Nyssa is still getting a bit of dominance from Maya, and occassionally Shadow joins in. She seems to take it in stride, and there's no noticeable ill effects except the tuffs of hair that she's starting to shed on her hips. Wolf care staff have a big role in assisting the shedding process. Wolves in the wild may travel through dense vegetation that pulls at the excess hair, in captivity, staff carry brushes to help the process.
Today Nyssa is 68 days old. Nyssa is gaining weight well, and is 3 pounds ahead in her development than Malik and Shadow were when they were her age. Nyssa continues to greet new people well, licking at their faces and presenting flat ears. Nyssa has been very hot the last few days, and has been observed panting frequently.
Today Nyssa is 59 days old. Nyssa has been eating very well, and has also been very calm during programs. She chews on various toys or sleeps during most of them. During the evening a thunderstorm passed by, but Nyssa seemed unphased and slept in the dogloo throughout the night.
Nyssa initiates play with her littermates. She can physically keep up and is often observing running the length of the puppy pen with her packmates. Pup behavior includes: stalking, pouncing and playbowing, all very strong predatory skills.
Today Nyssa is 70 days old. Nyssa is getting more dominant over her packmate Maya. She defends her food during programs, but have no problem sharing from the same bowl during feeding time. She is more active late in the day and loves to run around the pupy pen inviting her packmates to play.
Nyssa is 52 days old today. Nyssa continues to be submissive and friendly toward humans, greeting both strangers and those familiar to her with flat ears, tucked tail and enthusiastic licking. She has been mobbed by Grizz and Maya, but holds her own well.
Nyssa did well during the 7 pm Implementing the Pup Plan program. She was first to figure out that in a circular game of chase, that you can stop and turn directions and you'll run face first into the prey (in this case, Maya with a feather). She was very relaxed with the crowd of people in the auditorium.
Today Nyssa is 66 days old. Nyssa continues to be aggressive towards her packmates, dominating them whenever she gets the opportunity. She has been observed following Maya around while she caches her food, digging it up again as soon as Maya finishes burying it.
Nyssa has been the most reluctant of the pups to come down to the front of the enclosure. It took a rally howl from the wolf curator to finally get her within view. When the beaver carcass was brought into the pen she was somewhat slow in coming to the carcass, but while she was feeding she was very aggressive with her littermates in defending her portions. As fall approaches and the Curator goes back to full-time employment at the college, wolf logs will be done only once a week.
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.