Archive for: lucas

Lucas is doing well. I do notice his face continues to lighten up as he ages. He's also less intimidated by Lakota than in the past. When we feed, we generally give MacKenzie her own leg so she can go in her corner bed and eat (the rights of an alpha). Lakota and Lucas then share the remainder of the carcass. Lakota still shows a dominant face, barring her teeth and letting out a growl to whoever passes by. Lucas used to be intimidated, but in the last few feedings, he's starting to ignore her. I wonder if his hearing's not as keen that he doesn't hear the warning growl or if after nearly 12 years, he's had enough of her threats. Regardless, Lucas tends to feed right with Lakota.

Log entry by Alicia Panisiak, assistant wolf curator as she observed from outside of the enclosure. " All seems well, Lucas had minimal aggression toward Shadow. Shadow ignored Lucas. 10 minutes after equipment arrived for retirement pen, MacKenzie's right eye began to look sore; she began to hold it slightly closed. Odd since it looked fine all morning. MacKenzie and Lakota unsure of the machinery. Lakota began eating grass by the fence."

Today was the first day that former Nanny and volunteer Wolf Photographer Sherry Jokinen entered the Retirement Enclosure to get better photos for the website. The wolves are very familiar with Sherry since she has spent hundreds of hours adjacent to the fence as a Nanny for the arctics and later photographing the wolves. The wolves were excited to see her, but temperatures only reached the single digits, so the wolves settled down to the straw beds within a few hours of the introduction. A new wolf shelter was brought into the Retired Pack; Lucas marked the shelter in a typical wolf fashion, RLU.

Lucas has the same issue as Lakota. The unexpected warm weather has arrived earlier than anyone expected and rather than overheat, Lucas has chosen to find a nice cool spot in the enclosure to remain inactive. Wolves in the wild will likely use this behavior as well and may be more active in a nocturnal pattern.

The pups were introduced into the exhibit pack today. The following is a summary from the Behavioral Observation Team. Behavioral Observation team members: 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 Lucas continues to bite at back of pups necks as if to pick them up. Shadow becomes very nervous at this behavior and tucks his tail and runs, sometimes causing Lucas and Lakota to chase with extremely high tails, actually jumping at the pups. When this behavior is targeted toward Malik, he readily submits and Lucas stops the behavior, but Lakota may continue for several more attempts to make contact. The fear-based response of Shadow increases significantly when Lucas and Lakota both chase the pups. Although Shadow tends to show more fear than Malik and is less likely to submit, Lucas and Lakota don't seem to single him out. They have been observed chasing and dominating Malik an equal amount of the time as Shadow. Lakota has attempted to draw the pups to the upper wooded portion of the enclosure, but on several occasions, Mackenzie has emerged whining louder and attempting to herd the pups to the front of the exhibit.