Nyssa is 56 days old today. Nyssa was being chased by Grizzer and Maya, running with her tail down and Grizzer and Maya ran with tails up. Nyssa seems to be the target of mob attacks in the outside enclosure. However,Nyssa got the deer popsicle (frozen water with a piece of deer hide in it) away from Maya and fought for it until both Maya and Grizzer gave up.
Today Nyssa is 65 days old. Nyssa is becoming very explorative, even though she seems to be timid of new things. She is constantly testing her environment, finding toys in almost everything she gets ahold of. She was observed stripping birch bark right off the tree with Grizzer, and then played with it for almost an hour. She continues to be affectionate towards staff and nannies, greeting strangers as well as familiar people with vigor.
Today Nyssa is 51 days old. Nyssa greeted arctics well in the morning, and chased Grizzer and Maya around the pen. She showed mob behavior with Maya towards Grizzer. She was startled by the wheelbarrow during the pen cleaning, and tucked her tail and ran away. However, she returned swiftly and greeted wheelbarrow pusher enthusiastically. Nyssa did well while the pup pool was being cleaned. She investigated the hose and walked around the edge of the pool. She seemed to be more timid than either Grizz or Maya. She seems to be comfortable with the 'dogloo' that is in the outdoor enclosure, often sleeping in it during the day.
Today Nyssa is 71 days old. She willingly went into the program, showed no interest in greeting the Arctics, preferring to rest. She did well during the program, submitting to Grizzer after a tug of war over the deer skull. At one point, Grizzer sat on top of her while she continued to chew and protest as only Nyssa, Ms. Vocal, could do. At the end of the program she was a little testy with the nanny and snapped and had to be subdued by staff before making her exit. She was fine being picked up out in the wolf yard and taken to the pup enclosure. She was very playful so no weights for her either.
Today Nyssa is 87 days old. When Nyssa was inspecting a dying moth before a pup program she swatted at it for several seconds and then did one of her first scent rolling behaviors. During the final pup program of the day Nyssa along with her littermates were very anxious and didn't want to be in the pup pen at all. Nyssa and Grizz have also been actively dominating Maya today. All the pups have been running around the pen playing with one another. There is no doubt today's cool weather has contributed to high pup activity levels.
Today Nyssa is 53 days old. Nyssa has been very active this morning and has been initiating dominance attempts with Grizz and Maya. Upon arriving at the outdoor enclosure, she greeted the arctics at the fence enthusiastically. Nyssa has been very affectionate with staff this morning with vigorous facial greeting/licking. Today staff started introducing a dog brush to comb their fur. We also started putting a mock "ear ointment" (Vaseline) on their ears. Since daily wolf care during the year will require being brushed and placing fly ointment on their ears, we are working gradually to get the pups acclimated to this kind of care and the various objects (brush, ointment containers, etc.)in our hands. These things are being done both when they are sleeping and awake, in order to get them used to being touched in specific areas. Today Nyssa was sleeping and did not seem to mind the brushing/ear care. Nyssa was very vocal and possessive of the deer hide in the morning program. When Grizz tried to take it from her, she growled intensely and bit him on the muzzle. During the afternoon program, she slept through the entire program.
Today Nyssa is 72 days old. Nyssa was observed 'kissing' her packmates today. She licked at their muzzles and whined slightly. She has become a little easier to manage, and is beginning to submit readily to staff. Nyssa did well in the programs all day. As the weather began to cool down near the end of the day, Grizz found Nyssa and laid on top of her. Nyssa did not protest and they slept together for some time.
Today Nyssa is 74 days old. Today was a very hot and humid day and Nyssa spent most of her time sleeping, but instead of crawling into the den as her packmate Grizzer, she has a peculiar way of sleeping. She only woke up to play with Maya and a toad and for her presentations, but was kind of grumpy when nannies tried to lift her from this comfortable possition.
Nyssa is 75 days old today. Nyssa, when compared to Shadow and Malik at her age, weighs about one and two pounds more than they did, respectively. Nyssa continues to dominate her siblings, but has also been observed licking and grooming both Maya and Grizz for several minutes, then falling asleep next to them. However, when it comes to food, it's a whole different story. When a deer leg was put in the pup pen, Nyssa attacked it and tried to drive Grizzer and Maya away with growls and snaps.
Today Nyssa is 73 days old. She greeted staff very well as she readily rolled over and gave staff lots of facial licking. During a special pup program in the wolf yard Nyssa was very confortable around unfamilar faces. Throughout the duration of the program she chewed on a deer ear except for several occasions where she played with her littermates underneath the bleachers. Nyssa has been showing very aggressive behavior when it comes to defending her food sources. Staff has to very cautious when trying to handle Nyssa when she's chewing on a toy or feeding.
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.