Lakota warrants two postings today. First, she is enjoying the freedom to come to the picnic table with staff and on special days, gets venison brats. Secondly, now that the pups are spending time in the pup pen, she is comfortable enough to enter the wolf lab, with wolf care staff. Her video shows her coming into the lab, sniffing the pen, taking stuffed toys from the pup pen and listening to the microwave.
Lakota has developed some interesting habits. She will only eat if she is hand fed or if the staff pretend to leave somthing on the picnic table, acting like she is not suppose to have it, then she grabs it and runs. This is how we managed to feed her 2.5 lbs of venision steak and roast this morning. Her other habit is to come into the wolf lab and watch the staff work at the computers. Her photo this week shows her curiosity. Of course, she is always attended in the lab, but when staff are not watching closely, she still has a habit of taking mouse pads. She has a great spring in her step, and every morning the routine is the same. The retired enclosure is opened, she trots out to the walkway, if the pups are locked up, she can go straight into the yard. If the pups are out, she watches and waits by the gate. After the pup introduction, she will be very excited to change the routine and come in the wolf yard every time.
Lakota finally started to shed. Her pond was cleaned on Saturday morning and later she came back all wet, a sign that she had been in it. She is enjoying time out in the wolf enclosure in the mornings and after the last pup program. Meanwhile she often walks to the wolf lab window and peeks in, checking who is inside and probably attracted by the smell of her new favorite food, elk with melted cheese.
Lakota's spirits seem to be improving, but has still not returned to normal. She is caching things, but from the looks of her scat (which are dark and formed), she does appear to be eating some of her caches. She does have free access to the pack holding area, and this week's photo shows her observing the pups, but not getting to excited to see them.
Lakota has made great improvement in the past few weeks in her appetite and the old spring is back in her step. On a daily basis, she is allowed free access to the wolf yard when the pups are in the lab, and she enjoys sniffing, picking up after pups and interacting at the gate with the Exhibit Pack. We are posting two photos today, one with her coming through the back gate to get to the wolf yard, one with her leaving after finding a pig ear from the pups.
Lakota weighed in at 86 lbs, losing 1.5 lbs since the May 17th surgery, but seeming to get her appetite back and is eating on a daily basis now. Lakota is getting very bold in the wolf lab with staff, especially since the Nannies are in the pup pen and she has more freedom during the day. She comes all the way into the lab and will watch the staff working on the computers, she is still likely to leave the lab with an item, in this week's photo, it's the stuffed moose. Staff get it back before she makes it all the way into retirement with her prize.
Lakota leaving the wolf yard with a pig ear from the pups
Wolves are generally complete consumers, meaning that there is very little left after a wolf kill. The captive wolves have similar feeding patterns, although the amount they consume does have some correlation to temperatures. On very warm days, they are less likely to eat as much food. In this week’s photo, you see the remains of a beaver that was fed earlier in the week. They consumed all the meat and left the hide, which is often consumed within a day or two after feeding. The retired wolves reached a milestone this week, MacKenzie and Lakota turned 14 years old. In honor of their birth, we fed them several pieces of chicken thighs, turkey breasts and a roasting hen. They were very enthusiastic with this special treat. In Lakota’s video, she displays another behavioral pattern called a face-wipe. After feeding, there may be some blood from the carcass, wolves will rub their nose in the snow (or in Lakota’s case, straw) as a method of cleaning themselves, or removing strong scent as is common with beaver.
Lakota has the thickest coat of any of the wolves in our care. At 14 years of age, it still remains glossy and sleek, a good indication of nutrition. As the “Working for Wolves program approaches (May 18 – 20th), the staff have been putting together a list of activities. The top priority is to rake straw in the Retired Pack and get some grass seeded. It will be a full weekend of projects to make the wolves more comfortable, and there’s still 2 spots remaining? If you’re interested in making a difference in the lives of these wolves, check out the website under the programs tab on the home page, look for Learning Adventures in Northern Minnesota.
Lakota’s favorite activity is racing around the pen and landing in a pile of straw, usually surfing for a while on a sliding layer of straw. MacKenzie watches, but doesn’t interact. If wolves could talk, I would imagine she would comment on the incredible waste of energy her sister displays.
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.