The one noticeable thing from Maya this week is her somewhat obsessive interactions with staff. She wants to greet, roll over and be handled with a higher level of interaction than we've observed in a while. This could be a hormonal surge, or could have been in response to Shadow's issues last week. Now that Shadow seems to be back to normal, we will be watching to see if Maya gets the social attention she desires.
This is just a reminder that the wolf logs are now posted on Friday rather than Monday due to a change in the Curator's teaching schedule. The last posting was Friday, January 29th, but on February 1st, the January postings are automatically moved to the archive section, which is why the main log screen has appeared empty since the 1st of February. To see archive data, just click the month/year that you would like to review and you can see the log postings. In the Youtube posting this week, there is an image of estrous blood/urine marking from a wild wolf at the peak of the breeding season. Maya, being spayed doesn't have the same response as a reproducing female, but she still is at her peak this week. This mean's a bit more dominance, and much more social pair bonding behavior, that may have something to do with Shadow's desire to stay in the back of the enclosure.
Did I say Maya peaked in winter hormones last week? Well, this week seems more intense. She is frequently presenting herself to Shadow, and has been very intense and quick to escalate into a growling response. She is also guarding staff with far more intensity than she has in the past, which makes wolf care a challenge having a growling wolf that is constantly seeking your attention and lunging at other wolves that get close. Needless to say, we are mainly seeing the most experienced staff doing wolf care these days.
Sorry for the delay in the logs, the spring semester started at Vermilion on Monday, and the Curator has a full teaching schedule on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The Priority for time at the Center was placed on the wolves, leaving other duties to wait until Friday. We will transition the logs to be posted on Friday's throughout the spring semester. Maya seems to be increasing her behavior as the winter progresses. The question is, which behavior will you see. One minute she is dominant and stalking, the next minute she's rubbing up against a wolf to get social interaction. She even has Shadow guessing, as her constant face rubs and parallel gating changes to a ride up and foreleg stab, causing even Shadow to be wary of her. This will pass as the winter hormones decrease, but for now, every moment is an experience with Maya.
Weather cooled out this past summer, with a nice breeze and temperatures around the 80’s. As you can see from this picture, Maya is enjoying the breeze and at the same time, she was taking a nap on a flat rock next to the pond. She only lifted her head to a noise made inside the auditorium. During mornings, she has been doing several ambushes and chases towards Grizzer and Shadow
Maya has had a very stimulating summer with the presence of the Inuit sled dogs visiting the Center for the noon "Canine Cousins" programs. She displays strong social behavior towards the pups, whining at the gate as the pups play in an adjacent runway. Both Maya and Shadow will make great surrogate parents for the wolf pups in 2008.
Maya has been increasing her dominance activitiy lately, as the only female, her focus has been on her littermate, Grizzer. The dominance usually includes a ride-up, scruff bite, and pin to the ground. Grizzer seeks her out for this type of interaction as well, and is not to bothered that he's on the bottom. His good natured personality is a good match for his sister's high intensity predatory and dominant behavioral patterns.
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.
Maya has been the focus of Grizzer's energy release, and from the looks of the threat displays on her face, she doesn't like it much. She is very capable of defending herself, and as this week's video shows, she usually finishes with a ride-up behavior, that is a show of dominance. The interesting thing about the Grizzer and Maya dominance, is that Shadow is always close-by watching the action. Usually, in a playful mood, looking to get involved with the young adults.
As the fall bird migration begins, many small songbirds are landing in the enclosure to eat miscellaneous seeds, and left over scraps from the wolves. Maya is constantly on alert to the quick movement of these birds and she follows through with a chase… This leaves her a bit tired, not to mention keeping up with Grizzer. So, in this week's photo, she takes a well deserved break on one of the rocks.
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