Lakota has been very active lately. A typical Lakota activity is to race around the enclosure, jump on a deer hide and slide a bit in the snow. Yes, this nearly 14 year old wolf does have a bit of excitement left. She had such a sliding episode during Monday’s wolf check, but slid into a balsam tree. She looked rather indignant at the hide, and walked away.
It’s a busy week for the curator, so all the logs will have the same text: In the Exhibit Pack, there’s been a lot of raven activity around the left over food, and as Maya’s video shows, some ravens are caught by the wolves. Maya killed this raven that was too close to the carcass. Dominance in the Exhibit pack remains fairly calm. In Shadow’s video, you see him taking a leadership position on top of the den, moving with a high tail position toward the pack. He vocalizes to Grizzer and gets the response he was looking for. Malik continues to show signs of being a third ranking male, in his video, you see him watch Grizzer take a deer carcass up the hill. On Sunday’s feeding, staff fed 1 full deer and a second deer torso to ensure that everyone had plenty to eat. In the Retired Pack, Mackenzie has her good days and bad days. The video for MacKenzie shows one of her bad days, She prefers to rest in her straw bed and not interact with staff, but she shows submissive ear postures to the staff off camera. We are very watchful of these days and give her the respect and space that she needs. The day after that video, she had a great day with staff member, Matt Fetterer. She rolled over on her back and got a full massage from Matt, stretching all 4 legs to full extension for the full effect of the massage. Lakota’s change in antibiotics did the trick. The abscess has drained and she’s back to her playful self. On the same day as Mac was getting the massage from Matt, the curator was doing playbows with Lakota, as she raced around the pen and even jumped over the curator’s head. Of course, she was sitting on the ground, so it wasn’t that high of a leap, but for a wolf nearing 14, it was very limber.
This week’s logs are written by “Workin’ for Wolves participants Pam Dolajeck and Lori Rhodes. Observing Lakota this weekend one would never know she was a thirteen – going on fourteen – year old wolf. She was very alert to the work activity going on around her. She was also observed doing laps around the enclosure and using the curator as a “hurdle in her romp around the enclosure. She still remains very active and can even jump up on the den boxes for a good vantage point to see what’s happening around the enclosure.
This week Lakota appeared to be in good spirits. Earlier in the week, she did a play bow towards Mackenzie, which started a bout of both wolves running around the enclosure and Lakota climbing up on top of one of the den boxes. For an older wolf, her mobility certainly seems reflective of a younger wolf, with the help of a daily dose of Cosequin, a joint supplement. She continues to eat well, has a good appetite, and a healthy coat.
A recent email to the Center inquired about the size of the denboxes. While we do have photos of both Lakota and Lucas lying together in a denbox, they are designed by USDA specifications to house one wolf. During the winter, we place many squares of straw in the box and line the back walls with straw to create a warm, out of the wind space for one wolf. Lakota not only uses the den box as a perch, but she is usually found curled up inside the box. MacKenzie will use the boxes on cold wet days, but prefers the watchful vantage point of her corner.
Lakota has been very active during the last week. Cooler weather might had something to do with it. She was fed a good amount of chicken and beaver tails last Wednesday, and yesterday night the retired pack was fed 2 whole beaver with chicken stuffed inside. During todays wolf check, Lakota was carrying her beaver tail trying to cache it away from the staff.
Lakota's been extremely excitable chasing around the enclosure, jumping on the denbox from the benches. Late last week, Mac and Lakota were fed beef roasts, donated from a local resort. While staff made sure each wolf had their own roast before leaving the Center, the look of Lakota's stomach the next morning pointed to another conclusion. Sometime after staff left, Lakota probably stole Mac's roast. Another roast was thawed and Lakota was isolated in the vestibule while Mac was fed. Staff waited until Mac finished before returning Lakota to the enclosure. This week's vidoe shows Lakota on the denbox, she's very limber for 13, at the end of the clip is a short segment showing Lakota howling with the main pack. She goes through the motions, but has no vocalization due to her age. Sorry the clip is so short, but we have size limitations in the database.
Lakota continues to expand her food consumption by stealing from Mac. Staff are more actively guarding Mac's food before feeding. There was some concern that Lakota was getting more testing of Mac's position, but during wolf care today, Mac was clearly guarding staff for attention. These two females seem to be very mobile and healthy.
The wolves are enjoying the fall weather which is brining cooler nights. Due to time constraints, this week's logs will be duplicate for all wolves. Some general comments on the videos. In Lakota's video, small rodent populations have increased due to the new seeding in the pack, she enjoys the hunt. MacKenzie's vision may be going, but she can still hear the movement of a ziplock bag of meat in the lab. Grizzer, Maya and Shadow enjoy a pack howl together, with Malik watching the action. Even though Malik doesn't chose to be very interactive with Maya and Grizzer, he still gets his fair shair of beaver.
Wolf Care Staff have been busy providing logistical support to a film crew, working on a series called "Ms. Adventure" for Animal Planet. So, needless to say, there's not much time today for wolf logs. So, we'll have the same posting for all wolves. The Retired Pack is settling into a routine, when small amount of food are given, Lakota is fed in the holding area, while MacKenzie gets her fare share in the main enclosure. The Exhibit Pack is doing well, there's a bit of tension between the male's over rank order position, but so far, no real issues. Maya continues to be the predatory wolf, hunting small birds that are landing in the enclosure searching for seeds before their fall migration. Other than a few noisy moments, the wolves are still calm and remaining in a more crepuscular (dawn and dusk) pattern to avoid the heat. All the wolves have begun the winter hair growth of their dense undercoat, so when temperatures increase now, it's even more uncomfortable.
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