This morning Grizzer greeted staff and began howling with Shadow and the retired pack. Grizzer dominated Maya pinning her down chest to chest while jaw sparring,during 5PM auditorium program. Grizzer very submissive, but relaxed towards two male dogs of staff members. This process continues to be an important part of the preparation for the introduction to the adult wolves and encounters with domestic dogs they will have while here at the Center.
Today Grizzer is 85 days old. He seems to be most adventuresome pup lately. He's very bored when he is inside the small pen for public programs. He constantly tries to find new and interesting things to do. During a Wednesday night program, he ran along the window sill at the obersvation window and pawed at the glass to the arctics.
Today Grizzer is 87 days old. During the pup programs Grizz was distracted by deer legs which held his attention throughout all of the day's pup programs. Grizz's aggressive tendencies towards handlers has somewhat dissipated. Recent aggression towards handlers has only occurred when food is involved, which is to be expected. He greeted the handlers very well today with submissive roll-overs and lots of facial licking.
Today Grizz is 88 days old. Grizz greeted the 6:00 am shift with a submissive rollover and lots of facial licking. During today's programs he did very well. He was taken out of one program early, but stayed in the entire time for the other three. The weather was very hot and muggy today so staff sprayed water into the puppy pen to cool down the soil. Grizzer was trying to bite and attack the stream of water coming from the hose. When staff was done spraying Grizz was soaking wet which helped to keep him cool. Staff also used other cooling methods on the pups such as a frozen wet blanket and ice cubes in a dish.
Grizzer ate a full meal of beaver and has the stomach to prove it. During this heat, the wolves have been staying cool by laying in the dirt, swimming in the pond or laying under the sprinklers. In this week's photo, Grizzer is looking for life in the pond.
The weather in Ely continues to be hot, humid, and buggy with brief respites during the rain. The wolves have been staying up in the cooler, wooded areas of the enclosure during the hot afternoon, with activity increasing during the cooler morning and evening hours. These are the best times of day for visitors to observe the pack. Typically wolves in the wild follow the same pattern-decreased activity in the afternoons and more activity during early morning and night hours.
Grizz is 46 days old today. Grizz tends to get a little anxious during the morning (11:00 am) pup programs, but seems to do better during the afternoon programs. Today, during the 1:00 pm program Maya helped distract him by playing tug of war with a beaver tail. When Grizz and his littermates were taken to the outside puppy pen he ran straight for the den Malik and Shadow had made. He then immediately started to dig in the den. Interactions between the pups and the arctics (Malik and Shadow) remain very positive. Malik and Shadow greet the pups with whimper-whines, wagging tails and facial licking through the fence which are all nurturing behaviors found in wolves. Grizz also did well during the 3:00 pm pup 101 program. During the program Grizz stole Maya's beaver foot and he then proceded to play keep away while Maya chased him around the pen in a losing effort to retrieve her beaver foot.
Today Grizz is 47 days old. When in the indoor pup pen, he sometimes becomes anxious to go outside and walks the perimeter of the pup pen looking for a way out. Staff have been distracting him with water, ice cubes, and other stimulus items which seem to be successful in redirecting his attention. During interactions with his packmates, he has been showing stalking and pouncing behaviors. For instance, when Maya had a beaver foot today, he pounced on her to try to take it away. During Pup 101 programs, he has been kept occupied by beaver feet and tails. He becomes very possessive over them, and will growl at Maya or Nyssa if they come near him. Grizz was also tugging one of the birch logs across the pen. Grizz is becoming more aggressive with both his packmates and handlers. He has exhibited head-shaking behaviors while initiating dominance attempts with Maya and Nyssa. He has been responding to the older wolves' howls by howling back. Grizz is no longer receiving the bottle and is instead eating weaning formula during feeding times.
Today Grizz is 67 days old. The puppies are now outdoors on their own all night long. The thunderstorms don't seem to bother them, but they are eager to see the staff arrive for the 6 am shift. Grizzer greets with a high-pitched whine, low tail and submissive roll overs, followed by a bout of jaw sparring with Maya. (a zero weight means they were too active to be accurately weighed)
Today Grizzer is 94 days old. Grizz was very active today because of the cool weather. He was running around and playing with his littermates for most of the day. . Grizz had a piece of hide which he wouldn't let go. He is getting stronger every day and when he gets ahold of objects such as a hide it is often very difficult to get them back. With the high activity level Grizz fed very well during the evening feeding as he ate about three cups of meat mix.
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.