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.
Maya was the only wolf that wouldn’t go into holding on the morning the contractors scheduled work inside of the enclosure. So, she was given a light sedative, and allowed to stay and watch. She stayed back from the action, and slept through most of it, but was alert to movement of staff and workers. She has been very active scent marking every new scent as a result of the rock hauling and construction. Wolf care staff will need to work on the anxiety issues with the holding area; we don’t want to display this anxious behavior when the pups are introduced. It will take some creative thinking in order to positively condition Maya to the holding pen gates.
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. Maya has been very relaxed entering the pack holding area. This is quite different than last year, where she was hesitant to go through the gate. The pack is very excited to enter and explore the Retired enclosure.
Maya and Grizzer were 5 years old on May 5th, and received their annual rabies and parvo vaccination. (Malik and Shadow are no longer receiving Parvo vaccinations, any wolf over 8 years of age only receives the Rabies vaccination). Maya was her dominant self, growling at both Curator, Lori Schmidt, and Assistant Curator, Donna Prichard when her vaccinations were given. She has also been spending a fair amount of time pair bonding with Adian, which has been a bit confusing for Aidan. She still pair bonds with Shadow, which makes her behavior with Aidan a bit confusing to interpret. There is no doubt that Aidan seems to watch and learn from the other wolves, this could be a learned behavior from Shadow.
Maya is calming significantly as the spring approaches, but she continues to confuse Aidan with her switch between dominance and social bonding. Aidan seems to be figuring it out, he does appear to read her behavior well and reacts appropriately. Now, it's wolf care staff's turn to interpret their behavior, because when Maya has Aidan anxious, he redirects to whatever is near him, including staff.
Written by Workin' for Wolves participants Wendy Watson and Codi Falley: Maya continues to show stalking behavior with Aidan but also shows social play behaviors, with both yearlings. Notice in Maya's photo the airplane ears while Denali sits behind her contemplating his next move. This indicates the way in which Maya is always aware of her surroundings.
If you get a chance, listen to the podcast posted for May 2009 (it should be available by mid-week). The podcast talks about the Vermilion Community College Ethology course observation data. Maya has some interesting data changes between 2007 and 2008, primarily her role in leading the pack howls, and parallel walks with nearly all the other pack members. She is a very intense dominant female, and it appears we made the right decision not getting a female pup in 2008.
Maya has been very social lately, with an excessive amount of whining. Her video clip shows her in this behavior, then you will see her submissively greeting Shadow. This could indicate the normal hormonal cycle that occurs in wolves. Even in the absence of pups, there is a cycling of prolactin, the nurturing hormone. Unfortunately, we haven't discovered any way to measure these hormonal levels without bloodwork. It would be interesting to watch these hormonal cycles and correlate to behavior.
Written by Planning For Pups program participants Lynn Kaveney and Kathy Rundquist: Maya exhibits very inconsistent behavior towards Aidan. She seems to be always in tune with what he is doing. She is either eyeing him, stalking, following, or lying near him. He is no doubt confused by her behavior. At one point this weekend, she was observed lying on the slate den with both Shadow and Aidan. She explored the enclosure during enrichment and was observed fishing for minnows from the pond. During this time, she stalked Aidan from behind the slate den, happily chasing him around the pond.
With summer brings heat, humidity, large crowds and various forms of stimuli for the wolves. During the Canine Cousins program today, the stimulus of two visiting dogs (belonging to Assistant Curator Donna Prichard) instigated a pack rally led by Shadow. When the dogs arrived for the program, Maya ran up to the fence line and whined, then joined in the pack rally initiated by Shadow. Following the rally, Maya asserted dominance over Aidan by chasing him up the hill into the woods. She returned almost immediately and seemed to alternate between curiosity and distance as she approached the fence line and then sought cover in the woods, returning to the fence line again.
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.