Luna – About to Take on a Deer Leg

Don Gossett captured this photograph on a recent Photographer’s Only session.  Luna displays a sideward glance before pouncing and tossing the deer leg in the air.  Wolves are incredibly expressive and Luna is more expressive than most.  She has several antics that simulate the pack to be active.  We did have great news from the blood draw that we did last week.  For the first time since we met Luna, we finally have her Vitamin D, Ionized Calcium and Parathyroid hormone values in normal ranges.  All of her other blood work showed good nutritional status and we think we are over the challenges of her youth.

Luna – A Strong Predatory Drive

Luna has been showing some strong predatory drive, not only in social interactions with her pup mate (Stalking and Pouncing on Boltz), but whenever there is some fast movement that catches her eye, she is quick to react.  We will be doing our annual blood work on Luna to look at her nutritional status, specifically vitamin D.  All external indicators show that she is doing well.  Her coat is glossy, she is active, alert, clear eyes, strong teeth (personal experience tells me this), but we need to know medically how she is progressing.  We are very impressed with her weight.  Here is a progressive chart of her weight since she was a fall pup.  I don’t think anyone would have predicted her to be a 91 lb female.  There were days when we didn’t know if she would survive her first winter, but other than a slight limp, she seems to be thriving.

8/17/2014 Luna-Pup 44.5 lbs
6/4/2013 Luna – Yearling 79.4 lb
6/13/2014 Luna – 2 Years 91.7 lbs

For comparison purposes, here are Maya’s comparable weights, although Maya (born May 5, 2004) was very reluctant to get on the scale, so we missed he weights between 2 and 4 years of age:

8/8/2004 Maya – Fall Pup 38.8 lbs
5/6/2005 Maya – Yearling 79.5 lbs
7/7/2008 Maya – 4 Years 93.5 lbs

Luna – Visually Unappealing?

Luna has an odd shedding pattern that makes her appear like an engorged tick.  She last lost all the undercoat on her legs and neck, but the middle of her body appears thick with hair.  Our educators even heard a comment at the auditorium window of a visitor who chose not to photograph her because of her appearance.  So, this is the focus of the wolf care staff in the upcoming weeks.  We brush the wolves to help the annual shedding of the undercoat.  In the wild, you may find hair that is stuck on lower branches of trees or brush.  In captivity, we have an obligation to assist in this process.  Our first priority is that they are cooler and more comfortable without the excess hair, but we also want the wolves to be visually appealing.

Luna – a Denali Squash

Luna attempts a Denali squash and fortunately, Denali goes along with the idea.  As you can tell from Luna’s ear posture, she is intent on the behavior.  Luna continues to be the most assertive and most active wolf in the Exhibit Pack.

Luna – Harder to See

A dark color phase wolf is certainly easy to spot in winter, but when summer arrives, Luna tends to blend in with the rock backdrops as well as the dry grass from last fall.  The wolves typically begin the shedding process in late May or early June and Luna’s lighter colored undercoat will also dissipate.

Luna- Nothing Escapes Luna’s Attention

Luna’s photo shows her constant awareness and engagement in activity anywhere nearby. Little escapes Luna’s attention, and if food is involved she asserts her dominant tendencies.

Luna – Chin Rest

I am not sure how Luna will deal with the upcoming Working for Wolves weekend in May where we will be moving the large mounds of straw.  We will use some of the straw for seeding grass and the rest of the straw may be used as mulch to cover areas of limited soil.  Luna likes her comforts.  In this week’s photo, Luna is displaying a chin rest, which is a sign of dominance.

Luna – Sense of Smell

Luna – Winter Success

Luna did exceptionally well in a winter that continues to record -20 below zero in late March.  The cover hay beds have provided insulation and warmth from the long cold winter and we certainly believe that has helped her mobility.   Mobility is too weak of a word, she has climbed piles, launched into ambushes, pushed packmates down the hill, dragged beaver and deer 1/2 her size and the best word to describe Luna is tenacity.. and today, it is “Two Year Old”… March 25th is Luna’s Birthday and we cherish every day we have with Luna considering that there were days when we didn’t think she would see her 2nd month of life.  Luna is the epitome of  dominant female and she remains reluctant to take any rank order direction from Aidan.  Sometimes I see her try to pair bond with Denali and wonder if she is seeking a paired pack leader that she can push down a hill.

Luna- Food Defense

Luna Wolf Logs written March 9, 2014 by Photography Workshop Participants Sharon Pettit and Donna Crider.  Photo by Sharon Pettit.

Luna had just dropped her bone and the pack was moving in. Luna is now defending her possession of bone and her position at the top of the snow mound. We saw many examples of food aggression with Luna throughout the weekend.