Grizzer is doing well. As March advances, the aggression between the arctics and the females is decreasing. Grizzer is now back in the loop for more play activity. On Saturday, March 5th, Staff photographer Sherry Jokinen and former assistant curator Damon Haan visited the exhibit. All wolves were very excited to see them, especially Grizzer. He had two more humans to test for status. So far, he responds well to a quick pinch of the lip to calm over stimulated pup behavior.
Grizzer is doing extremely well, and is really gaining muscle mass. He's as tall as the arctics and has proven to be a bit of a handful for some of the handlers. He has a good relationship with the Curator and seems to be kept under control when she's present. Level 1 handler, Jim Ziburski caught a northern while ice fishing and saved if for Grizzer. It's one of Grizzer's favorite treats to get a frozen fish.
Grizzer has been spending a fair amount of time watching the Center staff work within the building. He is very curious and wants to be included in all activities. He's a bit left out of activities in the enclosure. The females have their rank order issues to work out and often leave Grizzer standing on his own. He trys to get involved with the arctics when they have a rank order dispute, but he learns quickly that it's best to leave the big boys to their issues. So, Grizzer's next level of entertainment is the humans…. What are they doing and how can I bug them.
Grizzer is enjoying the cold, snowy weather, but as the others are sorting out issues he often finds himself a wolf without a fight. This week he was observed trying to take a deer leg from Shadow. Shadow finally decided to remind Grizzer who is the boss, and he physically made Grizzer go to the ground and submit. Of course, Grizzer popped back up and ran off, unphazed.
There are no significant behavioral issues to report this week. All wolves seem to be enjoying the fresh snow which seems to fall daily. The only issue is the depth of snow and the height of fences (especially the retired enclosure). The wolf care staff are continually shoveling the winter waterers, paths and gates to ensure that day to day operations can continue. This week's log photos are reminder's of the days, months and years of care that's been delivered at the IWC. When winter arrives (as it has this year), the work can sometime seem overwhelming. Staff often talk about the good old pup days (we forget how much work pups are when the snow flies) Enjoy the pup pictures…
It's been a good week for the Exhibit pack. Temperatures have moderated (although the staff probably appreciates this more) with daytime highs in the teens and even lower 20's. In previous logs, you may have read that Grizzer had been demonstrating some grabbing behavior towards some of the staff. Some theorized that he was not really fitting into the female dominance role, he didn't fit in the arctic's dominance role, so he decided to try the staff role. With a little conditioning, both positive and negative, he seems to have minimized this behavior towards staff. Grizzer continues to be very social with the other wolves and seems to enjoy attention whenever he can get it.
Grizzer has again been a bit overbearing when greeting staff. I think he may have realized his size and potential. He still is most likely to instigate a chase in the enclosure. It's usually Nyssa who's the likely target, although she instigates as much as Grizzer. In the photo this week, Grizzer is hiding behind the rock attempting to jump at Nyssa. They seem to really enjoy the rocks as a place to hide and pounce.
On Thursday, November 11th, the Center Staff conducted a chemical immobilization on the three males of the exhibit pack. It was decided that Malik would receive a complete exam on his knee including x-rays, Shadow would get his ears cleaned and get a diagnosis of his problems and as long as the arctics were down, Grizzer would be neutered. We had intended to wait until the May medical exam to do Grizzer, but his incredible growth rate and tendency to focus on Malik as an outlet for dominance, we decided it wouldn't be wise to take Malik and Shadow out without Grizzer. Grizzer's trip to the Vet clinic was uneventful. He had a very smooth immobilization and was up and around in no time. He weighed 84 lbs and was deemed very healthy. He was back in the pack chewing on a frozen beaver by early afternoon and doesn't appear to be bothering his stitches. He looks great this morning and weekend reports have him running with the pack as if nothing happened. The vet's use dissolvable stitches, so there is no need for a return visit to the clinic.
There's still a lack of snow in Northern Minnesota, so the main exhibit has been bedded with straw for insulation. Grizzer enjoys sliding down the hill, taking the new straw with him. As I came in this morning, there were 4 wolves attempting to sit on the webcam rock, Grizzer's bulky size usually leaves him a bit uncoordinated. He settled for the lower rocks, leaving Malik and Nyssa on top. All the other wolves have been observed jumping from rock to rock, Grizzer attempted it once, but his shorter legs didn't make the leap. As December approaches, we expect a growth in length rather than the width that Grizz has been putting on.
The logs this week show a high number of dominance displays between Grizzer and Nyssa. When these two interact, there seems to be an equal chance that one will be victorius over the other. There also seems to be very little snapping or growling during the interactions, they just tend to grab onto each other and pull each other around. The only issue I see is when Nyssa is vulnerable, Maya takes advantage of it and try to take a few cheap shots to gain some status.
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.