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Tristan - Born in 1998 Tristan is the only male Wolf Hollow puppy we kept (his two brothers were donated to another facility in Knoxville, Tennessee). Tristan has grown to be among the biggest wolves in the pack. Well, at least the tallest. His is probably right around 90 pounds and is definitely his father Martin's son. Well, except for the teeth, Martin had an under bite. Tristan is a goof, thinks he's a lap puppy and also loves to rub on people, but in his case he sometimes pushes them right over. Despite his size, Tristan is also quite agile and loves climbing trees. He is one of only a few wolves who have shown much talent for this.
Though he was brought here to add new genes to the pack, Tristan has never mated, well, until he finally mated with his sister, Erin, which resulted in the four pups born in 2004. Tristan has since had a vasectomy so there will be no more inbred pups.
Around Memorial Day, 2001, Tristan finally matured. Though a late bloomer, he found that rank was something important to a young male wolf and he stopped submitting to Miska, then the beta male of the pack. The two got into a fight. Though it was a minor one with hardly any injuries, Tristan prevailed and has since become a well established pack beta. There seems little chance that he will ever lose his position to Miska for he has become quite good at making sure Miska never gets any 'ideas' about regaining confidence.
In turn, Seneca, the alpha male, realized that Tristan was in fact more than just a pack clown and he made quite sure that Tristan did not get any ideas about being alpha! At least not while Seneca was in charge...
In the spring of 2003, Tristan got his promotion. The pack was split with Tristan, Chetan and Erin forming the "Happy Pack" and Seneca, Marion and Miska forming the "Alpha Pack". Everybody seems much more relaxed and 'happier' with this new arrangement and so far Tristan has made a fine alpha. Then, in August 2004, Tristan's pack increased to 7 with the addition of his four pups.
Ayla Ayla was born on April 12th, we surmise, because her mother, Erin, went into her den and refused to come out, except very briefly for about four days. During that time, if we saw Erin out she was getting a drink, picking up some take-home food, being fed a "hot lunch" by Tristan or Chetan, or she was repelling human invaders to the island who were hoping to hear puppies squeaking. (Staff only went onto the island once before it was time to take the pups, because it was plain that Erin did not want us there. Tristan and Chetan wanted to go into the den too and Erin would not allow them access either.) Either Tristan or Chetan is Ayla's father; because of her date of birth, Tristan is a more probable candidate for biological fatherhood than Chetan. Ayla's name is from the Jean Auel prehistorical novel series starting with Clan of the Cave Bear.
Together with her sister and two brothers Ayla was taken from the den on April 22 by staff member Dana Drenzek By then Ayla's eyes were already open. She was also first to start suckling on human fingers. She readily made the transition from Erin's milk to formula from a bottle, and is always ready to eat even if she has just eaten.
As the pups' personalities emerged, puppy moms Peggy and Pam both agreed that Ayla's personality is strong. She is competitive. Pam says that Ayla is all for equal opportunity as long as Ayla gets to be first for everything, including the puppy mothers' attention. Ayla reacted to Pam's voice on April 24 by pricking up her ears.
Her weight, when taken from the den on April 22 was about two pounds and on April 28 it had increased to about three pounds
Kailani, a Hawaiian word meaning "sea and sky," was born on April 12th, we think, when her mother Erin went into her den on the island in our Turtle Lake Enclosure, and refused to come out except for the most pressing needs, such as water, a little food, relieving herself, and threatening the knees of inquisitive staff who approached the den in hopes of hearing puppy squeaks. Staff only tried this once because we could tell Erin did not want us there. Tristan and Chetan repeatedly went to the den entrance but were never allowed in either. Erin displayed no species' prejudice when it came to the privacy of her den. Kailani's father is either Tristan or Chetan, but because of the date of birth, there is a better chance that Tristan sired the litter.
Unlike her more active and competitive sister, Kailani is less demanding. She likes to sleep. In fact, she is a "napmeister," and her sleeping position of choice is on her back with her paws sticking up in the air. One of the hazards of sleeping on your back is, that if you roll over near the edge of the mattress, you may tumble off. Kailani rolled off the mattress and landed on her brother Ruedi, and then rolled off him onto the floor. She was well cushioned and did not mind the experience. (Ruedi was not happy about being used as a landing pad.) She likes to be cuddled and falling asleep while being cuddled allows her to combine two pleasures successfully.
Kailani often sleeps apart from her littermates (perhaps because she is interrupted less often while practicing the Art of the Nap when she sleeps alone). Once when she was resting on her back, mouth open and turning her head from side to side, her brother Ruedi walked across her. While moving her head from side to side, she felt Ruedi's muzzle and took hold of it briefly.
Currently she holds the title of Puppy Most Closely Resembling a Square as she is nearly as wide as she is long. Her weight when taken from the den, by staff member Dana Drenzek, on April 22, was about two pounds; by April 28 she was up to three and a half pounds.
Renki was named for Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, a well-known German ethologist and friend of Dr. Klinghammer, little Renki was taken, by staff member Dana Drenzek, from the den where he was born on April 12. When Dana handed him out of the den, his eyes were already open. His mother is Erin, and his father is either Tristan or Chetan. Because of the date of birth we think that it is more likely that Tristan sired the litter. The birth date is a well educated guess. Erin went into the den on April 12, and only came out to drink, get food, relieve herself and repel would be well wishers whom she obviously regarded as invaders. Erin displayed no species prejudice and the only difference she made between her mates, Tris and Chetan, and the human staff who approached the den, was that Tris and Chetan were allowed a little closer. Humans were in peril of having Erin attached by her teeth to their knees, and Tristan once found Erin clamped on his nose like a large furry nose ring when he overstepped his bounds.
On his first day away from his mother, he seemed very aware of his surroundings. While engaged in exploratory crawling on the mattress, Renki came to its edge. Apparently detecting the eight inch (estimated) drop off there, Renki backed away from the edge. Then he approached the edge again. The drop off was still there. He backed off again. Puppy mother Pam first noticed him responding to her voice, by approaching when he heard it on April 25th, at the age of fourteen days.
Though he is not the napmeister his sister Kailani is, Renki likes his comforts, preferring nice comfy towels, or even sheets of newspaper, to cold slate floor. He likes to fall asleep sucking on his human foster moms' fingers. He likes to suck them for a really long time. He also likes to sleep on human feet. He likes to be scratched and his scratch reflexes are in fine working order.
He has a really big head and weighed nearly three pounds when taken from his mother. One week later he weighed a solid three and a half pounds. He has stopped waiting for the drop off at the edge of the mattress to go away and has learned bi-directional clambering instead.
Ruedi is named for Rudolph Schenkel, who published the first wolf ethogram (a catalog of wolf body language and facial expression which can be loosely called a wolf-to-human dictionary). He was born on April 12th, we think, when his mother Erin went into her den on the island in our Turtle Lake Enclosure and refused to come out except for the most pressing needs. This is an educated guess. None of us, whether human or lupine, were allowed in the den, though Tris and Chetan were vouchsafed permission to go a little closer, and permitted even look in the doorway. Erin was ready to use her teeth on tactless well- wishers of either species. The humans backed off hastily, but Tristan once got to briefly experience what Erin would be like as a nose ring when he over stepped his bounds. Meanwhile, Ruedi's father is either Tristan or Chetan, but because of the date of birth, there is a better chance that Tristan sired the litter.
His human foster parents describe Ruedi as possessed of a very strong personality. In spite of this he goes limp when gently rocked with an up and down motion while resting lengthwise along a human forearm (the human holds him while doing this so he won't slip off). This rocking, or gentle bouncing, mimics the motion he would experience if his mother carried him in her mouth. He quiets right down when he feels this.
Though his eyes were shut when staff member Dana Drenzek removed him from his mother's den, Ruedi still has several firsts to his name. Ruedi's current claim to fame is the title of First Howler in His Litter. He howled at twelve days of age. He was also the first one to show rudimentary "lavatory behavior" by moving away from the sleeping area to urinate and then returning to bed. He was also the first to clamp down hard enough on a puppy mom's finger to break skin with a tiny little blood dot on April 29. He was also the first pup to decide he was full, and when he was offered more on April 28th, he refused a second helping of formula.
Currently Ruedi's personality seems to express itself in clear indications of what he does not like, such as puppies rolling off the mattress and landing on top of him. At first he was not eager to start suckling on human fingers, though he was ready to lick them. He made up for his reluctance by feeding enthusiastically from the bottle when it was introduced, and he insists on the easy flow nipple, which delivers the formula quickly. He growls at his littermates if they wake him up.
At only around two weeks old, Ruedi was eager to greet new humans coming into the nursery. If would be nice if he kept this trait into adulthood, but of course it is too soon to tell.
His weight, when taken from the den by staff member Dana Drenzek was a healthy two and three quarters pounds and by April 29 he weighed three and a quarter pounds.
Wotan
was born April 18th, 2005 to Erin and Chetan. Wotan is an adventurous young male who enjoys turning his "winning smile" on people to see if they will adore him. He has mastered the art of tilting his head "just so" to charm people out of attention or treats. In just the right light, Wotan resembles his grandfather, Socrates. You can definitely see a lot of his father in him as well. As he matured, Wotan has acquired political aspirations. Not only has he started to become the more dominant brother with Wolfgang, he has also successfully asserted himself over Ruedi and is even beginning to push Renki's buttons. If successful, Wotan will become the pack's new beta, and who knows, maybe someday even alpha! "Wotan for Alpha" has become a common catch phrase with staff as this young wolf 'campaigns' for a high ranking position in the pack.
Wolfgang
was born April 18th, 2005 to Erin and Chetan. Wolfgang is studying under Sensei Renki to learn the art of pushing people's "on" button. He hasn't gotten Renki's persistence down yet but he appears to be observing and trying out the ideas. They don't always stick, though, and he enjoys meeting new people and occasionally sitting on their foot.
Wolfgang is also beginning to push pack buttons as well. Both Renki and especially Ruedi get into spectacular jaw sparring matches with this upstart of a wolf.
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