Maya is 47 days old today. She has been doing very well during Pup 101 programs and is occupied with stimulus items such as beaver feet & tails, a rubber Kong (a dog toy) stuffed with ground venison, ice cubes, pig ears, and deer hooves. She has been relaxed and at ease during the programs. When in the outdoor pup enclosure, her greeting towards the arctics at the shared fenceline has been very positive. She greets them vigorously with a wagging tail, flat ears, and will roll over in submission in front of them. She is a "climber" and prefers to be in high places, such as atop logs and rocks. She also seeks out the den area to go into to dig and sleep. Maya's dominance attempts over Grizz and Nyssa seem to have decreased slightly. She is seeking out more contact with staff and nannies and will, at times, climb into their laps to rest for short periods of time before wanting to lay down by herself or with Grizz and/or Nyssa. Maya is no longer receiving the bottle and is instead eating weaning formula during feeding times.
Maya seems to be the most social in her greeting toward the arctics. She's frequently observed running to the arctics whith submissive ears, low wagging tail and licks them through the fence. Today was a busy day for the pups, the weather was cooler today, so they spent most of their afternoon running and playing. By the time weights were to be taken, the pups were to wiggly to let the staff make accurate measures.
Today Maya is 88 days old. As is typical of Maya she greeted the morning shift with a submissive rollover and intensive facial licking. She ate very well during the 7:00 am feeding and tired herself out with lots of playing. She did well during the puppy programs. She was able to defend a deer leg during one of the programs from Grizzer and Nyssa. When the two arctic wolves were fed beaver carcasses Malik brought one of the carcasses over near Maya. Maya then went over to greet Malik with flat ears, tucked tail and whines. Malik then left the beaver near Maya and regurgitated.
Today Maya is 77 days old. She loves to run in the auditorium in the special programs. She is also the first of the three packmates to investigate things. The new tarp was very interesting for her and decided to explore it immediately. She is also very used to large crowds, in most of the programs she seems relaxed and not a bit stressed.
Maya greeted staff with wagging tail and submissive posture this morning. Whenever she is playing and Nyssa goes after her, Maya is more fearful of Nyssa, she tucks her tail, shows her teeth and her hackles are up Maya continues to be the most submissive wolf. During interaction with two male dogs of staff, Maya was fearful of new dog, Slade. After Slade left, she was more relaxed – extremely submissive – with Jake, the curator's dog that she has already interacted with.
Today Maya is 86 days old. This morning Maya initiated a chase with the other pups. She was playful and ate well. She walked up to the fence to greet Shadow. Maya put her paw through the fence and nipped at Shadow's ear. During the Pup 101 program, Maya was interested in the beaver foot and seemed to have very little anxiety during the program. Although she did not get any of the deer fetus, she ate all of her evening meat mix. We were unable to get an accurate weight for Maya.
Today Maya is 87 days old. During the 5:00 pm pup program Maya was more aggressive in her attempts to feed on the deer than usual. Often, Nyssa's aggression around a single food source is enough to prevent Maya from feeding while Nyssa is eating, but today Maya was more assertive in getting her fill. She has also discovered how to climb on top of the pup house. While she was on top of the pup house she was playing king of the hill with Grizz who wasn't quite able to get up there.
Today Maya is 89 days old. With the day of the planned introduction into the exhibit pack fast approaching, staff has been monitoring Maya's progress very closely. She is well on her way to meeting the 40 pound target weight and staff is optimistic. Maya has been showing more interest in the Arctics lately, even abandoning food to run to the fence and greet them. Due to the heat today, she was not very active and growled at staff and nannies when they attempted to move her.
Maya is 90 days old today. She was quiet during presentations. She and Nyssa competed for the chew hoof. Maya had hoof first, then Nyssa took it away and Maya reclaimed it easily later. After dinner, Maya was aggressive in chasing Grizz and Nyssa, instigating several chases. She liked to be in posession of the stuffed animal. She grabbed Grizz several times, shaking her head. She was very comfortable with a male in the enclosure and received lots of petting from him. Late in the evening she climbed up on a stump and nibbled on an overhanging balsam branch.
Maya is 95 days old today and it's the day before the introduction. We finally got a weight on her, they've all been a bit active to sit still long enough for the weighing process… Maya is a beautiful female pup. We looked in the wolf logs from the summer of 2000, at 97 days, Shadow was 37 lbs and Malik was 36. So, Maya is 2 days younger and a pound heavier. Maya is also a very submissive pup to handlers as well as the adults.
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