Lakota wobbly on rear legs, particularly her left rear leg… Showing signs of strain when walking. Staff will monitor her condition – and offer an anti-inflammatory for the next few days.
Vermilion Community College students Matt Erickson, Damon Haan, and Tym Sauter assist Curator Lori Schmidt in placing plywood on pack holding area for the purpose of giving Lakota privacy and protection from the pack when she's placed in the pack holding area. The yearlings are curious as the students work and a watchful eye must be kept on all tools.
Jen Westlund and I had an interesting wolf check on Thursday. When visiting the retired enclosure, we always get an excited greeting, unless one of the wolves is feeling ill. So, our first concern is that all wolves are alert (response to delivery of vitamins and cosequin in a meatball tells us that), then we look for activity level. On Thursday, Lakota was very active, racing around the enclosure, jumping at tree branches. On one of her landings, her front paws landed on a piece of deer hide and she proceeded to slide about 15 feet on the deer hide like a snowboard. The look on her face was priceless, she was a bit startled by the forward motion. Of course, we didn't have a camera in the pen, but it will be one of those wolf memories that last a lifetime.
Fed retired pack today, noticed a dry skin condition on Lakota’s ear tips, it appears that she is losing the hair on her eartips, it could be related to cold weather or dry skin conditions, the staff will monitor this condition."
Vermilion Student, Damon Haan, came in to do a wolf check this morning and found MacKenzie and Lakota had dug out of their pack holding area and were in the secure, secondary fence area. Curator Lori Schmidt arrived and greeted Mackenzie and Lakota and they followed her back into the pen. The area were they dug out was located. The wolves appear to have dug by one of the new gates that were scheduled to get a concrete pad on Monday. Apparently, Lakota wanted to enter the retirement pen sooner than planned. Center member Roger Halverson (who happened to be visiting the Center), Damon Haan, Alicia Pansiak, Gretchen Diessner and Lori Schmidt spent the day in the rain, snow, sleet and wind, pouring concrete and increasing the ground wire fencing on the retirement pen.
The removal of Lakota and Mackenzie was a significant decision for the Center, but in watching both wolves behavior, it appeared to be the right decision. After some recuperation time from their injuries and an adjustment period to each other, the two females of the Ambassador pack are doing well. They seem to enjoy the extra attention of the wolf care staff and have been observed in several play/chase behaviors with high tails and exuberance. All wolves were excited to see staff, maybe because of the cooler fall weather. Lakota is very playful and did several playbows to Mackenzie inviting a chase. MacKenzie was receptive, but somewhat distracted by the Arctic wolves on the shared fenceline. The construction of the new retirement enclosure will get the wolves away from each other allowing Mackenzie and Lakota to relax without being watched by the Arctics."
Pups were introduced into the main exhibit. The following is a summary of the observations from the behavioral team: Team 1: Carol Moore, Joyce Powers, Debra Mendrick Team 2: Claire Belle, Jeanette Howard, Kara Milnes Team 3: Jessica Reihing, Susan Toochin, Dari Quirk, Kristine Radermacher As a result of intensive play behavior between Lakota and the pups, Mackenzie forced Lakota to submit on two separate occasions. During the first encounter at 8:30 am, Lakota vocalized several yelps as Mackenzie grabbed the scruff of Lakota's neck and her hind quarters. After dominating, Mackenzie stood over Lakota several times before allowing her to retreat with tucked tail into the wooded area. During the dominance encounters, the pups looked on and attempted to charge Lakota while Mackenzie had her down. When Lakota got up and charged the pups, they run with tucked tail, generally with shadow showing more fear than Malik. Later in the day, another encounter between Lakota and Mackenzie resulted in a similar response. Lakota tried to steal a bone from the pups, Mackenzie barked a short quick bark and Lakota submitted, whining the entire time. Mackenzie displayed a similar behavior to Lucas over food, but Mackenzie didn't bark at Lucas. During an 8 hour observation shift from 11 pm to 7 am, the observation crew observed 7 aggressive interactions between Lakota and Mackenzie and 7 aggressive interactions between Lucas and Mackenzie. All of the aggression appeared to be initiated by Mackenzie in response to the other wolves proximity to pups or food.
Lakota is doing well, as noted last week, there was a relapse of the Ehrlicia, but a second round of antibiotics seemed to help. She was off food for a day, but quickly responded to the antibiotics and is now back to her playful self again. Wolf Curator Lori Schmidt needed to lower the retired enclosure gate. As the snow melted, there was a wider and wider gap under the gate. It appears one of the wolves was reaching several feet under the gate, grabbing at anything within reach. Our bets are on Lakota.
Pups instigated mobbing of Lakota, all three in den. Mackenzie and Lucas show interest in chasing Lakota, but not as actively as pups. Later, pups and Mackenzie observed chasing Lakota into den
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.