Shadow Got His Groove Back

Shadow’s getting his groove back, at least his howling anyway. I did a Behind the Scenes on Thursday and he started some whining and tried to howl. I started a low throated tone and he switched octaves and joined me. I know people miss the web cam, but a torrential downpour flooded and shorted out the camera. The good news is, we are very close to making the surveillance cameras (which I call old reliable)… live on the web. Please bear with us a few more weeks and we will be back to broadcasting the retirees.

Smaller Feedings

Shadow is back to smaller feedings more frequently, he is so reluctant to heat when it’s hot and we have had several large items spoil that had to be removed. So, it’s back to increasing the budget for Chicken and Beef, but whatever it takes to make these retirees comfortable. I heard a great how from Shadow today, with temperatures in the 60’s, we are bound to hear more. The only problem is our temporary webcam had an electrical short in the torrential downpour last night, so the camera is temporarily off. We had a contract to rewire our internet cables, and dedicate a separate band width line just for the web cams, so my dream of a stable video streaming image may be coming true.

No New News

The logs are all the same this week. As the curator, I work full time during the summer months and when I return back to school, my hours are reduced to part time status of 20 hours a week. Friday was my first day back, so the Friday routine of Youtube and log postings was affected. I hope to return to the Friday schedule as I get settled into a routine, but the 20 hours are dedicated to wolf care, and combined with other wolf care staff, the wolves won’t notice a change in schedule. As far as the wolves, we have had a very calm, socially active week. It’s also been over 80 degrees, which might have an influence on behavior. I will be back to posting individual logs next week.

Healthy Weight

The heaviest weight we ever recorded on Shadow was 95 lbs as a 5 year old wolf. If you may recall, we moved him off display in 2010, not because he was deposed from the Exhibit, but he had become somewhat intolerant of eating in front of the crowds for the feeding program, and started to loose weight. We would obviously feed him alternate meals than the carcass, but he became so focused on keeping himself between the public and the pack, that he started to lose weight. By the time we decided to retire him in 2010, he was down to 71.87 lbs. It only took us 2 1/2 months to get his weight back up to 89 lbs, and that’s where he’s stayed since then. The growth on his face has returned, but not with any significant size. From our experience with Lakota, these facial growths need to be removed at the root to keep them from reoccurring, but since it is such a small growth and the risk of anesthesia is greater, we will just keep monitoring it.

Cool Weather

Shadow’s feeling great in this cooler than average fall weather (yes, I know it’ still August… but tell that to the North wind and high pressure systems). We had 39 degrees Fahrenheit with frost warnings. These are the days that make arctic wolves (especially 13 year old arctic wolves) active. The growth that we dealt with last month has returned after our initial removal for testing. These benign growths do seem to be common as the wolves age.

shadow – Jun 30, 2013 12:00 AM

Written by Pups at One Year Program participant Annette Good: Saturday there were three different groups behind the scenes. While he didn't approach the fence like Malik did, he seemed to do ok with all of the extra activity. During some activity Behind the Scenes on Sunday, he started to bark-howl. He did do well when Lori applied new bug repellent.

shadow – Jul 19, 2013 12:00 AM

Last week I referenced a growth on Shadow that the vets determined to be benign. It's not a fatty cyst, which can be common on older animals, but appears to be a skin tag that increases in size. For those of you who have been supporters of the ambassador wolves for a while, you may recall Lakota had a few of these around the time she was 13 that required surgery to get at the root of the growth. He's much more active since this growth opened up. I was able to clean it, placed him on a week of antibiotics and have removed some of the matted hair around it. Of course, he could be in a better mood because it's not 90 degrees today.

shadow – Jun 21, 2013 12:00 AM

The fly season is a problem, but Shadow is more tolerant of ointment than Malik. This might be due to the fact that Shadow is much more engaged in social greeting behavior than Malik and is so excited to greet that we can slip in some fly ointment while he's trying to do a face lick. There is no wolf here that matches Shadow's enthusiasm for greeting staff.

shadow – Jul 12, 2013 12:00 AM

We hope everyone has had a Happy 4th of July and continues to enjoy the days of summer. All wolves are doing well here, we are monitoring a growth that opened on Shadow’s cheek and are doing some repairs to the pond. Grizzer had a new concrete floor installed in his den because he was continually digging under the foundation. Luna’s growing back a winter coat, so we must be on the downhill side of summer. The Ethology Course begins on July 20th, we are sure to have some good behavioral observations to report next week.

shadow – Jul 25, 2013 12:00 AM

Written by Ethology Participant: Sarah Prusha<br> Upon seeing the two two retiree Arctics took my breath away. Aspects of Shadows behavior gives a clue to the dominant leader he once was. He spends time on top of the den, watching. The first day of meeting, he took the high vantage point of the den and howled. He was asserting himself, letting strangers know he was still ready to defend his territory. He investigated new beings to his area. As Malik would urinate, Shadow was very soon marking over. As I watch him now, he seems to exude a quiet confidence an insight to the dominate leader he once was.To study the complex social behavior of these animals has made a significant impact on me. Education is the key and Shadow has educated me as well.