Although wolves in retirement are separated by several fences from the exhibit pack, they tend to keep tabs on the younger wolves. Grizzer seems to enjoy taking the vantage points of the two large dens in retirement in order to see into the main enclosure. From these vantage points he often has a great view of the antics the others get into.
Grizzer has so many places now in which to hang out and enjoy the fall days, we never know where in the retirement enclosure he will be. He sure does seem to spend a great deal of time on top of the retirement dens. When it rains he will often be in one of the dens. On windy days he likes to look up. He is always alert and aware of what’s going on in the wolf yard.
In recent years Grizzer has been less tolerant of new people in the yard. During our board meeting this last weekend, a small meeting was held in the wolf yard in an attempt to help Grizzer in this anxiety. The meeting worked well, and Grizzer even sat in on a portion of it. The enclosure set-up he has now is perfect for his comfort however, as he now has the ability to retreat to the retirement enclosure (often referred to as the ‘east side’ enclosure) if he feels too stressed with the activity in the wolf yard.
This week Grizzer assisted wolf care staff in completing the ALS Ice Bucket challenge, as shown in this week’s youtube video. He was a little weary of the tripod we brought into his enclosure, but overall seemed unimpressed with our human antics.
The cooler days are treating Grizzer well, his winter coat is coming in thick, and he seems to be more relaxed with the cooler temperatures. The ravens in his enclosure seem to be a bother now and then, but the past few weeks have shown that he can grab one or two of them every now and then.
Wolf care staff spent a great deal of time on Saturday cleaning Grizzer’s enclosure, removing dead branches, scrubbing ponds, and adding new wood chip bedding. We try to limit the amount of time we hold wolves off from their own enclosures, as it often stresses them to be removed from portions of their territory. But Grizzer did exceptionally well during this cleaning, spending most of his time on top of the retirement den, observing the work. After it was all done, he took a dip in his clean pond, and raced around the enclosure in his Grizzer 500 style.
Keeping wolves in holding for several hours means that Grizzer was separated in retirement during the entirety of the exam. Each wolf has their own way to deal with stress, Grizzer’s just happens to be foliage removal. One of the birch trees near the front gate of retirement was the victim of one of these outbursts, and was knocked down (again). Wolf care staff placed it upright again after Grizzer was allowed back into his enclosure (The roots somehow survived both tear-downs).
One of our wolf care staff commented that Grizzer’s pond in retirement is beginning to look like a tropical spa, what with leaves and berries hanging closely over the clear water. Grizzer often takes advantage of his cool retreat during the last few hot days of the summer, which seem to have finally caught up to us here in Northern Minnesota.
Grizzer had definitely benefited from the additional space added to his world. Wolves spend most of their time exploring and Grizzer has plenty of room and plenty of new things to investigate. He has certainly shown more activity and has shown more relaxation surrounding events such as Behind the Scenes programs. We even witnessed the Grizzer 500, but with so much vegetation, he had a few more obstacles to maneuver. He was still too fast to film during the event, but I did get his ending at the top of the den. The staff think he did a bow… Take a look at the Youtube this week and let me know what you think.
On the night that Shadow made his final journey with the Wolf Care staff to the University of Minnesota Diagnostic Lab, Grizzer had several bouts of howling. No doubt, the activity of all the wolf care staff in the yard is unsettling for Grizzer. There have been many emergencies when he was the source of the attention. But, after the yard cleared and he had some quiet time with staff, he settled down and showed very little anxiety of Shadow’s loss. We waited for the noise of the 4th of July weekend to subside and allowed Grizzer access to the main retired enclosure on Monday morning. Surveillance cameras show that Grizzer slept in the main den that night. He has access to all 3 areas. the front “Pack Holding Area” “Grizzer’s Habitat” and the” Traditional Retirement Enclosure”. When there is activity in the yard, he comes to the front, when the Exhibit Pack is racing around, he watches from the top of his den in the back habitat and when things are relaxed, he seems to rest on the pile of wood chips that Shadow so frequently used. We will make every attempt to draw him over to the webcam, but with the freedom to roam about, we don’t always know when he will arrive. One thing for certain, Grizzer is too much of a roll on back wolf to have greetings on the top of a den. He nearly rolled off the main den on Monday. We will have to work out a routine that is safe. In June, Grizzer weighed in at 123 lbs, life in retirement must be good.
| 8/8/2004 | Grizzer – Pup | 41 lbs |
| 5/6/2005 | Grizzer – Yearling | 93.5 lbs |
| 5/2/2008 | Grizzer – 4 Years | 110 lbs |
| 4/22/2009 | Grizzer – 5 Years | 121.25 lbs |
| 4/29/2010 | Grizzer – 6 Years | 124.52 lbs |
| 3/6/2012 | Grizzer – 8 Years | 116.16 lbs |
| 6/4/2013 | Grizzer – 9 Years | 118.6 lbs |
| 6/13/2014 | Grizzer – 10 Years | 123.0 lbs |
Grizzer is the Opposite of Denali in most behavioral interactions and he is the opposite in his shedding patterns. Where Denali has barely shed a handful, Grizzer has shed half of his body size in one brushing. When we say Grizzer blows his coat, we mean, his undercoat has let loose and it his coming out in sheets. We do save the hair and in the past have made bracelets from the undercoat. At this point, we are producing more hair than product.
Last week, we attempted to reunite Grizzer and Shadow long term, but came to the realization that Grizzer is a strong 10-year old that has had life his way, on his terms for a while. It is hard to adjust to competition again. The reality is, Shadow is only 4 years older, but at the age of 14, he is too old to put up with the activity level and food defense of Grizzer. We know Shadow’s time is limited at this age, and we don’t want to have more stress than he needs. We also have to be mindful that, if they were together again, and Shadow dies, Grizzer is left with another transitional separation issue. At this point, weighing all decisions, we think it’s best to have 2 retirement options. To see our initial reunited efforts between Grizzer and Shadow, see last week’s Youtube.
