Shadow has shown tolerance for the construction, and a strong leadership when other pack members are anxious. The main issues that get the pack upset are people walking up to the fence, the crane rising over the building, and when people other than staff howl to the wolves. Despite a very hectic summer for wolves, Shadow is clearly the leader, and still retains respect from every other pack member. One thing that is noted, is that Shadow continues to be very dominant over Grizzer, keeping the 2nd ranking male from showing any signs of climbing rank.
Shadow continues to be a strong pack leader, observing all of the pack interactions, and participating in those that warrant some dominance. He is a good indicator of the tension in the pack. If Shadow's not reacting to noisy interactions, then they are probably not too serious. If Shadow gets involved, the staff need to take notice, and determine what incident influenced the change in dynamics.
Due to the fact that we're a bit short staffed, and it's been a busy weekend with the Alpha Member's/Board Meeting weekend, we will be posting the same log for all wolves. The video this week will be featured on the International Wolf Center's YouTube video channel, and will include a video on the factors we monitor when deciding a wolf needs to be retired, and a feeding program that we did without public viewing. Usually, when we feed, the public is on site with people at the windows. Shadow is a bit shy about feeding in front of people and cameras. On Tuesday night, September 8th, the Vermilion Community College Wolf/Deer Interaction class did a deer dissection, and Curator, Lori Schmidt fed the torso after everyone had left the site. Shadow was the actively feeding the entire time, and was very dominant on the carcass. All wolves are doing well, although this unexpected 80 degree weather in September has been keeping the wolves calm. They have grown in their winter coat, and are adapting to the heat by staying down for most of the day.
Shadow has been more relaxed with staff than he's ever been. He greets wolf care staff with a heightened level of excitement, and has been more accepting of multiple staff in the enclosure. He is still clearly in charge, but with Maya taking an active role in dominance over the yearlings, he seems to be more relaxed. He definitely can and will dominate the yearlings, but often, he just stays back and watches the interactions, with the exception of Grizzer. When Grizzer shows more status over another wolf, Shadow is quickly there to remind Grizzer about the true pack leader.
Shadow's completely recovered from the knee strain and is doing well maintaining his dominance. He has also been observed in several bouts of play behavior with Grizzer and Maya. This includes rolling around in the snow with them, displaying a playbow and allowing them to chase him a bit. He's still very responsive when Grizzer gets too excited and has a growl that will set the record straight that he's in charge. You will see this in Grizzer's video clip as well in Shadow's clip.
Shadow takes the lead in howling to the pack when there's tension. He still shows status toward the pack, and it makes one wonder, if he wasn't removed from the pack due to age and declining weight, would these 2-year olds have tried as many testing bouts with a dominant male that frequently showed hard muzzle bites?
The wolf logs will all be the same today, we would like to thank all of the wolf care supporters this past year. From the significant donations to the Water in the Lab fund to the vitamins and nutritional supplements, straw, squeaky toys, pigs ears, blueberries, tools, jump drives, web cams and many more items that are donated to the lab each year, we are so grateful there are so many people who help support the Retired and Exhibit Pack. There are too many names to mention, but you know who you are. We can always count on you when the wolves are in need. We are happy to report that all is well on this New Years Day, 2008. The Exhibit Pack received 2 frozen fish from a recent fishing trip, one caught by Assistant Wolf Curator, Donna Prichard and one caught by Lori Schmidt, Wolf Curator. Grizzer and Maya enjoyed rolling on them. The retired wolves are doing well, excited about the thawing of two deer legs for a mid-week feeding. The Nanny applications are posted on the website, they can be found on the Programs tab, look in Wolf Seminars or Learning Vacations – Northern Minnesota. We did institute a prerequisite program for the Nanny program this year, we did this based on some experiences that we had in 2004. Wolf pups are not dog pups, and we want to make sure nannies have to skills knowledge and abilities to assist in the socialization process. This is an historic time for the International Wolf Center, 2008 will mark the first time the Center has had three age structures in a pack and we want to make sure the best interest of the pups and the pack in mind as we move forward. If you have questions about the Nanny program, please email the curator directly at curator@wolf.org
Shadow has been very confident this winter; it’s hard to determine what influenced this the most. We did restrict all Behind the Scenes tours this winter for large groups, something that would lead to Shadow bark howling and showing a great deal of weakness. We will continue the Behind the Scenes opportunities in May, by this time, the summer hormones will be much calmer and with the pups on site, we believe the wolves will have heightened levels of prolactin, a nurturing hormone. The Nanny Application deadline has passed, and Assistant Wolf Curator, Donna Prichard and I are meeting to organize teams. We will have the award letters mailed by February, 15th. The Behavioral Observation team has a few positions remaining, so, you will continue to see this program advertised
You may have noticed that we are experiencing some technical difficulty with the webcams. We hope to have them repaired this week. We appreciate your patience and support for the Ambassador wolves at the Center. The Nanny Application deadline has passed. Now we will begin to coordinate teams and make selections. We plan to have the award letters mailed by February 15th. The wolves are doing well, and have fared the recent cold snap without issues.
Shadow has had a great winter; There appeared to be some early loss of status, but with restricted access to the wolf yard, he has had an opportunity to remain confident and Grizzer has responded well to Shadow’s status. Grizzer is very submissive to Shadow and continues to roll over and submit, even when Shadow is a bit intense. One other interesting note that we have observed is that Shadow will often get excited with tail wags, approach Grizzer and roll over in front of him, pawing at him to interact. They do get along extremely well. I would also like to make a note to the Nannies selected for this year’s pups. We are still juggling teams, and once the teams are set, we will send out a briefing packet to each team member (probably by email), so teams can have some opportunity to converse prior to arrival and possibly offer to carpool to Ely.
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.