The Wolf Logs for the week will contain the same text for each wolf. The curator was at a conference during the week, and time is limited for Friday duties. The pack did well in the Curator's absence, it is important that wolf care is not dependent upon one individual, but a multitude of individuals that can meet the wolves' basic needs. There are 16 people associated with the wolf care program and all have their own strengths and skills that help manage the packs. Aidan continues to be confident and Grizzer is still showing some anxiety when Aidan puts his tail in a T-2 posture and follows him. There will be a Vermilion Community College Ethology class beginning some observations, and we hope to have some good data to share by the end of April.
Grizzer is doing well. His ear infection seems to have subsided with the cold weather, although he still enjoys having his ears cleaned. He's been very playful with the cooler weather. He's been observed grabbing Nyssa by the tail in a few chase scenes. Grizz's bulk keeps him from running too fast. His skeletal structure is much bigger than the other pups indicating the potential for a large male adult frame. It's a good thing he has such a gentle personality. He still trys to sit on wolf care staff as he did when he was a smaller pup, but he doesn't fit very well.
Written by Wolves at Two Years participants Steve Lokker and Carol Mucha: During the 'Wolves at Two Years" program, Grizzer continued to demonstrate his landscaping design prowess. In additoin to his ongoing assault of a choke cherry tree and its' fruit, he and his packmates began demolition of a dead tree that fell across a path and over the pond. By Sunday morning, pieces of the tree were floating in the pond. Grizzer, like the rest of the Exhibit Pack, was fascinated by the work on the pond.
With the recent snow flurries, Grizzer has become more active and playful with the rest of the pack. He is exploring his new, snow covered surroundings with zest, but usually allows the other pups to get into trouble, like in the photo. He has been observed initiating chases with his littermates as well as with the arctics, though he doesn't seem to be able to run as fast as the others and usually relies on the ambush technique.
During this week, Grizzer has been showing lots of interest in the inuit dog puppies that wolf care staff are using for the canine cousins program. He is often down by the gate whining at them. Another thing that the wolf watch participants had observed, is Grizzer running early in the morning, chasing Maya and Shadow in a playful behavior.
Staff continue to comment on Grizzer's size. He's matured to his full adult size and as his winter coat begins to grow in, he appears massive. He stands at least an inch taller than Shadow, and has a much broader head. Fortuntately for all, he maintains a very calm demeanor. Although, he may like to display a few dominance behaviors as shown in Maya's video this week. Grizzer's video demonstrates the physiological design of wolves that allows for flexibility of their scapula or shoulder, to direct register their tracks so their front feet and back feet align perfectly.
We're in the process of writing a 1-page flyer describing each wolf, to help visitors tell them apart. I can't help but describe Grizzer as big… Even if he's not near Maya for a size comparison, he seems to just have a large presence that's noticeable. He's doing extremely well with staff, but has a bit of a tendency to bite while he's teething. All of his permanent teeth have erupted, but he still has a canine milk tooth that's waiting to fall out. So, he's officially a 5 canine wolf. Staff have been trying to jiggle it to see if it will move, but so far, it won't budge. We put a box of moose bones in the pen on Saturday to give him something to chew on.
I hope you all had a great holiday season. The wolves weathered the holiday well considering the December 26th – 9 am wolf check was -34 degrees below zero. On New Year's day, nearly 10 inches of snow fell creating a great diversion for the wolves (the pups love fresh snow) and many hours of work for the curator. Enjoy the winter photos…
Grizzer spent quite a bit of time in the morning dominating Nyssa and Maya. When he got them on a submissive posture on their backs, he would do a stand over posture over them. Grizzer also decided to get involved in the dominance actions of Malik and Shadow, riding up on Malik as much as possible. After the dominance activities settled down, Grizzer responded to Maya's initative to play steal and chase.
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