Lucas did well in the puppy pen while a tree was being felled in retirement. He spent most of his time digging up old cache's. He even spent time stealing cache's that Lakota hid today.
Lucas was very active today. He was chewing on a deer leg cashe he hid behind the den boxes, and then went inside his den. In this picture you can notice how light colored he has become, and his almond shape eyes… typically a wolf trait.
Lucas seems to be the Retired Wolf with the most signs of aging. He's often stiff when he gets up and seeks the comfort of the straw beds in the denboxes. Since Lakota's dug up a few yards of dirt in front of the denbox, he can now climb on top of the box and lay down. For those of you that remember Lucas in the exhibit, he liked to sit on the Webcam rock and scan the enclosure. Since he's been in retirement, his hips wouldn't support a jump to the top of the box, so Lakota's little excavation project helped Lucas get a piece of his old life back. Lucas and MacKenzie are both on Cosequin supplements for their hips. Lakota is a agile as ever and doesn't appear to need any supplements, although they're all on a Senior vitamin daily. Lucas has always been good about keeping his face out of MacKenzie and Lakota's dominance displays. He still masters the behavior of backing into them with his hind end, usually breaking up the scuffle.
Lucas is doing well, again as I write this, I can see he and Lakota playing a little game of chase in the retired exhibit. Lucas is a bit slower, and tends to wait for Lakota to circle around the den boxes. He then tackles her before she can turn around. Lucas is still using Lakota's dirt piles in front of the den box to climb on the top of the box. He was always prone to sitting on the webrock in the main exhibit, so it's nice to see him back on top in the Retired Exhibit. Again, the view from my office window: Lakota just started a howl, and Lucas started to stalk her and did a play bow enticing Lakota to chase him. They're now wagging tails, and running in and out of the den boxes. Lucas and Lakota both in one box makes for close quarters. Last night was the first hard frost here, the wolves seem to know when winter (what seems to be their favorite season) is approaching.
The retired wolves had their medical exam on Friday October 8th. The rain held off until after the exam was complete and made for a nice cool recovery rather than the warmer than normal fall we've been experiencing. The injections went extremely well with all wolves essentially lying down and showing limited response to the injection. The immobilization was extremely smooth, I would classify it as textbook. I don't think the drugging could have gone off better. The lab was fantastic to have tables set up to process the wolves, much better than the auditorium floor or outside in the slightly drizzling day. Lucas's exam revealed more tartar build up on his teeth and his upper molars are starting to show some signs of decay. He had some noticeable mucle loss around his front right scapula (shoulder) and showed some muscle tightening around his hip joints. He has a dead upper incisor tooth (right central, but it's still solid. An eye exam revealed the start of calcium/lipid deposits on his cornea similar to MacKenzies, but just slight spots. The IOP (glaucoma test ) was 17 mm hg which is considered good. It appears that Lucas broke a toenail completely off on his left hind paw (outer toe) when? who knows, but it's healed now. I'm not sure how we missed that during the regular checks, although they do have alot of hair covering their nails. He had been licking it, there were saliva stains on his paw, in between his toes. His coat was good, and he appeared to be in great condition.
What can I say about Lucas, same old wolf, different day. He seems to be holding his own even though his sisters get a bit lively.
Lucas has been slowing down a bit more than usual. He seeks comfort in the staw beds and den boxes whenever possible. Of all the retired wolves, he's the one that shows his age the most.
During Lakota's recent illness, Lucas was observed playbowing to her and attempting to stimulate her into play behavior. He was very tolerant of her condition and frequently greeted her in the denbox. His calm demeanor has been noted since he was a pup and continues through old age.
Lucas is doing well with all of the commotion of the pups. We have noticed that his balance is a bit off, we often see him slow to get up and a bit of a sway when he walks. When he runs throughout the exhibit, he often leans on the other wolf. In this image, he's leaning on MacKenzie as he greets and muzzlebites her.
For whatever reason, Lucas and Lakota decided to share a den box while staff member Damon Haan was cleaning the enclosure. They've always had a great relationship as siblings, I guess they still do
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