Lakota’s been very active lately and has enjoyed the windfall of deer scraps donated by deer hunters. She’s still actively excavating the tunnel system in the Retired enclosure and her digging resulted in wolf care staff shoring up the second den box so it wouldn’t fall in the hole. In Lakota’s video this week, you will see an excited Lakota, racing around the enclosure and inspecting the area where a balsam tree recently blew over in a windstorm.
The text for all the wolves will be the same. The wolves are enjoying the deer scraps donated by local deer hunters, with scraps arriving daily and wolves feeding opportunities on the increase. This is the time of the year when resources are plentiful at the International Wolf Center. Vermilion Community College student, Nick Budzien, made a trip to the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake Minnesota, where they graciously donated 24 road kill deer to help feed our wolves over the winter. Road kill are much more plentiful in the urban areas in southern Minnesota, than the more remote forested regions of Ely. We do get local road kill, but not in the volume that will sustain the wolves through the winter. The weather is moderately cool, ranging between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for both wolves and wolf care staff.
Lakota is doing well, but has recently decided to stop taking meatballs with her daily medications. It may be possible that the increased feeding to satiate Mac’s appetite might be too much food for Lakota. We will modify her feeding schedule to see if we can get her back on the daily vitamin routine. In Lakota’s video, you will see her attempt to howl in excitement, she has lost her vocal chords years ago, but still goes through the motions.
Lakota is doing extremely well, and as we’ve said before, the wolves seem to favor the winter season. Their body structure and pelage is truly designed for this season. In Lakota’s video, she’s running so fast, we can’t get a clean video footage of her, but hopefully the clip gives you an insight of the energy and exuberance that still exists in the Retired Pack. If you view the webcams, you may think the wolves are slowing down a bit, but the wolf care staff has the honor of seeing these two age with vigor.
Lakota continues to be picky about her vitamins. Staff are now hand crushing her vitamins in meatball to prevent her from picking the meat around the pills. The surgery incision area has completely regrown a thick winter coat, and there's no signs of the growth returning. She is sensitive to the area when touched, but shows no other problems. In this week's video, you will see both Lakota and MacKenzie helping spread new straw in the enclosure.
Lakota is again taking her meatballs, but staff still needs to crush the pills to ensure that she doesn’t eat the meat and leave the pills in the snow. The issue may have been related to a surplus of food from local deer hunter scraps. As the weather gets colder, her appetite is increasing. She is extremely rambunctious on a daily basis, springing towards staff and running at full speed around the pen. We are happy with her mobility and she appears to have no joint stiffness. Staff have noticed that it is taking more time to get her attention when she is facing away from us; it appears her hearing is probably going. This doesn’t seem to have an impact on her or her social activity in the pack. Wolf care staff will be in on Christmas day to make sure all is well with the wolves, caring for wolves is a 365 day a year job.
Lakota continues to be an active 14 1/2 year old wolf. Her health remains good and there are no indications that the facial growth is returning. Her most noteable behavior this week is the tendency to toss deer hides. She gets very excited and usually results in a race around the pen. In previous winters, she's even used the hide as a snowboard. Of course, never on camera.
The wolf logs will all be the same today, we would like to thank all of the wolf care supporters this past year. From the significant donations to the Water in the Lab fund to the vitamins and nutritional supplements, straw, squeaky toys, pigs ears, blueberries, tools, jump drives, web cams and many more items that are donated to the lab each year, we are so grateful there are so many people who help support the Retired and Exhibit Pack. There are too many names to mention, but you know who you are. We can always count on you when the wolves are in need. We are happy to report that all is well on this New Years Day, 2008. The Exhibit Pack received 2 frozen fish from a recent fishing trip, one caught by Assistant Wolf Curator, Donna Prichard and one caught by Lori Schmidt, Wolf Curator. Grizzer and Maya enjoyed rolling on them. The retired wolves are doing well, excited about the thawing of two deer legs for a mid-week feeding. The Nanny applications are posted on the website, they can be found on the Programs tab, look in Wolf Seminars or Learning Vacations – Northern Minnesota. We did institute a prerequisite program for the Nanny program this year, we did this based on some experiences that we had in 2004. Wolf pups are not dog pups, and we want to make sure nannies have to skills knowledge and abilities to assist in the socialization process. This is an historic time for the International Wolf Center, 2008 will mark the first time the Center has had three age structures in a pack and we want to make sure the best interest of the pups and the pack in mind as we move forward. If you have questions about the Nanny program, please email the curator directly at curator@wolf.org
Lakota’s winter coat has grown in, the stitches have dissolved and the hair has completely covered her scar. She seems to have a noticeably better attitude since the surgery and is as spry as ever. Of course, when cold weather hits, she will likely be feeling her age again, but for now, you would be hard to tell that she is 14 1/2 years old. The video this week shows Lakota eating her half of a beaver; she has not lost any jaw capacity or ability to rip into meat.
The warmer weather this week has resulted in more sunning time for the Retired Pack. Their activity levels remain good and mobility as they walk around the enclosure will improve as the ice melts and they get better traction in the melting snow.
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.