Maya is 62 days old today. She seems to be following Grizzer's lead, being anxious, wanting to get out window and pawing at the fence during programs indoors. She dominated Grizzer, not letting him have a deer bone, and standing over him.
Today Maya is 72 days old. Maya has been playing more with Grizzer, becoming an expert stalker and runner. She has been seen running around the pen in hot pursuit of Grizzer and Nyssa, pouncing or tackling them in the end.
Maya is 59 days old today. Maya continually becomes more submissive towards staff and her packmates, often lowering her ears and tucking her tail. She also does well during the programs, occupying herself with deer feet and ears. She has also been observed carrying a stuffed wolf puppy around in her mouth.
Today Maya is 55 days old. Unlike Grizzer, Maya has been displaying very positive behavior towards unfamiliar stimuli such as large crowds and weedeaters. When the pup nannies are with the pups in the outside pen Maya often sleeps nearby and she enjoys a good belly scratch. Maya also tends to do very well during pup 101 programs in the International Wolf Center's auditorium. During the program she either sleeps or is interacting with her littermates. Maya's behavior also tends to dictate Nyssa's behavior. When Maya responds negatively to a given stimulus than Nyssa becomes bothered as well.
Today Maya is 54 days old. Staff began socialization to pen work, wheelbarrows and weedeaters. Maya was very curious about the project and was the least fearful of all the pups. But, Maya became more stressed when the weedeater was running. Maya was very good during programs as she slept throughout most of it. When the nanny group came to the outside puppy pen after dinner, Maya came running up to the group at the fence, greeted them, and rolled over directly in front of all of them. She stayed up with the nannies throughout the whole visit. She exhibited food caching behavior by putting it behind a rock and attempting to pull the dog bed over it.
Today Maya is 66 days old. Maya continues to be calm and sedate during programs, and chews on deer legs and ice chunks. During the passing thunderstorm in the evening, Maya seemed unphased and slept in the dogloo throughout the night.
Today Maya is 56 days old. Upon entering the outside pen, Maya went to the fence and rolled over in front of Shadow. Maya played chase with Grizz and Nyssa and seemed very energetic. Maya has been very active in playing with her packmates and continues to be very friendly toward staff and nannies. Maya did excellent during the programs. She tried to take away a deer ear from both Grizzer and Nyssa, but was not able to control them. She laid down between Nyssa and Grizzer and rolled on her back, playfully pawing at Nyssa and making small whining growls.
The spring melt has been very slow here. We have had several weeks of temperatures around 30 degrees, compared to last year at this time, where temperatures had exceeded 70 degrees. The Exhibit Pack was scheduled for a full medical exam on April 4th, to get a complete physical , vaccinations and blood draws prior to the pups arrival. This is necessary to ensure that there are no issues that might be contracted by the vulnerable pups. Due to the lack of snow melt, this exam has been postponed until the 18th of April. During this medical exam, the wolves will be sedated with a reversible drug, and hopes are to get a current weight on each wolf.
Maya’s senses have been working overtime, as spring melt occurs, smells from the earth are everywhere, and Maya’s skilled predatory behaviors are stimulated. Maya has also been showing much more whining, submissive and greeting behavior. As this week’s image shows, she has many nose to nose responses. This may be the influence of the spring and summer hormones of prolactin. This is likely to increase dramatically when the pups are on site, and this will be important for her as she becomes the surrogate mother to the newest pups. She is an ideal candidate for this maternal behavior and the Maya/Shadow combination will make great pack leaders.
Maya took advantage of a recent snowfall to demonstrate a wolf behavior termed “roll on back. This behavior is different than the behavior termed “snowplow, where a wolf pushes the snow with their nose and rubs their head side to side. The purpose of this behavior appears to be just for the purpose of enjoyment. Whereas the snowplow, appears to be a cleansing behavior and commonly follows a meal.
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.