremely well lately. The wolves are all in good spirits and the dominance displays typical of wolves during this time of year has been minimal. I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank John Virr, for his donation of a Nikon digital camera and lenses for the wolf care program. We have a great opportunity for photographing, but didn't have a camera that could keep up with the wolves, until now. We are most appreciative of John and Donna Virr's committment to the wolf care program and hope to share images from the life of the Exhibit and Retired pack. Grizzer has matured to a full-sized male as this week's photo shows.
The wolves are doing well over the Christmas Holidays. Curator Lori Schmidt has been in every day checking on them and they had a full deer carcass on Christmas Eve to keep them well fed during the holiday, when limited staff are on site. Grizzer has been very active lately instigating the pack to chase him as he runs in and out of the den. Dominance behavior seems to have calmed a bit, but howling bouts are increasing. Fresh snow tracks reveal recent visits to the fence from a fox, coyote and even a white tail deer walked up to the back fence. This has likely increased the captive wolves excitement levels. Lori Rhodes visited the Center on November 11th and 12th and contributes this week's photos of the Exhibit Pack.
Grizzer killed a raven in the enclosure today. Generally, the ravens come in to feed off the carcass without incident. Sometimes, the wolves are faster than the ravens predict. Today was one of those days. Raven's have social behavior similar to wolves. After the raven was killed, the flock of remaining ravens followed Grizzer and landed in the trees above him, with intense alarm calls.
You may have noticed some anxious wolf behavior on the web cams last Thursday morning. There was a cross-country ski meet at Hidden Valley Ski area about 1/2 mile from the Center and the combination of 80+ high school skiers and megaphones caused a bit of nervous behavior in the wolves. They could hear the noise coming from behind the enclosure, but couldn't see it, leaving them a bit anxious. Everyone settled down after the meet, but it's a good reminder of the importance of conditioning the wolves to a variety of environmental stimuli. Grizzer showed some anxiety along with Shadow and Malik, Maya remained the most calm during the event.
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.