Wolf Hollw Pups: Weeks V & VI

by Michael M. Sweeney

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The months of the Gregorian calender correlate with the Earth's annual cycle through the constellations, and the names of these months are drawn from various cultures throughout history. While one etymological route of the month of June is that its title is drawn from the Roman goddess Juno, the poet Ovid attributes the months naming to the Latin word iuniores, which translates to “younger ones.”

In nature, wolves (as well as many other animals) give birth to their litters shortly after the Spring Equinox, and by the Summer Solstice of June, these puppies experience something of a self-realization as they approach physical capability. It is the month of June that sees the new generation, or the “younger ones,” accept their eventual inheritance of the wild.

On June 12, keeping true with primal law, the five wolf puppies of Wolf Hollow were introduced to life outside of their indoor den, as well as their surrogate parents Weeble and Nina. Joni Soffron had played the part of temporary matriarch for five tiresome weeks, tending to the transplanted pups in every manner a nurturing lupine mother would to her own. While the puppies weren't immediately placed in the main enclosure, they were moved to a smaller enclosure connected to it, and thus their life beneath the open sky began.

Argus meeting his surrogate mother Nina for the first time. Photograph taken by Michael M. Sweeney.
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The morning of the introduction was cold and wet, and though it was mid June, the summer hadn't quite revealed itself to Ipswich. Argus, Lineaa, Grendel, Niveah, and Arrow were brought to the small chain link enclosure and set down to explore their new (but still temporary) home. The puppies were elated with the room, as to this point they had never had to space to run in stride. But before long this elation turned to curiosity; a curiosity blooming from both their own inquisitiveness as well as their instinctual understandings.

In a moment that this writer will never forget, Joni Soffron carried Argus to the corner of the puppy enclosure that faces the main enclosure, and knelt to the ground presenting the puppy. Nina slowly approached the fence and lowered her head elegantly to peer into the enclosure, and in doing so, took in the scene of Argus staring back.

Now two weeks removed from this initial meeting, Nina barely leaves the chain-link door that connects the main enclosure to the puppies'. She has already met them face to face, and Joni Soffron lets her in to interact with them three to four times per day. Weeble is regularly offered the opportunity to go in with Nina, and though he regularly checks on the pups, he's very much so playing the part of grumpy old man and keeping his distance for the time being.

Two of the pups wrestling for dominance the day before moving outside. Photograph taken by Wolf Hollow volunteer Jessica Novak.
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“Nina's been an amazing mom, the puppies love her to death;” said Joni Soffron, “but she needs to start disciplining them though, or they're going to be real brats. They hang off of her tail and bite her face, but she takes it all in stride.”

The pups are now more than acclimated to their new lifestyle, and have joyfully accepted Nina as their mother. Weeble will be a firm patriarch once the puppies are moved in, and will surely provide the discipline that Nina is lacking in her newfound love of being a mother. Even their diet has changed, with the puppy kibble they were on being slowly switched to raw meat.

Joni and son Zee Soffron hope to move the puppies into the main enclosure permanently in mid to late July, finally creating a pack solidarity that has been absent from Wolf Hollow for a number of years. Until then, the puppies will move through the month of the “younger ones,” awaiting for July to approach so they may further realize themselves as solitary wolves, and together as a pack.

Grendel in his new but temporary home. Photograph taken by Michael M. Sweeney.
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It is through this tradition, a tradition handed down in genetic code through their DNA, that the lives of the five new wolves follow the Earth's passing through the constellations. For five weeks, the pups lived something of a hectic life, and to asssure their proper rearing something of a temporary disconnect from the pulse of the wild world was facilitated. But with these delicate weeks now having passed, the puppies have in this month of iuniores tapped back into this pulse. Their lives now flow with what the ancient Romans called sub specie aeternitatis - "beneath the gaze of eternity."

It is beneath this gaze that we will follow our lupine friends each step of the way, watching them grow from puppies to wolves with the stars overhead.

Wolves & Mythology: Odin, Freki, and Geri

by Jessica Novak

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With stories like Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs being commonly told to young children, one has to question: where did it all go wrong for the wolf in written and spoken word? The art of story telling had long begun before these elementary classics, and within these ancient stories the wolf has a different picture to paint than a hungry beast wanting a grandma or pig for lunch.

Wolves are commonly seen as symbol a of beauty, but also commonly represent fear. However, the wolf also exceeds these simple expectations in the mythologies of Odin, the Norse god whose titles/relations include battle, intelligence and inspiration. Considered to be one of the wisest and strongest Norse deities, Odin is well known for having bothe ravens and wolves at his side.

Huginn, the raven who was of thought, and Muninn, that of memory, were accompanied by Freki and Geri, his two wolves. Seen as a god of wisdom, Odin was also witnessed as a god a battle, and encouraged his men to fight like wolves. This was due to Odin's admiration of wolves, who fought together as a team with strength and intellect.

In nature, when wolves fight they usually emit no a single sound, which is called a "silent fight." This is because all energy is poured into the physicality of the wolf. This does not mean that Odin called onto his men to fight like mindless beasts, but to fight with the intelligence and prowess of the wolf.

The wolf is a formidable opponent, but a wolf's strength does not rely on it's sheer body size (which can reach 150+ lbs for gray wolves depending on geographical location/prey consumption) and oversized canine fangs. The power that wolves possess lies in cooperation, the ability to problem solve and to work as a team.

Odin, Freki, and Geri. By Carl Emil Doepler, 1882

Wolves live and survive in family units known as packs. These packs can range in number but average from 5-6 wolves. The alpha male and female are the pack's leaders (in comparison to Odin, this would be like a troop of warriors under the command of Odin himself or another, higher ranked warrior) while the lower ranks of the pack (beta, omega) are the offspring of that alpha pair.

Wolves mature at a faster pace (even if compared to a Norse warrior) and must choose to stay with their family or leave and begin a pack on their own. When these wolves leave, known as disperses (and commonly called lone wolves) they can either create a new pack in a new territory by attracting a mate, or, in some cases, live life in solitude. However, it is very important to note that with wolves as it is with warriors, strength in numbers gives a greater chance of success when surviving.

Is is coincidence that the Norse god of wisdom, intelligence and inspiration had such great respect for the wolf?

The warriors who fought with Odin were called berserkirs, but do not mistake this for the word "berserk." Berserkir translates to “bear skin” as the warriors often wore wolf or bear skins to fight like the wild animals.

Odin's symbol is that of either the noble eagle, or the noble wolf.

Wolf Hollw Pups: Week IV

by Michael M. Sweeney
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All photos taken by author.

In 1954, author William Golding released the now famous Lord of the Flies. The story chronicles a group of British schoolboys who are marooned on a tropical island after their plane crashes, with nobody over the age of thirteen surviving the accident. Throughout the story, Golding verbally illustrates the self-governance of youth, spinning a tale of preteen boys dictating their own collective morality and regulating their own society.

As the story unfolds, the boys gradually shed their civilized skins, and any notions of behavioral law instilled in them by adults is almost entirely lost. Nearing the end of the novel, the boys have completely designed their own society; they are the propagators of their own rule and law, they are their own judge and jury deciding what is right and what is wrong.

However, in the final chapter of the novel, the group has fractured into two tribes and the blindness of youth has allowed chaos to descend upon the island. Just as the climax of this dominance-establishing in-fighting between the boys is reached, they very abruptly encounter a British naval officer on the beach who had spotted fires on the island from his ship. Immediately the boys are reduced back into children, submissively falling to their knees before the gaze of this adult stranger, a symbolic gesture of the false and impermanent nature of their hierarchy.

Argus, the leading candidate for alpha-male
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This coming Sunday, the five puppies at Wolf Hollow will soon learn that their weeks of self-governance is only temporary, and that the ancient rule and law of nature will soon dictate every moment of their lives. Just as the schoolboys in Lord of the Flies realized their hierarchical inferiority and falsehood once in the presence of an adult, the pups will for the first time have the powerful yellow eyes of two adult alpha wolves fixated upon them.

Argus, Lineaa, Grendel, Niveah, and Arrow will all come to realize just how temporary their little society in the puppy nest of Wolf Hollow actually is. While this first meeting is only preliminary, and will be conducted with a fence between them and their soon-to-be surrogate parents, Weeble and Nina will both be revealing to the puppies the same arcane message their own parents once showed them:

“Hey kids, we know you've been having a lot of fun deciding who's king and queen amongst each other, but don't get too used to it. You may believe you've sorted out who's in charge and calling the shots, but mommy and daddy are going to show you pretty damn quick why humility is a very important trait for a puppy to possess... so you just keep on living in your little fantasy world, and we'll be waiting...”

LEFT: Two of the Wolf Hollow pups enjoying some milk and kibble. | RIGHT: Wolf Hollow volunteer Jessica Novak holding Grendel (Lion King, anyone?).
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 It likely won't take very long for Weeble and Nina to enforce upon our little boys and girls the rule and law of the pack, and it is fully expected that the delusional bravado that the puppies see in themselves will quickly be exposed as a very immature sense of superiority. Argus and Lineaa have been strutting around and beating their chests for the past two weeks, but they'll soon be in for a rude awakening when they're lying on their backs and offering up their necks in submissive disbelief.

With this procedure of introducing the five puppies to their surrogate parents, the coming weeks promise to be a very compelling time at Wolf Hollow. Weeble and Nina have been witnessed exhibiting rearing behaviors for weeks now, as their brains are autogenetically reorganizing their thought processes for parenting. Simultaneously, the puppies have been learning how to conduct themselves amongst one another through their playful power struggles.

Now these separate paths being traveled will meet in a harmonious confluence of eons-old wild law, and our wolves will together follow in the timeless paw prints of their ancestors. Before our human eyes, through a perspective that civilization has blinded with a detachment from nature, Weeble and Nina, along with the five puppies, in the flames of unaltered primal DNA, will begin to forge their pack.

LEFT: Niveah enjoying some lunch. | RIGHT: Argus protecting Wolf Hollow owner Joni Soffron.
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What comes next for our wolves will be decided on Sunday. So make sure to tune in next week to see a video of this introduction, and don't forget to friend Wolf Hollow on Facebook to keep up with announcements! On behalf of the staff at the Hollow, we're very grateful everyone is joining us during this wonderful time. Until next week...

Wolf Hollw Pups: Week III

by Michael M. Sweeney
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Methodically, nature has gracefully and gradually activated a number of instincts in all of our puppies, as well as awoken the drive to nurture in the minds of our adult wolves. Amazingly, even though they haven't actually met the puppies at this stage of their infancy, our resident alphas – Weeble and Nina – have begun revealing glimpses of rearing behaviors.

These primal instincts, which have been discussed in our previous two articles, have been triggered in the minds of our alphas by the scent of the puppies alone. The parental dispositions of human beings are molded by culture, and with society being so impermanent these rules and traditions evolve artificially fast when compared to the wild order of Earth. 

Adversely, the parental dispositions of wolves are almost a constant relative to this natural order. While the methods used by a wolf pack to rear puppies must abide by the rule and law of their land, the foundation of these lupine families has remained unchanged since primordial times, ages before the modern construct of human families was even an idea.

LEFT: Weeble, Wolf Hollows ten year old alpha male. RIGHT: Nina, Wolf Hollow's six year old alpha female.
Photography by Wolf Hollow volunteer Jessica Novak.

Wolf Hollow's resident alpha male, Weeble, has participated in the introduction of puppies into a pack as both a youth and an elder. The ten year old alpha was obtained from the Oatland Island Wildlife Center in Savannah, Georgia only days after he was born, and was introduced to the current pack shortly before he turned six weeks old. At the time of his pack integration, the resident alpha was Denali, a massive boy with a hulking black frame.

Four years after Weeble made Wolf Hollow his home, Nina and Osa were donated right from the den by Wolf Park in Battleground, Indiana. Denali was still alpha male at this time, but just as Native Americans believed that the entire tribe should raise children, Weeble was very directly involved in raising the two new female puppies, one of which would become alpha female after he ascended to head of the pack. 

While Nina may not have ever reared puppies before, the aforementioned dormant instincts indicate that she will likely be a good, assertive surrogate mother to the five. Joni Soffron has observed Nina salivating and clicking her front teeth when she smells the puppies on her clothing, which is how wolves groom the fur of their young. To put into context how incomprehensibly in touch wolves are with their instinctual roots compared to us – imagine, if you will, that each time you smelled a baby on someone, you began brushing the air with a hairbrush involuntarily. 

Lineaa, the most dominant puppy of the new litter at Wolf Hollow.
Photography by Wolf Hollow volunteer Jessica Novak.

 

After all of these amazing instances of genetic memory unfolding before our eyes at Wolf Hollow, we are preparing to soon introduce the five puppies to their surrogate parents. Wolves, as mentioned in earlier articles, will accept any puppies into their pack as long as they are younger than two months old. Lineaa, Argus, Niveah, Grendel, and Arrow are now one month of age, and the processes of pack integration will be ensuing shortly.

“I believe that Weeble is going to make it very, very clear to the males that he is in charge,” elaborated Joni Soffron when asked about her expectations for the integration. None of the males have displayed particularly dominant personalities, so it's expected that Weeble's pack positioning will likely remain intact until he is either unable to lead and removes himself, or until he passes away. But while the future hierarchy of our male wolves me be fairly defined, the future of our females is shrouded in speculative uncertainty.

“Lineaa is going to be a handful for Nina,” explains Joni Soffron when asked about observations made during her intimate involvement in the early days of the pups' lives.

Lineaa has exhibited a very organic and innate dominance amongst her siblings, over both her lone sister as well as her three brothers. While this infantile assertiveness may be displayed through harmless banter with her siblings now, it could potentially grow - with a mix of help from Lineaa's genetics and her personal will – to her teeth at Nina's throat.

“Last week when I bathed them, they squirmed,” explained Joni Soffron. “This week, they growl. I have to laugh.”

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Thanks for reading! Make sure to friend us on Facebook, and check out the Wolf Hollow website for details on visiting. We will be introducing a new series of articles on wolves next week, so keep up with our announcements!

Wolf Hollow Pups: Week II

by Michael Sweeney

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At the moment of birth, a wolf puppy already possess an innate understanding of the pack dynamic, drawing from an inherited ancestral knowledge locked away in their genes. In only their first days of life they will begin establishing their place in the pack, asserting themselves over their siblings to fulfill the primal drive inherent in each of their lupine minds.

The five new wolf puppies at Wolf Hollow are no exception to this ancient social structure, and in only their third week of life are making it clear who will be first to feed In this developing pack. Unlike humans, who have culturally-relative family hierarchies that are very flexible and subjective, wolves hold true to their wild traditions and perpetuate the rule and law of the pack very strictly. 

These wild traditions of lupine social structure greatly predate our own human family structures, spanning as far back as 10 millions years. It is believed that the most likely candidate for the common ancestor of modern Gray Wolves is the Hare-Eating Wolf, a small canine-like species that existed in the southern half of North America until the early Pleistocene period. 

LEFT: Nina, Wolf Hollow's resident alpha female. RIGHT: Weeble, Wolf Hollow's resident alpha male.
Photographs taken by WH volunteer Lori Gordon.

This ten million year old hierarchy is rapidly unfolding before us at Wolf Hollow, and the five new pups are truly displaying the creative beauty of nature. As one pup exhibits dominance over the others, and as others offer submission to those emerging as higher on the totem pole, there is a general sense of both acceptance and understanding among the five. 

 

Lineaa has thus far displayed the most dominance among her siblings, and according to Joni Soffron is the likeliest candidate to emerge as the alpha-female. Lineaa's disposition and actions reflect a natural sense of self-confidence and self-sufficiency, and with each passing day the hierarchal gap between her and the other four pups is becoming clearer and more defined.

An indication of this assertiveness has been occurring regularly during feedings, which now at three weeks of age has gone from every three hours to every five and a half to six hours. While it may not be as novel an image as an alpha getting first taste of a kill after a hunt, Lineaa has been knocking her brothers and sisters off of the bottle while being fed, asserting that she should hold the right as first to feed.

Lineaa's siblings have exhibited very different traits during this vital period of hierarchal establishment, which at this point is still in its early stages, but is no less offering glimpses and indications of what the future holds for the puppies. Lineaa's sister, Niveah, has contrarily emerged as a very sweet girl with no signs of a dominant personality. While Lineaa is pushing her brothers and sisters around during feeding, Niveah is more likely to be found in the lap of a human companion seeking warmth and affection.

Grendel and the yet to be named male runt of the litter have also indicated that they will likely not ascend higher than a beta in the pack hierarchy. Both of them have emerged as very sweet and loving boys, but have remained largely uninterested in asserting themselves in the establishment of the pack. Grendel has become the loner of the group, and can usually be found tending to his own while his siblings play, and the male runt is more interested in sleeping and staying warm. 

 

The remaining male, Argus, is the only puppy showing any signs of challenging Lineaa in her displays of dominance. While these challenges are only a very recent occurrence, they're no less evident and create some uncertainty about the future positioning of the two. Joni Soffron has witnessed Argus laying across Lineaa and dropping his dead weight on her, though thus far she has just shrugged him off, and it has not yet appeared to greatly alter their pack rankings. 

Joni Soffron feeding Lineaa, the likeliest candidate to become the alpha female of the five puppies.

 

While the picture painted here is an intriguing one, it's far from being complete. Just like little lights blinking on across a circuit board, one by one the puppies instincts are being activated, cultivating new behaviors and molding their individual senses of self. It is how each of these individuals come together as a collective that will determine the order of the pack.

If you want to see the early stages of a wolf puppies life, make sure to check out our website for more information on visiting, and don't forget to friend us on Facebook for regular updates and news! These first days of the puppies life have beautifully illuminated the ancient rule of the wild, humbling us humans with its intricacies and complexities. Wolves know their place in the order of things, just as the late Rudyard Kipling wrote:

Now this is the law of the jungle --

As old and as true as the sky;

and the wolf that shall keep it may prosper,

but the wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk

the Law runneth forward and back --

for the strength of the pack is the wolf,

and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

Wolf Hollow Pups: Week I

by Michael M. Sweeney
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During the dead hours of the morning on May 12th, while the rest of Ipswich was fast asleep, Wolf Hollow quietly welcomed home Joni Soffron and her team of volunteers. There was no homecoming party, no grand public welcome after their long trek to Indiana and back; only a quiet thankfulness among all involved for what this morning stood for.

Joni and her team returned from Wolf Creek in Indiana with five wolf pups, which were born only days earlier on April 29th. Still tiny enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the pups were settled into where they would be nurtured for the coming weeks, not yet knowing that right outside stood the fields they would soon reign over as a solitary pack.

The litter born at Wolf Creek was a count of seven, though one died shortly after birth, and one male remained with his mother Loki Souix in Indiana. The girls of the group have been named Nevaeh and Lineah, and the boys Argus and Grendel, with one male remaining unnamed for the sake of a naming contest to raise money.

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LEFT: Weeble in the field the pups be sharing with him. | RIGHT: Zee Soffron holding a puppy during their first public presentation.

At this point you might ask – how do we go about integrating five wolf pups into our already established pack ruled by Weeble and Nina? They don't even know each other, won't they just gobble up the pups and call it a day? Oh the horror of throwing five little babies to the wolves, right?

Wrong.

Wolves are creatures of instinct, their actions and disposition are drawn from an ancient well of genetic memory deep inside of them. No matter how big the wolf, no matter how red of tooth and claw they may be, wolves will unconditionally accept pups younger than two months as their own. That funny term we call "puppy breath" actually triggers their rearing instincts, and just as if they were born right here in Ipswich, they will be accepted and properly raised by Weeble and Nina.

Less than a week into their lives at Wolf Hollow, the pups have not actually met their soon-to-be parents. At this stage of their infancy, they would still be breast feeding off of their mother, and thus must be nurtured appropriately before meeting Weeble and Nina. Until they reach six weeks of age, they are on a mother's diet of fresh goats milk, half-and-half cream, cottage cheese, and gelatin, which is for the healthy development of their vision.

Once six weeks of age has been reached, the puppies will move to solid food, and then begin the fast process of meeting Weeble and Nina. Until then, it is of the utmost importance that they're properly nurtured and vigilantly observed; and it is wonderful to say that so far the observations have been absolutely fascinating.

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Volunteers and visitors during the first wolf puppy presentation on May 14th.

"Even at this stage you can tell, with decent accuracy, who will be the dominant pups," commented Zee Soffron, the son of Wolf Hollow founder, Paul Soffron. "Leneah is clearly the assertive female, whereas Grendel has secluded himself from the others."

Even though the pups are essentially deaf and blind at this stage of their development, they can already identify family members by scent recognition. Zee and Joni Soffron have noticed that when they are in the nest with other people, the puppies have already begun to naturally gravitate toward them. Amazingly, at only two weeks old, these little pups are establishing their pack dynamic and simultaneously forming bonds with their human caretakers.

The pups are now beginning their first full week at Wolf Hollow, and it promises to be an intriguing time for wolf enthusiasts everywhere. Each Monday we will be posting to this blog with an update of the pups' progress, complete with high resolution photographs and expert analysis of the rearing process. This blog will offer a rare, intimate look into lives of our five new pups, sharing everything from their first introductions to Weeble and Nina, to who emerges as alphas as they come of age.

Next Monday we will feature new and updated pictures of the puppies to show their speed of growth, as well as photographs and insight into their soon-to-be parents. Until then, make sure to friend request us on Facebook to keep updated on blog posts and announcements, and check out the Wolf Hollow website for information and directions.

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