Shadow has had a great week. I'm not sure if it's the mid 30 degree temperatures, some fresh snow or no sled dogs, but he is very social and very animated. Which means, he is rolling in the snow, whirling around and inviting Malik to chase, and overall very social with wolf care. His photo this week shows a very contented retiree.

Shadow was the first to show an alert, defensive howl when the wolf care team assembled for Grizzer, Aidan and Denali's medical exam. When more than four wolf care staff get together, Shadow is usually suspect. Of course, being 12 years old, he's seen a few of these wolf care work sessions. we are still using straw in the enclosure as we had a few nights below freezing, but once the temperatures rise, we'll be working equally as hard to provide fresh soil as a cooling spot to lie on the den.

I always thought that Malik was the retired wolf that had to be monitored when tools and hoses were left unattended, but Shadow proved that Malik isn't the only one that needs monitoring. During the 3rd episode of placing the hose back in the pond, I gave Malik and Shadow a pig's ear. Shadow cached his, and Malik began chewing. I went back to the lab, thinking that Malik was occupied and all was well, only to find after 20 seconds at my computer, that Shadow was taking the hose, while Malik was still in the same place chewing on his pig's ear. The only difference is, as soon as Shadow saw me, he dropped it and greeted. Malik has a tendency to run as far as he can, spinning hose off the reel. We learned this lesson with Lakota a few years ago, never discount a wolf because of age, they are always curious and they will always try to take an unattended possession.

Shadow is looking the most scruffy of all the exhibit animals. His dominant status keeps him from activities that make him vulnerable, including standing still while staff brush out his dense undercoat. Staff have reverted to the technique of plucking him as he goes by, although he did have a great session with Matt Fetterer the other day. Shadow seems to be more keyed in to the male handlers at the Center. He's still resistant to fly ointment, but earlier in May, when he was immobilized for the inner ear cleaning and inspection, the Vet put a dose of Biospot on his ear tips. Biospot is designed to work for months at a time in repelling flies, and it seems to have worked, as he has not had a bloody fly bite on his ears yet, and trust me, the Minnesota bugs are out there…

Shadow has a powerful method of getting lower ranking wolves to comply with his status. He uses a threat display, with full teeth barred and direct eye contact. In this week’s photo, it does seem to have the desired effect, Grizzer is submitting with ears back and submissively pawing at Shadow. If you look at Grizzer’s photo this week, you will see that Grizzer is averting Shadow’s gaze, a sign that he is not ready to take on the challenge.

Wolves don’t typically start to shed their winter coat until early June. Some people theorize that this may be a preventative measure against invasive insect populations in the early spring. We don’t know if there’s any truth to that, but they certainly are protected from the late spring black flies. This cooler spring is actually better for the wolves, last year, when temperatures reached 70 degrees in April, the wolves were easily overheated. In this week’s video, Shadow does a roll-over in the snow, possibly to cool off, but more likely, just a social behavior in the pack. Wolves evolved to have hair over their bodies rather than sweat glands like humans, so they function much better with cold than with heat. One way to modify behavior to deal with heat is to reduce activity during the warmest part of the day. This is the transition we will experience in the next few month, more nocturnal wolves.

The logs this week will all contain the same text… Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow. A spring snowstorm dumped nearly 30 inches of snow on the Ely area on Saturday and Sunday, leaving the wolf care staff to shovel, clean gates, blow snow, clean cameras, uncover heated waterers and pick up dead branches from trees that couldn’t support the weight of the wet snow. The wolves enjoyed the snow, although a few of the branches startled Maya. It’s not unusual for a spring snowstorm, but with temperatures usually in the 40’s and 50’s they go quickly. This time, the weather forecast doesn’t predict much above 40 degrees this week, and there are a few more days of snow predicted. Enjoy the webcams; I’m sure you will see the wolves romping through the snow.

Of all the wolves on site, Shadow seems to seek the most pleasure from fresh snow. He displays many episodes of a behavior we term “snowplowing, this is where a wolf puts their head down in the snow, and pushes their face through the snow like a V-plow. It is usually followed by roll over in the snow, a fast jump up and a race around the area. If wolf care staff are close, he jumps up for a quick face greeting and runs off. He’s pretty spry for a wolf nearing 8 years old. Today during wolf care, Shadow actually submitted for curator, Lori Schmidt, something that her rarely does for anyone but Nancy Gibson, the board member who bottle-fed him and created the strongest bond with him during the critical bonding period in the first few months of life. This was an incredible honor for Lori to have Shadow in such a social mood and willing submit to a belly scratch. This situation with Malik showing more dominance toward Grizzer may also be impacting Shadow. Shadow can relax a bit more without having to keep a constant dominant role over Grizzer.

Shadow is doing extremely well, in a very social mood and interacting with each pack member in a special way. He frequently does a parallel gate with Maya, walking shoulder to shoulder. He rolls over for Grizzer without showing any loss of status, more of a social, let's interact behavior. He and Malik often rest together, and Shadow is right in the mix when Malik starts to test Grizzer. But the most noteable behavior from Shadow is the alert and watchful behavior of a dominant male. He is often on the greeting rock or on the hillside, watching, sniffing and responding to anything that approaches his pack.

Medical exams are hardest on the pack leaders, as they tend to resist letting go of their control and struggle to fight the drug, and express anxiety as the rest of the pack is separated. The tail wags in Shadow’s video clip show the strong social relationship these wolves share. They are a compatible pack and get along well together. You will also notice in Shadow’s video that he is scratching his ears. This is one of the reasons Shadow and Malik have had more extensive veterinary exams in the last few years. In 2005, it was discovered that Shadow had ear mites, after several treatments, those were cleared up and no evidence of mites were detected in 2006, but he still showed irritation in his ears. So, in 2007, he had an exam with a full ear cleaning, again, no problems were identified. In this exam, it appears that there are small areas of irritation that could be related to allergies. Staff will be working with the Veterinarian to attempt to give Shadow some relief.