Sorry for the delay in the logs, Wolf Curator, Lori Schmidt was in Anchorage Alaska last week for the Wildlife Society National Meeting and general wolf care was the main priority in her absence. The dominance behavior from Malik seems to be taken in stride by Shadow. While Shadow will show a high tail and give chase, he doesn't show a hackle response and doesn't always follow through with the chase. This is the sign of a very confident dominant wolf, that doesn't feel threatened when his authority is tested. He remains close to Maya in social behavior and plays along with Grizzer's attempt to ride up and show that he's an adult now.
Shadow is still maintaining very strong social behavior, but in previous feedings, seems to stay away from the “What’s for Dinner crowd at the window. As shown in this week’s video, the presence of Curator, Lori Schmidt who was filming inside the enclosure, seems to have given him some courage, he initially was intimidated by the windows, and came to the camera for reassurance. Later, he fed on the carcass and even guarded the carcass from Malik. On Sunday morning, there was no deer carcass to be found, just a few scarps of hide and some deer legs. It was apparent from the wolves stomach’s that everyone got a full meal.
Shadow again portrays the leader of the pack in this week’s video, as he watches the wrestling match between Maya and Grizzer, he watches Grizzer roll in the snow, and positions him on top of the den for a good vantage point. Behaviorally, the male rank order has settled down as Maya gives them all something to focus on.
This has been the summer most noteable by Shadow's increased social behavior. We're not sure what set it off, maybe the start of the season with a full-ear cleaning and clean bill of health; the presence of inuit sled dog pups that stimulated some prolactin, the switch to once a month fly treatment and not the daily cream's; regardless, he's been a very social animal to work with. Not only to human staff, but he's frequently playbowing to Maya and Grizzer, grooming them, pawing them, sleeping near them and trying to start a chase scene. He's very relaxed and confident, even when Malik tries to come in and do a grab bite while Shadows focused on the young adults.
It's hard to believe Shadow and Malik are 6 years old, but it is starting to show a bit. Staff have noticed Shadow slowing down a bit, and having some moments where he looks like he needs a rest. It is critical to this pack that he is as strong as he can be. We continue to give both he and Malik Cosequin supplements, and are careful to make sure there is no external influence making him vulnerable. As the fall approaches, there may be restrictions on Behind the Scenes programs and individuals near the fence that seem to agitate Shadow.
Written by Planning for Pups program participants Gail Ramee, Lena Edward and Joanne Wessels: "Shadow was restless when the group came out to the bleachers. He tucked his tail, and kept his ears in airplane position. On sunday, he started bark howling at the group and did not stop until the group went back inside. During Wolf Care, Shadow greeted the staff and then went back to lay on top of the den. Shadow did not engage in play with the other wolves. During enclosure enrichment, Shadow was very deliberate in his hunt for the chicken and bacon. He explored the full perimeter of the enclosure. Grizzer frequently followed Shadow around the enlosure, without any response from Shadow. When Grizzer tried to cut in front of Shadow during Wolf Care, Shadow did respond whith growls and an occassional muzzle bite."
Written by Planning for Pups program participants Cheryl Schreiber and Julie Joos: When the Planning for Pups group participants were in the wolf yard on Friday, Shadow began bark-howling, showing his intimidation at large crowds. On Saturday prior to the "What's For Dinner" program, the Exhibit Pack was observed chasing each other around the pond, engaging in a bout of group play. During the feeding, Shadow waited until the large crowds had left the viewing windows to begin feeding on the deer carcass. On Sunday morning during the enclosure enrichment, Shadow cached a pig ear, which Grizzer dug up and ate.
Due to the active schedule with the ongoing Wolf Ethology class at the Center, all logs will be the same. Shadow continues to have some issues with groups behind the scenes, so the schedule has been modified for the class, with more observations from inside the observation area. Shadow seems to do much better with this. The weather’s been hot and humid this week, causing the wolves to reduce their activity levels significantly. The biting flies are out and all wolves have been treated with Biospot for fly control on their ears. Grizzer and Maya have completed shedding their dense undercoat, with the exception of some loose hair on their necks and tails. Shadow and Malik, as arctic subspecies are a bit delayed in the shedding and are about midway through the process. Although the Retired Pack members are Great Plains subspecies, they are also delayed in the shedding process, possibly due to their age. Lakota has a growth on her face that has been increasing in size. The Veterinarian has chosen to wait until cooler temperatures before anesthetizing her and removing the growth. He has determined that it is benign, but it may continue to grow. Staff will be watching this carefully and have been cleaning it daily.
As the dominant male on the Exhibit, Shadow has a wide variety of social expressions to communicate his status and interaction amongst the pack members. In this week's video, he is intent on new scents on the exhibit as well as quick to repond to evidence of wild wolves near the enclosure. Of all the wolves here, he is the most likely to lead the pack in a howl or bark at an intruder.
The behaviors in the image for Shadow are classic rank order postures. One wolf shows more dominance by standing over another wolf, sometimes showing threat displays of their teeth, while the subordinate wolf has submissive ears, and paws up toward the dominant wolf with a foreleg stab. This is a sign of submission, pawing at the air. There is a fine line between pawing at a wolf in submission, and placing a paw on top of the dominant wolf. If the lower ranking wolf places a paw on the wolf, that’s a push for more dominance. In many of the cases where Grizzer starts out submissive, he may end up pushing his status. One of the more memorable photos we have of Grizzer and Shadow is Grizzer with a paw placed right on Shadow’s muzzle. Shadow’s video this week shows a bit of that testing behavior, with some pawing, but he doesn’t follow through with placement.
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