October 11 - 16, 2023
Researcher's Notes
Early Summer (Month 1)
There is very exciting news this month. Levon, the last pack member showing signs of ear mites at the end of spring, now appears to be completely clear of mites and I see no other signs of them within the pack. With newborn pups, it's such a relief to see the pests gone and all pack members able to hunt again!
And, of course, the pups! They weaned a couple weeks ago and have been exploring outside the den when their mother Swaran goes to hunt with the pack. She was injured at the beginning of the season, I could only guess how that happened as I rarely saw her leave the den while the pups were nursing, but seems to be reveling in her freedom to run around more and appears to be doing quite well despite the wound.
There are four total pups, three males and a female, and I've named them as follows: Samira, the steele colored female with brown eyes and cream unders; Kunal, an ashen male with haunting pale eyes and subtle white markings; Amar, a gray male with cream unders like his sister and pale eyes like his brother; and Raj, a gravel colored male with his mother's smokey eyes.
Samira seems to be the most confident and outgoing of the pups, in addition to currently being the largest of them. Raj is most certainly the smallest and doesn't seem to be growing at the pace of his other siblings, though he certainly has enough energy to keep up with them! Kunal seems to be the more reserved of the bunch, though far from shy, and Amar is probably the litter's troublemaker. He is a bit more prone to playing rough or outright aggression, though his siblings don't seem to mind his antics, yet.
Mid Summer (Month 2)
Swaran recovered from her wound early this month, though honestly she acted as though she weren't hurt at all. Hunting has gone a bit better so far this season although the large elk and moose they were used to seem to be a rarity now.
As soon as the pups were able enough to travel the pack moved north into the taiga where they have been hunting and I believe I've discovered why--a rival pack has expanded their territory within the coniferous and the Greyfeathers seem to have abandoned that area to the rivals completely. Although the rival pack is a fair deal smaller than the Greyfeathers (only a breeding pair and their adult daughter), I suspect our pack abandoned the territory to make sure their pups weren't caught in any kind of crossfire. Although the taiga is a more difficult place to live and hunt, our pack has done it before and I don't expect any issues.
Late Summer (Month 3)
This last month of summer has been a quiet one. There was a brief recurrence of influenza but it passed so quickly it almost isn't worth mentioning (thank goodness!). The pups continue to grow and learn from their family. Levon, the eldest member of the pack, has been spending quite a lot of time with the pups and I expect they'll learn a lot from a wolf with so much experience!
With the pups more mobile and growing, Swaran has been taking on a more dominant role among the family members. She primarily shows aggression at feeding time--making sure the pups get a share--and it's nothing the pack has issue with so far. As I suspected though, the presence of the pups seems to be pushing her into more of an alpha role. The dynamics are still a little strange, but Dakarai does appear to be taking a step back the more Swaran steps up. I've taken the liberty of officially identifying the pack's alphas as Itai and Swaran; I belief that change is inevitable--but I do hope it continues to be a smooth transition.
