Shadow hasn't been himself lately. He seems a bit less tolerant of individual wolf care staff, has been particular about his morning vitamins, and not really interested in guarding food. His chicken consumption has improved in the last few days and we will increase some observations to see his general pattern without wolf care staff presence in the enclosure. Shadow and Malik will be 11 years old on May 8th, certainly an age where any change in behavior is worth investigating.
Shadow is feeling much better. His appetite has returned and he has been displaying several play bows towards staff. The pond in the Retirement enclosure has not drained, creating some snow melt water during the day and ice conditions at night. Shadow has entered the dug den that he completed last fall, and has done a bit more excavation work.
Shadow continues to eat chicken, but he's not been very good at taking his vitamins and joint supplements. We may need to try a different method of delivery (Aidan's been liking peanut butter lately). We also have observed some increase in water consumption and while we don't watch the wolves continuously, when we do observe, it appears that Shadow has the higher volume of water consumption. These are the subtle changes that have to be noted when going into a medical exam. Due to the fact that we can't draw blood without immobilizing, we want to make sure we test for all possibilities.
We have a Working for Wolves program next weekend and the wolf that has the biggest issue is Shadow. He will bark howl if he feels his area is threatened. I have been watching this closely trying to figure out the triggers for this behavior. Last fall, he was fine on Friday and Saturday, but wouldn't tolerant anything on Sunday. So, we thought maybe it was length of time, but when I have had student workers from Vermilion Community College, he seems to tolerant them better than our Working for Wolves groups. The only difference I can see is that the student's are involved in their own conversations, are relaxed and joking amongst themselves. They don't take pictures of the wolves, they don't talk to them, they don't even look at them. So, it appears that if you are just there and not directing attention at Shadow, he doesn't respond in a territorial nature. So, if you are on the Working for Wolves crew next weekend, we're going to test this theory.
Of all the wolves that causes us concern during a work project, Shadow is the most likely to show anxiety and bark howl at the work crews. At least, that was his past behavior. But, not this year… Shadow was amazingly tolerant, even on Sunday morning when the crew split up with 1/2 half of the crew working on the medical pen and the other half clearing branches in Grizzer's new habitat. Shadow and Malik were perched on the den watching the crew come and go, even when the rains started. If you recall in a recent log, we were going to recommend a new behavior towards the wolves by work crews. This included no direct eye contact, no cameras, no focus on the wolves at all, just go about the task of working, and that approach, seemed to work.
The pack has had a quiet week, so there's not much news to report and all logs will be the same. The Center is moving forward on an additional habitat for Grizzer with a design that will allow continued access to the current pack holding area. He has become quite comfortable in this area and its' location is right in the Center of Wolf Lab activity which seems to be of interest to Grizzer. This is a bit reminiscent of Lakota.
While Malik is getting some dental work, Shadow will have his own veterinarian to do some blood work. We intend to do a glucose test to see if there might be a diabetes issue. Shadow has a higher water consumption than Malik and if there is an issue, it may influence his feeding patterns. We plan to get weights on both wolves when they are immobilized. We really don't need an immobilization for Shadow to weigh him, he stands on the scale with no problems, but Malik hasn't had a sound weight recorded in nearly a year.
This past weekend was the first in a series of three Planning for Pups programs. Denali and Aidan did an excellent job of demonstrating the value of socializing pups. Grizzer was tolerant, although we were very careful to give him his privacy. Shadow started a bark howl on Sunday morning, but that was probably more directed at the Curator for applying fly ointment to his ears. Due to the extra work load this weekend, all wolves will share one log posting.
This weekend is the Working for Wolves weekend, and due to the significant amount of preparation work, we will be posting the same text for all the logs. The main priorities for this weekend include straw removal, cleaning and filling the ponds in the Exhibit and Retired Enclosure, putting a roof and protective walls on the medical enclosure and starting the fence layout for Grizzer’s new enclosure. It will be a busy weekend, and work will continue in the upcoming weeks on Grizzer’s habitat. The goal is to get him into the new area by June 15th. All the wolves are doing well. Aidan and Denali are having no problem eating their entire deer carcass on weekends, and Shadow and Malik are transitioning to more food carcass meals with chicken on Tuesday and Thursdays. Grizzer gets chicken on a daily basis as he has a small area left to heal from his head and we want to maximize his nutrition to keep is immune system strong. Someone emailed with concern about Malik in the den, because he sleeps so soundly, they were concerned that there was something wrong. Old wolves do like their sleep, but we keep the camera on the wolves and staff are aware of their condition.
Shadow was tested for diabetes and showed normal levels of glucose, so more blood work was taken to see if there are other issues. Our main concern is is higher than average water consumption and his appetite issues. If medical tests don't show anything, these situations could be behavioral. Shadow had no other signs of problems during the exam, and his ears were checked and cleaned. We did have an error in his weight when I recorded the Youtube this week. In the video, I state that he weighed in at 87, but in fact, he was also 92 lbs. What a come back from his low point of 71 lbs when we retired him from the Exhibit. Retirement must be agreeing with him.
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