Puppies! - Wolf Park

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We do like to give the singleton wolves, and the interns, some mutually
instructive and enriching experiences in the form of going for walks together
and letting the interns practice walking DENEB on leash. Deneb is patient
and easy to deal with whether or not the intern catches on right away,
almost moving in "freeze frame action" as if
each second must be considered carefully
and in detail. (Other, less “cultured” wolves
will lunge forward at high speed or tangle
themselves in the leash.) To help the interns
develop more confidence and fluidity in
handling the leash and preparing for future
seconds (just seconds away!) Pat
sometimes had them walk Deneb in figure
eights around two people. Or was it that Pat
told Deneb to walk the interns in figure
eights? Sometimes it can be hard to tell
simply by watching.
Karin, Apollo, and Alyeska chorus howl.
ORCA continues to putter along, with good days and bad days and the
phrase “same old same old” coming unfortunately to mind. He doesn’t
seem to mind the status being so quo. He is still shy at cleanup and still
commands a circle of admirers at other times. On December third, Orca got
a run (maybe scrabble is a better word) in the field south of the dam. He
spent the better part of an hour exploring the pasture, the little riparian
"woods" and periodically going along the fence and threatening the Happy
Pack, who were, from Orca's standpoint, annoyingly unconcerned about his
threats. He also found bison dung and rolled until he was green. Orca was
offered the chance of interacting with puppies, but though he seems
enchanted by the squirmy little things he quickly becomes nervous and
slightly defensive — he no longer has the agility to keep up with four
bouncing, hopping babies and prefers that they keep their distance.
CHANI shed very early again this
year, even though we started her
on flax seed oil in the fall hoping to
avoid just such an occurrence.
The flax seed oil did seem to help,
though, and while she did leave us
covered with a fine layer of white
fur every time we came in to visit,
she always seemed to have
enough fur left to give us another
Chani.
Photo by Monty Sloan
full coating next time we visited.
We kept her hut packed full of straw in any case, and she weathered the
winter quite well.
KIRI and SOCRATES, aka The Brothers Not
Karamazov, had the first bloody spat we can
recall. On February 19th Amanda and Pat went
in with Kiri and Socrates to test out Amanda's
Wolf Jaw Pressure Gauge Mark II, and when
the Boyz approached us they began growling,
growl-barking, and gaping their jaws at each
other while walking tall in circles at each other.
Socrates had some blood on his leg and on his
ruff, whereas Kiri had a bloody ear. This fight
was little as fights go, and pretty ritualized, with
more threats and posturing than grabbing and
puncturing. Socrates did grab Kiri's ear once
and hung on for a while. When they broke Miska, Seneca, and Marion chorus howl.
apart, Kiri bit Socrates' leg and made it bleed
more. As far as we could tell, that was it for the day. Pat was able to get
them to come to the fence for antibiotics. This meant that for the next week
Wolf Park News Spring 2004
they both got little treats of cream cheese or pieces of cheeseburger. By
February 21st they were back to ordinary levels of winter and testosterone
induced grumpiness and by the 27th, intern K'fir reported that he saw Kiri
and Tease walking side by side as if hitched, and keeping in step, and
smooching each other. On May 5th, Tease and Squeeze got a chance to
see Karin Bloch, one of their puppy mothers, and enjoyed it immensely.
Photo by Monty Sloan
KARIN and APOLLO mated rather late in the
season and then relaxed. ALYESKA had to
watch his step for several days, especially
between February 18 and February 20,
when we saw Apollo and Karin mate four
times. What with Apollo guarding Karin and
all, we left them alone for a little while
around the breeding season and then had a
massive merry cleanup party afterward to
remove the debris. Karin “helped” Pat carry
a cleanup bucket by sticking her head into it
to the bottom, tipping the bottom up with her
nose, and carrying the bucket that way.
Apollo tried to “help” Pat carry a calf leg around (they only want things like
elderly deer heads and dried calf legs because we are carrying them, not
because they actually want to eat them). Alyeska moved up from lupus non
grata status and has even been spotted snoozing next to Apollo while Karin
stretches out in her own space under a separate tree. There has been no
sign of recurrence of Al’s urinary trouble from last year…*knock on wood*
MISKA probably did not like the breeding season very much. But he may
have liked it better than he did when he was in a pack of six. MARION was
the only female available and she was not interested in mating with him; she
was interested in getting him into trouble with SENECA. Marion seemed to
realize that if she wanted to get Seneca’s attention, all she had to do was
stand within fifteen feet of Miska. When Marion went too close to Miska,
Seneca came over, and sometimes made ritualized attacks on poor Miska,
but did not hurt him. Seneca seemed to know that Marion was behind it all.
Sometimes he stood between Marion and Miska and dealt with Marion by
grabbing her scruff and dragging her away from his brother. Seneca had an
easier time in one respect this year. While he has never had a rival among
the males, Marion's interest in things besides Seneca, even at the height of
the breeding season, often appeared to vex him. Last year, Marion had
nearly 7 acres of which to be in charge and made sure she covered the
entire surface area — often several times a day. Seneca was forced to
follow her, tethered by the “invisible bungee cord” which attaches all
attending males to the females they are attending. This year though,
Seneca could stay close to Marion and "attend" her while she was in
estrous without following her around and around and around and around the
Turtle Lake Enclosure. When Marion was trying to fence fight with Erin, two
enclosures away, Seneca could lie on one of the shelter roofs, keeping an
eye on Marion as she ran back and forth.
Though we could not watch Marion and
Seneca around the clock in shifts this year
(that was reserved for the Happy Pack) we did
occasionally see them mating. They tied at
least ten times that we know of between
January 23 and February 4.
Photo by Monty
WILD BILL the coyote turns seventeen this
year. We have to admit that his age is
beginning to show around the edges. He no
longer resembles a coffee table, and is
acquiring a more svelte silhouette. The bad
news is this means it is harder for him to keep
weight on; the good news is, we get to feed
him more, and that is always good. He becomes less and less willing to be
touched as his aging body becomes more and more “ouchy”, but is always
willing to add a genial (and scratchy) howl to any chorus.