During last week's environmental enrichment, Shadow and Malik had 12 scruffle encounters. In 11 of them Shadow showed more dominant postures, according to the ethology goup observing from behind the windows. It seems that Shadow shows more confidence, while Malik is becoming more aggressive. Dominance is not about aggressiveness, but confidence and skills as a pack leader.
Shadow still appears to be most associative with Grizzer and Maya, often seeking them out or not reacting to their puppy antics. It seems that Malik gets more irritated with them if they are running up and licking or biting his face, Shadow is much more tolerant. Shadow also takes the lead on greeting Maya, but he does spend a fair amount of time with Grizzer as well. Malik has been observed attempting to approach Maya, but so far, Maya seems to favor Shadow. In today's photo, Shadow did a bit of underground excavation and scentrolling after a recent rain leaving the white guard hairs a bit tarnished. He was back on his watch at the top of the den soon after the rains quit.
From all the wolves, Shadow is the one that is more cautious with new thing. He took some time inspecting the hose until we was sure it presented no harmed, and of course, was out of his reach. Wolves are often afraid of things that tangle above them, but as you can see here, Sahdow was more interesting that afraid. Few hours later, he was ok with the hose and sat with Malik to get some mist.
Shadow has been taking his job as protector very seriously. On a couple of occasions this week, the Exhibit Pack has been heard howling at the back of the enclosure. Wolf care staff thought that they heard a coyote yipping, followed by a pack howl. Each time the pack howled, a single wolf (presumably Shadow) started, and then was joined by the others. During and after the howl, the pack came down from the woods seeming anxious. Especially worried was Shadow, who frequently positioned himself between the rest of the pack and the woods, keeping a watchful eye toward the back of the exhibit.
Shadow has been very relaxed during the recent Behind the Scenes programs. Often laying on the concrete pad watching the program participants on the bleachers. This is much different than during the Pups at One Year programs, where he was bark-howling when stressed. We're not sure of the changes, but have our own theories. Shadow continues to display great behaviors as a dominant male guarding his pack. On Friday morning, the Wolf Watch overnight participants were awoken at 5:45 am with the pack doing a 30-minute, low throated howl at the back of the enclosure. We also had some beaver missing from the carcass pile behind the Retired Pack, we may have wild wolves traveling through the site again.
Shadow continues to display all the traits of a dominant male. He guards his pack, he keeps watch on the younger pack members, and he's ready to display his dominance if anyone attempts to test him. In this week's photo, Shadow shows high tail in response to Malik's behavior. While both their tails are in high status, Shadow seems to keep his calm. Hackles are the involuntary raising of the hair on the neck, back, rump and even tail in response to a threat, fear or intimidation. While we watch both arctics demonstrate high tail, Malik seems to respond with a hackle position more often than Shadow. This may indicate that he's more threatened, fearful or intimidated by the encounters with Shadow. It takes a lot to get Shadow's hackles up.
Shadow had a scheduled medical exam on May 6th. His main issues was the status of an ear mite condition he had last fall. His ears appeared mite free, but there was some crusting and debris that required a thourough cleaning. True to Shadow's form, he resisted the immobilization and required several booster shots before coming into the lab. His team consisted of Lori Schmidt, Barbara Roquemore and Maria Bukovich. He weighed in at 95 lbs, equal, but hard to believe, the same weight as Nyssa.
Shadow was most of the time back in the wooded area. He came down a few times and sat under the tree where the shade was nice and the breeze was cool. As you can see in this picture he was panting. A normal way for wolves to get rid of the heat. Summer is here, and this normal behavior prevents them from being overheated.
Shadow’s dealing with a maturing Grizzer, but he is on edge. He’s attempting to use all aspects of his dominance to keep Grizzer from taking too much status. These behaviors include vocalizations, facial expressions, tail posture, hackles, ride-up behaviors, techniques of following a wolf to intimidate them, whirling around to face off, and when ever possible direct eye stare. So far, Shadow has not physically pinned Grizzer or even scruff grabbed him. As spring approaches, the hormone levels will decrease and calm considerable. If these Shadow’s techniques continue to work through the spring, he will likely maintain his status as the dominant male.
Shadow continues to show confidence in his interactions. What’s interesting is when Grizzer is testing, Grizzer is clearly more powerful. But power is not all there is to leadership, confidence and social relationships are critical. Grizzer doesn’t seem to know what to do with the leadership role, so the pack still looks to Shadow when there is something different, including Grizzer. When a wild wolf howls nearby, or strangers show up behind the enclosure, Grizzer runs with submissive head, ears and tail and stands by Shadow, as he confidently howls toward the intrusion. His confident is most evident when Shadow holds his tail high as the leader. This may change as Grizzer matures, but at this time, Grizzer is an adult wolf body with a bit of puppy insecurity and playfulness. The key for Shadow is to make him feel confident.
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