13 | June | 2012 | scottseyephotos

Joseph – the Omega Wolf

Joseph is the last ranking wolf in the pack even though he is another gorgeous animal as can be seen in this photo.

Poor Joseph

As I said yesterday, I was at the Center during feeding time – it turns out that is not the same as an actual feeding. Let me try and explain the feeding time process. At the appointed hour, a door to a small room is opened for the wolves to enter. The key is that ALL of the wolves must enter for the door to be closed and the food to be placed out in the wolves normal environment. The food is normally elk meat and it is put in areas of the enclosure for the wolves to “hunt” and find. Sometimes the small creek that runs through their environment is stocked with fish for the wolves to catch. On the evening that I was there, Akela (the Alpha with the attitude) would not allow poor Joseph to enter the room. She was making the decision for the pack that they were not going to eat that night. After Joseph made numerous attempts to get into the room, it was obvious that “the attitude” was not going to let that happen and the room was closed to the wolves. It was really interesting then to watch as Joseph, tail between his legs, did everything he could think of to make up with the boss. There was the licking that I highlighted in the Challenge photo last week, attempts at playing, and then this gentle pawing of Akela as if to say “ah come-on….”.