January started out cold and snowy. The Wolves were lucky enough to enjoy some snow in the first and second week. We didn’t get much but enough to make them happy. I took advantage of both snow days to take some pictures of them for this year’s adoptions. Breeding season is pretty peaceful since our females are not in the same enclosure. Woha went into proestrus in December. She has spent a lot of time this month digging dens all over the enclosure. Unfortunately, when it rains they fill up with water. We know she will not need them, but she sure thinks she does. Ohoyo usually starts her proestrus then as well but this year we went through the entire month of December and most of January before she started. I thought her advanced age had affected her cycle. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact she was so late. Since Chito, our songstress and Alpha passed away, the Wolves have been pretty quiet vocally. Normally during breeding season they howl several times a night. Not this year. I was in there a few days ago, when Niko started to howl. He is our soprano and I could tell he was having a hard time getting the sound out. I think I will have to encourage them to sing on a regular basis or their voices will become weak. I believe that the reasons they are howling less are twofold. First, Chito was the Wolf who started the chorus howls. She loved to sing. She also often sang alone. Secondly, howling makes them vulnerable. When there were more Wolves, they felt more secure in announcing their presence. Every time we heard coyotes, the Wolves would respond with a howl. Now, they are just really quiet. Below you will find a video of a Wolf duet. The soprano is Niko Akni and the tenor, Woha.
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