This week’s log’s contain all the same text. Not only do I serve as the Wolf Curator for the International Wolf Center, but I also work as an instructor at Vermilion Community College. It’s been a busy day with Vermilion Natural Resource students participating in the Governor’s deer hunting pre-hunt educational activities for area elementary schools. We left for the festivities at 7 am this morning and stayed for the entire day, leaving little time for regular wolf log duties. The wolves are all doing well, we had a few mornings with temperatures near 15 degrees which seemed to stimulate activity. The roadkill deer supply is doing well thanks to a call from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake that provided extra roadkill. Unfortunately, the freezer compressor failed on the same day, so thanks to generous donations from alpha members, we are back in business. Even though nighttime temperatures have been below freezing, the daytimes are relatively warm, keeping the wolves resting throughout the day.
Both Malik and Shadow seem to be enjoying the warmer days lately. With temperatures staying near 20 degrees, they rest comfortably both in and on the den. We see them together often and haven't had a reoccurring issue with Malik possessing the den.
Malik has had deer legs removed from the den several times this week. With the lack of snow, he seems to be caching in the straw more frequently, which is usually fine, but he tends to then guard the leg, keeping Shadow out of the den. It's the job of wolf care staff to make sure both wolves have a warm dry place to sleep. Of course, Shadow has the small den, but there's something about a dominant wolf sleeping in a small hut,
Malik is one of those wolves that repeats behavior when he's had a positive outcome. His latest behavioral pattern has been to guard deer legs in the den, requiring Shadow to sleep in the smaller hut instead of the double wide den. His second endeavor has been taking a hat off the curator's head. Now, any hat is fair game. Although, the Curator wore a balaclava today, (one piece covering that goes over the neck), as Malik pulled on it, he couldn't remove it. This only increased Malik's motivation and his facial expressions as he seemed to be puzzled why the hat wouldn't come off the Curator's head.
We are trying many things to reduce some of the external stresses that may cause redirection to the omega and the pack as a whole. The rock project has been going well, instead of a large work crew as planned (we decided against it to reduce the stress to the pack), Assistant curator, Donna Prichard, Information Director, Jess Edberg and I are hauling and concreting the larger stabilizing rocks into the enclosure, with the wolves in the enclosure. The Working for Wolves crew on October 12th, will be hauling in the rip rap rock to layer the edge of the pond. They are very calm when we are working, as they trust the Wolf Care Staff. They actually follow us around with the cart, and watch us grunt and sweat. I think they're rather enjoying the fact that we're working and they're watching. We've not had an incident since last Friday.
Sorry for the delay in the logs, the water and sewer to the lab project starts today and the wolf care staff have been actively working on installing the stabalizing rocks for the pond rip rap project this weekend. The text this week will be the same for all wolves, the Exhibit pack remains calm with wolf care staff doing the brunt of the physical labor in their enclosure. MacKenzie and Lakota are doing great, it's hard to believe they're 14 years old when you see them pounce around the pen. We found 2 dead ravens in the enclosure yesterday, certainly their predatory and territorial defense skills are alive and well. Grizzer's testing seems to have diminished, but we anticipate some anxiety when the construction project and heavy equipment gets underway. The next set of logs will be written by the "Workin' for Wolves" participants and should be on time.
Malik was the only wolf that didn't get weighed on Monday. His anxious behavior makes it hard for him to let his guard down and stand still for too long. We will try again in a few weeks, after the weather has warmed and things calm down. A nice 70 degree day, and the wolves don't want to get to worked up over anything. Otherwise, Malik seems more relaxed, he's definitely had more staff contact in the last few weeks. He's due for his Rabies vaccine in the next few week's, that will be the true test of calmness, standing still for a subcutaneous injection.
Malik and Shadow were 9 years old on May 8th, and when I say that most of the pack was vaccinated last week, I do need to qualify… everyone, but Malik. You may have observed the wolf care staff on camera last Wednesday at about 3 pm Central time. Curator, Lori Schmidt, and wolf care staff members, Laurie Feela, Rusty Wetzel and Donna Prichard, all attempted to get Malik to stand still long enough and close enough to get a subcutaneous injection of the Rabies vaccination. Our process with the lowest ranking wolves is to be as low to the ground and submissive as possible, which would explain why you may have seen the curator crawling around under wolves. Unfortunately, every time Malik was close, Grizzer would approach and Malik would move off. We make every attempt to do a vaccination calmly, without stress. But, in Malik's case, we may need to physically restrain him in the holding pen and give him his injection. It is not uncommon for the lowest ranking wolf to avoid anything that makes them more vulnerable or with a feeling of being restrained.
Vermilion Community College students assisted with the straw removal, pond cleaning and trenching of the den site, in an effort to help drain an excessive amount of spring snow melt. The students did an excellent job in rainy, cool conditions, while the wolves stayed in retirement eating 3 beaver, and frequently checking on the progress. Earlier in the week, we discovered an abscess that had ruptured under his chin. The drainage is visible in his video clip this week, he has been on antibiotics since Wednesday, and as we write this, the swelling has significantly decreased.
On the afternoon of May 12th, 2009, Malik was aggressively dominated by Grizzer, likely a response to months of Malik testing Grizzer's status. The action was quick, and very quiet, in contrast to the noisy ritualized dominance displays that are a part of every day wolf communication. Wolf care staff were able to get them separated, and in consultation with the Center Veterinarian, decided that all efforts should be made to keep Malik in the Exhibit Pack, as long as we could be ready for a life-threatening emergency. Retiring Malik alone would not have been the best management situation for him, and we needed to be sure that he psychologically wanted to be out of the pack. We didn't want to retire him if in fact this incident resulted in a settling of the rank order, and Malik would be allowed to remain part of the group. These decisions have to be made quickly, If there's even a short separation for recovery, the pack could have perceived him as a disperser and not let him back in. It appeared from the reintroduction, that the rank order issue had been settled. Malik was not as aggressively defensive or testing Grizzer, and Grizzer showed no focus on Malik. It was actually very calm among all wolves. To assist with the calm behaviors, we fed an extra deer on Thursday after the incident. We cut a leg from the deer, so Malik wouldn't have to compete with the pack, and as you can see from the video, he comfortably ate (this two days after the incident). The reality is, Malik and Shadow will both be retired in the upcoming year or two, but we want to make sure that they are really ready to be out of the pack. It is apparent from Malik's interactions in the last few days, that he still wants to be part of the pack, now that he is accepting his rank within the pack.
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.