| HALIBURTON FOREST WOLF CENTRE Box 202, R.R. #1, Haliburton, ON. K0M 1S0 www.haliburtonforest.com January 2007 From the viewing room… By Jessica Dunlop Greetings from the staff at the Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre! We hope your Christmas Season was pleasurable and New Years memorable! Typically, this time of the year the Haliburton Forest landscape is draped with snow and the lakes have frozen over for the season. However, with this unusual mild weather sweeping through this region the snow has been limited. With the delay of winter we have had to alter our dog sledding to dog carting and snowmobiling has been postponed while AVTing is still active on certain trails. Although the greenery is still present, our wolves do not seem to mind! The wolves are more focused on the provocative behaviour being displayed by the Alpha female, Citka. Citka is demonstrating increased aggression towards the other adult female in the pack, Ember. Some people are unfamiliar with the seasonal ritualized aggression that is inflicted upon females within the pack from the Alpha female during the proestrus cycle. If Citka wants to remain the breeding female she needs to assert her dominance by imposing physical assaults over Ember. Citka is almost 5 years old and is still in prime condition to bear litters. If she does not maintain her leadership, she will be vulnerable to a take over by other younger sexually mature females (since only one female gives birth). In the beginning of December, Citka started initiating dominate posturing over Ember such as ‘bridging’ and ‘chasing’. This behaviour escalated to full blown body contact. Citka would body slam and nip Ember on her hind end. The reason for the biting of the backside is to inflict an open wound, thereby weakening Ember’s chances for possible advances towards the Alpha male, Ebony. Ember’s wounds are superficial at the moment. It seems that the most intensive physical contact has subsided and bluff charging is now being enacted. Courting of the alpha pair is slowing starting to take place. Soon we will see obvious body gestures and vocalizations which signal bonding behaviour to stimulate copulation. Watch for gentle muzzle biting, rubbing of the bodies, mutual grooming and quiet whining sounds. The alpha male will recognize when his mate is coming into estrus by olfactory cues, such as elevated hormones in his partners urine. If she is not sexually receptive she will drive him off by growling and snapping her jaws. The true breeding event for our wolves usually takes place in mid-february. This means it is crucial for the alpha female to have meaningful interactions with the Alpha male within her peak estrus cycle which is usually only 7-9 days. The alpha pair will mate by locking in a copulative tie which can last from 20 minutes to 2 hours. After the initial propagation, the pair may arrange their bodies to face away from each other so that they can defend themselves if needed. Essentially, this copulatory tie serves to ensure the alpha female's pups are the genetic offspring of her mate. After this event, she cannot mate for 24 hours. The male's sperm is nearly 100% guaranteed to reach and fertilize her eggs, securing a 60-63 day gestation period for the female. If contact is breached between the mating pair it could spell disaster for a successful litter in the spring. Ebony has noticed this heightened aggression within Citka and has since avoided socializing with Ember. Other pack members have noticed Ebony’s avoidance towards Ember and have limited contact with her as well. The only wolf that does interact with Ember is Manitou. Mid-december, a rare behaviour was observed. Citka was continuing her antagonizing behaviour by running down the south-facing hill and pinning Ember against the observation deck fencing. Manitou moved in between Citka and Ember, forcing Ebony to restrain him. From that time on Cedar replaced Manitou’s coveted position of a gamma wolf. Manitou was driven off by the pack for several days but has been accepted back for the time being. Post-conflict ‘kiss and make up’ behaviour is more prevalent with male wolves than with females to keep the peace. Overall, the pack is quite active and fitness displays from beta males are becoming more frequent. Smudge is often seen interacting with Citka and Elwood is safeguarding the pups during play sessions. Daily activity patterns of the wolves have been sporadic. When twilight arrives, the wolves are playing and combating throughout the hardwoods. The pups can usually be spotted with the adult wolves but will occasionally be off adventuring throughout the compound. The female pup, Ginger, is smaller than the two males and is often seen attempting to take food away from adult male wolves. Granite is the larger of the two male pups and can usually be recognized by his punky mane and tanned coloured face. He is already showing signs of independence from his siblings and is often cavorting with the adult wolves. Grissom is more timid and apprehensive in nature and is usually seen in the company of his sister. I would like to take a moment now to talk about the interactive Wolf Weekends held at Haliburton Forest throughout the year. These great weekend getaways are specialized for the wolf enthusiast. The programming includes informative discussions and presentations ranging from such topics as wolf biology/ecology, social structure, wolf/human relations and predator/prey interaction. Guest speakers are adding to this fascinating weekend. Time will be spent viewing our resident pack, observing an interpreted feeding and taking a hike into wolf country. As our guest, you will enjoy the comforts of our cozy accommodation and delightful meals served at the ‘Cookhouse’ Restaurant. The weekend is topped off with an evening wolf howl. Ensure to bring a camera for this engaging weekend getaway. The spring Wolf Weekend is taking place this coming May 4th-7th. The fee for this event is $ 300 per person and pre-registration is required. ~Dispelling Myths through Education~ |
| The Haliburton Forest Wolf Pack – April 2007 Ebony is a large silvery dark wolf. When he was younger his coat was very black with gray tints, hence his name. Ebony seemed a passive alpha through the summer and fall, but usually takes firm stand as dominant male wolf of the pack in the breeding season. Ebony is the proud father of the new wolf pup litter and is sometimes seen playing with the boisterous youth and keeping them in line. Smudge is a large white wolf with definitive brown and gray streaks through his coat. Smudge was once a very shy wolf, rarely making appearances near the observation window. He seemed to establish himself as a dominant wolf early this spring and has again become increasingly dominant over other males with the exception of Ebony. There is increasing competition for Ebony’s attention with Elwood. Manitou once was very black but is becoming increasingly silvery gray with age. Manitou is a large wolf with a relatively large head and muzzle. He bears a deep scar on his muzzle from past encounters with Trats or Ebony. Although Manitou showed dominance during the summer and fall of 2005, he has recently become a low ranked wolf within the pack. Citka is a tawny beige wolf of medium build with a slender, narrowed muzzle. She displaced her mother Hali in January of 2005 and assumed the alpha position. Citka will most likely remain the alpha female for some time because the only other female is her surrogate daughter Ember. This is Citka’s second litter and is often seen grooming and comforting her offspring. Cedar is a medium to large tawny beige wolf that looks very similar to his sister. Cedar differs from Citka by the size of his head and breadth of his muzzle. Cedar entered the adult hierarchy last year with a dominant stand. Cedar has fluctuated with his position from a low ranked wolf with limited choice of food to a more opportunist wolf which has benefited him at times. Ember is a small to medium tawny beige wolf that has a cute face – the fur on her face flares out as if styled. Ember is a playful wolf, often enticing other wolves to chase her around. She is also a curious wolf and can be seen around the observation area when other wolves are not around. Ember is cautious of Citka since she is dominating her and usually submits without a fight. Elwood is a large tawny beige wolf that rivals his father for overall height. Elwood is as handsome as Ember is cute. Elwood is a dominant sub-adult who is not afraid to push his weight around. He is often seen interacting with Ebony. However, Smudge has been dominating Elwood is frequently seen taking away his food at feeding time. This has been a complete reversal for Elwood. Granite is the largest of the three pups produced by Citka and Ebony. Granite has a long mane and some times has bad hair days. His coat tends to be more tanned in colour. Granite’s temperament is more out going than his brother Grissom. He is usually interacting more with his older brothers and sisters. Grissom is the smaller male wolf pup. He tends to be more nervous and guarded compared to Granite. He is usually is the company of his sister, Ginger. Grissom’s markings more grey in tone are very similar to Ginger’s. Although Grissom has distinct dark patches under his eyes. Ginger is the smallest of this spring’s litter. She is quite feisty and has been known to start play sessions. Ginger has a narrower face and more white and grizzly grey colour in her coat. She is often seen snuggling with Grissom or chasing after ravens. |
| HALIBURTON FOREST WOLF CENTRE Box 202, R.R. #1, Haliburton, ON. K0M 1S0 www.haliburtonforest.com April 2007 From the viewing room… By Jessica Dunlop Spring is usually fraught with erratic weather conditions, and as I write this update the snow is still flying outside. Nevertheless, our resident wolf pack knows that it is spring since the winter breeding season is now over. The wolves hormones are leveling out and are going back to daily routine of sleeping, playing and exploring. Lots of great behaviour was witnessed this past breeding season by the general public and our staff. Our alpha female, Citka, was protecting her high status by exerting her dominance over other breeding females. Ember got the brunt of this harassment, but is now finding it much easier to obtain food. Citka was seen courting and copulating with Ebony, so the chances of her being pregnant are high. The gestation period for wolves is similar to other canines which is 60-63 days. This period is called ‘Metestrus’, which means that high progesterone levels are maintained even if pregnancy does not occur. This physiological phenomenon occurs in wolves because they are spontaneous ovulators. So, if females are not pregnant they are ‘pseudopregnant’ which means females can show false physical signs of being pregnant. These telltale signs are growth of mammary tissue, loss of belly hair and behavioural changes such as den construction and pup care. An unusual incident occurred with one of the lowest ranked wolves in the pack, Manitou. He was driven out by Ebony and the rest of the pack from the rendezvous site around breeding time. It was observed that alpha pair had scent marked him out of the area. The pups would take turns standing guard at the top of the hill and if Manitou made any attempts to join the group the sentinel pup would charge and the pack would give chase. Since Manitou is grey in colouration he blends amazingly well into the landscape, so all that one could see of him was his faint silhouette in the distance. Eventually, he was allowed back in with the pack. After mating season the most remarkable thing happened, Manitou was once again driven off. It is very unusual for a wolf in captivity not to turn up at a feeding, so when Manitou missed 2 consecutive feedings back to back, this was distressing. We checked the compound by surveying from in between the double fencing…the only problem is that since Manitou is grey he tends to look like a rock. After much deliberation we decided to check the interior grounds, right after that decision Manitou showed up! Other interesting behaviour taking place is the interaction between Elwood (3 year old male) and Smudge (8 year old beta wolf). Smudge has finally realized that Elwood could be a potential threat to his position as high ranked beta male. After mating season Smudge starting attempting to take away Elwood’s food stash. This did not go over well with Elwood and he barred his teeth with his hackles spiked in the air. Unfortunately, Elwood could not hold his ground (even though he is larger). The last few feeding times Smudge has dominated Elwood for food resources, leaving Elwood to sulk away with his tail in between his hind legs. The pups are doing well and are growing extremely large. They are now 11 months old. The only difficulty is still trying to tell them apart! They are very determined at feeding time and it is not abnormal to see them vocalizing by ‘growling’ to protect their food from other wolves. Our wolves can still be heard howling during the day. The alphas will start the howl and most of the wolves will join in. The pups add an interesting element of high pitched whining which if not listened to carefully could fool people to think that it is coyote’s. Change in frequency of howls declines with age, for instance, it drops from an average of about 1,000 Hz at 2 weeks to about 350 Hz by 6-7 months of age. The wolves first swim of the year was March 30th. The sun was hot that afternoon and the staff saw the wolves coming up from the water hole completely drenched. The spring season has officially begun and it won’t be long until pups will be born this coming May! ~Dispelling Myths through Education~ |