This past week, the curator was out of town attending conferences for the HP grant and the Society of American Foresters. While we manage with a style of multiple wolf care staff, the change in routine can have an impact on the wolves. To distract the pack from this change, items are given to provide them a behavioral outlet. Last week, a bison hide that was donated from a hunter was given to the pack on Monday. This provided a significant amount of behavior including tug of war, guarding behavior, active submission and dominance and overall excitement. Shadow was surprisingly interactive over the hide. Usually, he observes the pack and doesn't get involved in tug of wars over items, but with this hide, he was quite excited. The most interesting dynamic after watching the video was Aidan reaction to Shadow and the constant active submission displayed by Aidan. He was frequently pushing himself on Shadow to seek dominance, and Shadow complied. The full video clip of the bison hide will be included with the YouTube video this week.
When staff come in for a wolf check in the morning, it's important to judge the tensions in the pack. The best measure of this is Shadow. If Shadow is calm, the tensions are not too significant, if Shadow is anxious, the rest of the pack has some issues. We did a short Behind the Scenes for staff last week, the first one this winter, and while Shadow only did a brief bark howl, since he knew some of the Center staff, he was a bit agitated and redirected to the pups, which caused Maya to pin Aidan and Grizzer to chase Malik. A lesson was learned, keep Shadow calm at all costs, at least until the winter aggression subsides. We don't have as many of these issues in the summer, and will continue to offer 2 Behind the Scenes programs per week this summer.
Some days, the expression on Shadow's face is priceless. He has earned the respect of the pack by his calm and assertive nature, and he takes most of their behavior in stride. Shadow and Aidan seem to have more moments of social interaction than the rest of the pack. In this week's photo, Shadow is attentive to Aidan's interest in his supracaudal scent glad (the black spot on the tail), but moments later, Shadow follows through with a dominance pin of Aidan.
The wolf logs will contain the same text for each wolf, as snow conditions again dominate the staff's work load. The most noticeable snow issue was a recent clearing of the snow from the Center's roof. With over 2 feet of snow on the roof, and the predicted forecast of rain adding to the weight of the snow, the decision was made to shovel all the snow from the roof, which lands directly into the wolf enclosure. To avoid giving the wolves free access to the roof, the snow had to be blown out of the front of the enclosure, resulting in a large bank in the front of the exhibit, that is at least 8 feet from the roof line. You may have noticed increased activity in front of the pond cam, as the wolves have been very actively climbing and digging in the snow bank. The wolves have also been observed sliding down the snow bank, and pushing each other off the top of the hill. It is a great vantage point and wolves do enjoy the view from the top of the hill.
The wolf logs will all be the same today, due to weather priorities… Yes, the weather plays a big part in what we do in wolf care and defines the hazards of the job. Today, we have freezing rain, which creates a hazard for wolf care staff and wolves alike. Staff are very vulnerable in slippery conditions, if a wolf jumps on us, and we fall, this can easily turn in to test. For the wolves, the icy conditions can mean a joint injury. Our job today is to keep the pack calm, and check everyone’s physical condition thoroughly. The wolves are using the dens and there is straw placed under the eaves to get out of the rain. In the videos this week, you will see the pond frozen from snowmelt conditions. Aidan does a stiff leg jump to crack the ice, and Denali comes up with an ice chunk to investigate. Shadow continues to show his leadership as he dominates Grizzer, but Grizzer is showing very submissive postures and is seeking Shadow’s dominance. Grizzer still socially interacts with the pups; Malik still follows Grizzer around looking for any opportunity to get a grab bite on Grizzer. Maya is still stalking and making Aidan nervous, but not as problematic as a month ago. All in all, the pack is well; the only other risk that we are dealing with today is the weight of the ice on tree branches that is starting to make branches break.
Shadow continues to be a great pack leader, showing the pups dominance when needed, and showing the pups social bonding behavior as well. It is amazing to watch his reaction to strife, as he approaches with high tail and stands over the activity, not intervening, but letting everyone know his presence. Some days, he comes over to wolf care staff when the rest of the pack is in various stages of dominance, and he just greets with a wag in his tail and a facial posture of confidence. Other days, staff wonder if he wants a break in the retired enclosure. Although, Shadow rarely leaves the enclosure anymore, when the rest of the pack is drawn into holding for the feeding, Shadow doesn't go with them. He waits at the gate for their return.
The logs will all be the same this week due to some other obligations of the Curator. Malik has adjusted well to the new privacy fence erected on the fence line facing the Exhibit Pack. He still has an area to view the pack between the fences at the main entrance gate, but by having the 100 foot wall protected, it gives him more security. There was a lot of debate about the wood privacy fence among staff. We weren’t certain that he would have more anxiety if he could hear the pack, but not see them. We also had to determine if his anxiety was about getting back in with the pack, rather than not being the focus of the pack. If he wanted to get back in with them, he would likely become more excited at the lack of visual connection. If he was insecure about them seeing him, and wanted to be protected from them, then he would likely relax. The fact that he was sleeping comfortably in his den within 15 minutes of the fence completion is probably indicative of an attitude that he wanted protection from the pack. He is very relaxed, and as I write this (we have a security camera on him so he is always visible in the lab), he is very relaxed, watching ravens on his food caches. Many people have asked when we will put a webcam on his enclosure, at this time, we don’t want to make any changes to his environment, and want to give him time to adjust. The webcam boxes are large and bulky, necessary to keep the cameras heated in winter, but a bit intrusive for a wolf that is getting used to his life and enclosure. He will be filmed for the weekly YouTube video, and when he is ready, there will be a camera. The main pack is very calm, Maya and Aidan still have some issues, actually, Maya is just dominant, she has no issue. Shadow is extremely social with all pack members, and Denali likes to wrestle, eat and foreleg stab at things. Grizzer is extremely calm, and the removal of the stress between he and Malik has done wonders for him, and the pack tension overall.
Shadow had the longest impact of a sedative given on the night of the fire. His eyes were still droopy the next day, and he was stumbling a bit. We don't do oral sedatives very often, but we now know that the dose given was effective, but too high for the length of duration. One thing about Shadow when he's feeling a bit sedated, he gets very social. We were able to do a lot of brushing his undercoat on that day, and that is helpful to a wolf who has issues with heat.
While we don't notice any behavioral issues with Shadow, Malik seems to be more engaging and pushing more status. The unique thing about this situation is that Shadow seems indifferent to these attempts. When he would normally do a chin rest and posture when Malik approaches with high tail, now he gives a glance in Malik's general direction and then goes about his business. This will likely change as we approach fall, the question is, how will Shadow posture to regain his dominant position.
Shadow seems to have a stronger bond with myself as the Curator, so to apply ointment, I put two large dabs on my fingers, and hide my hands in my coat. When I enter, he is excited to greet, and I reach for his ears to apply the ointment. If he's very excited to greet, I manage to get his ears before he discovers that I have the ointment. If he senses the ointment and pulls back, I may coat the top of his head. Once I make an attempt and fail to put on the ointment, he may avoid me for the rest of the check. If I don't have anything on my fingers, I can rub his ears without any trouble. This is a real challenge as the biting flies can be miserable.
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.