It is so nice to have Shadow feeling good and not being intimidated by Malik's obsessive food guarding of caches. It's always hard to watch the wolves who have been dominant their whole life, being put in a situation of intimidation. This is why we are so protective of human visitors to Shadow, they intimidate him more than Malik. When Shadow feels good, he does a lot of whirl behaviors (where he jumps up and whirls around facing the opposite direction), he invites chase, does playbows and gets very excited. He also greets the wolf care staff with the same enthusiasm, often jumping on the den and submitting, something he rarely did as a dominant pack leader.
Shadow continues to posture showing his status which is why Malik has two avert gaze photos in 2 weeks. We don't notice much more in terms of behavior, just some slow, deliberate intimidation. Shadow is increasing his howling bouts which stimulates all the wolves. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks we can get some good howling footage of the Exhibit Pack. I don't think we have any howling video since the pups have been introduced.
As visitors may witness, Shadow is very shy about feeding in front of the Saturday night public feeding program. It has nothing to do with his dominance or leadership, but everything to do with his shyness towards people. When we feed on Wednesday's, he eats whatever he wants, and caches the rest for later. The combination of dark scats, and caches tells us the pack is getting enough resources. In the latest YouTube video, you will see Shadow cache, then moments later, Denali digs it up, then moments later, Aidan steals it, and that is the photo you see for Aidan.
When Grizzer is testing Shadow, it’s clear by his body language that he is intimidated. The ears perked backwards and the tucked tail are body postures of a wolf that is intimidated, but Shadow uses facial expressions to maintain his rank order, including lip snarls and high pitch growls to warn Grizzer. So far, this behavior has been successful in keeping the tests short. The most important thing for Shadow to maintain his rank is confidence. In the photo taken shortly after the testing sequence, Shadow was again in high tail, confidently interacting with the staff and the wolves. When Shadow is intimidated by something, he is vulnerable. Staff are very conscientious of the influences in the wolf yard that make Shadow uncomfortable such as strangers behind the scenes. The rank order between the males is something that they will be working on throughout the winter.
The pups had been visible to, but separate from, the adult wolves since the pups arrived at The International Wolf Center in Ely, MN at the end of June, 2000. On August 9, 2000, early in the morning, Shadow and Malik were introduced into the adult's enclosure and started along the path of becoming members of the pack. The pup introduction to the adults was carefully planned to avoid shifting the hierarchy dynamics of the existing pack. While the pups were in their overnight holding pen, Lakota and Lucas were each lured into separate holding areas. Then the pups' holding pen was opened to the main enclosure, and the pups ventured out to explore and greet MacKenzie. The pups ran around alternately exploring and greeting MacKenzie by licking her muzzle and smelling her. MacKenzie responded well to the pups, smelling them and following after them as they explored. After about 15 minutes, Lucas was let out of his enclosure and he joined the smelling/licking/chasing romp. The pups continued to explore the new sights and smells of the main enclosure. When Lakota was released from her pen, she investigated the pup enclosure at length before greeting the pups, apparently searching for food scraps.
As the next few hours unfolded, the interactions among the animals ranged from complete submission of the pups to the adults, to defensive snaps from the pups to the adults. The pups are learning their new subordinate role in the pack structure. At times, the pups were observed climbing over MacKenzie while she rested, muzzle mouthing each of the adults, racing through the grass in the enclosure, and getting mouthed around the torso by the adults. Dave Mech commented that it seemed like Lucas was using his mouth to attempt to pick Shadow up by the torso, a behavior he had not observed in adult males before. (Note that Lucas' mouth fit nearly all the way around Shadow's torso!) Other behavior observed included active submission/roll over behavior by Malik to all of the adults, occasional submission by Shadow to the adults. Malik dominating Shadow, Shadow snapping at Lucas with Lucas jumping away, and general romping and exploring. Shadow's snapping might be attributed to his insecurity with the adults, but it could also be related to the defense of a bone he found in the enclosure. Wolf care staff anticipated this sort of pup behavior while the young ones are establishing a place in the pack structure.
The wolf puppies made their journey to their new home at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota on June 29. They slept most of the trip minus about 20 minutes of intense playing with each other. The International Wolf Center staff vigorously greeted the pups for about half an hour with enthusiasm displayed from the humans and pups. Nancy Gibson, who raised the pups, greeted the three resident adults wolves to allow them to smell the puppies on her clothing and shoes for the first step of introducing the pups. The adults are also socialized by humans and sniffed every inch of Gibson's apparel. Step two was to bring the pups to the fenceline separating the adults and pups. The adults raced to the fenceline to inspect the pups. The pups were initially scared by the eager canine reception and crawled up on their handlers legs and curled their lips with a slight growl. That didn't deter the adults as they whined and wimpered for the pups. The alpha male, Lucas, fought off his lower ranking packmate for attention from the pups while his body bellowed a welcome whine. The initial meeting was a success. All wolves produce a nurturing hormone called prolactin during the summer to stimulate all pack members to care for the pups. The wolves were living up to their reputation as being good mothers. The pups were then placed in their new spacious enclosure adjacent to the adults with a single fence and dig out wire between them while they are fed several times daily and to finish the critical socialization process. It is important for the adults and pups to watch, smell and hear each other for the next 6-8 weeks before they are placed in the same enclosure. The following day the pups and adults were licking each other through the fenceline. The pups are in view at the Center four times a day. KARE TV followed each step and will air the segment on July 9, 2000.
Pups were weighed on Sunday August 13th and Shadow weighed 38 pounds with Malik weighing in a 37 pounds. Another weight will be recorded on Saturday, August 19th, which will also be the first pack feeding of a complete deer carcass. The Ely staff are all looking forward to that day and will provide detailed notes of the interactions.
Earlier in the day, 2 Turkey Vultures flew over the enclosure at tree-top level. Shadow responded with tucked tail and began pacing. Mackenzie ran to the Northeast fence-line where Shadow was pacing, quickly sniffed him, paced the same area, then charged the fence-line into the woods. The entire pack followed, with Shadow more anxious than the rest. Wolf Care staff investigated the area for evidence of human or animal activity, but didn't detect anything. Shadow later settled down and slept by the enclosure entrance gate. But later in the day, Wolf Care Staff member Peter Kramer came outside to visit the puppies and observed a wild wolf pup within 5 feet of the exterior enclosure fence (directly behind the bleachers). The presence of this pup may have been a stimulus for the anxiety by Shadow and subsequent charge by Mackenzie and the pack up the Northeast fence line.
This week’s log’s contain all the same text. Not only do I serve as the Wolf Curator for the International Wolf Center, but I also work as an instructor at Vermilion Community College. It’s been a busy day with Vermilion Natural Resource students participating in the Governor’s deer hunting pre-hunt educational activities for area elementary schools. We left for the festivities at 7 am this morning and stayed for the entire day, leaving little time for regular wolf log duties. The wolves are all doing well, we had a few mornings with temperatures near 15 degrees which seemed to stimulate activity. The roadkill deer supply is doing well thanks to a call from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake that provided extra roadkill. Unfortunately, the freezer compressor failed on the same day, so thanks to generous donations from alpha members, we are back in business. Even though nighttime temperatures have been below freezing, the daytimes are relatively warm, keeping the wolves resting throughout the day.
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.