April 26 - May 1, 2023
Researcher's Notes
Early Summer (Month 1)
We lost Callan to heatstroke. I'm so hurt and angry about it; the pack needed those pups to survive and after losing who-knows-how-many to coyotes so soon after they were born . . . the rest make it to adulthood only to lose another to the heat of summer? It feels so unfair. Little Everett is taking it the worst, I think. The two hunted and ate together for a couple weeks before Callan died, and without him Everett was left alone on beta team. I did see him make an attempt at hunting alone but when he managed to kill a pheasant he didn't bother to eat it fresh. He's always been a little outcast and undoubtedly feeling very alone now. From what I can tell he's given up hunting and has taken to wandering the pack's territory alone.
Mid Summer (Month 2)
I've seen signs of another pack currently to the west of Greyfeather's territory. So far the two seem to be coexisting--if they're even aware of each other at all. The Greyfeather pack is so small right now they've been maintaining quite a small territory and, I imagine, keeping most of their focus on finding food. Regardless, it's nice to see more wolves in the area and I hope the two packs remain peaceful with each other.
I finally caught a glimpse of the latest litter of pups; they don't linger outside the den for long, and I suspect they've only just weaned. So far I've only seen two pups, a black and a grey, but not long enough to get a good look at them. I hope there are more, but given the pack's luck lately, I should perhaps assume these are the only two and hope instead that both of them survive to adulthood and well beyond.
The pack is struggling to hunt these past few weeks and I can't tell whether the team isn't working well together or they're just having a run of bad luck. Jing is an experienced stalker, and young Adaline is the only green member on the team--they are even hunting in an area with more plentiful game. Could it be the new location that is throwing them off? Truly, so far as I can tell, no one member seems to be responsible for the difficulties, but they are only bringing down prey every couple weeks. They did get lucky recently with a large moose cow, but the entire carcass was devoured in no time and the way some of the smaller pack members continue to gnaw on bones tells me it wasn't enough to make up for their weeks of bad luck.
Late Summer (Month 3)
I can confirm now that there are two pups in the latest litter. The grey is a male I've nambed Finn who bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, alpha Bedro. The black pup is a jet colored female I named Ginger; she has her father's red markings but also a patch of white across her shoulders which looks remarkably like feathers--a fitting mark for her pack's namesake!
They have been exploring outside the den more, and one of the alphas always remains at the rendezvous, along with elder Sandor, to watch after them while the rest of the pack hunts. They are growing well and Mira has been making sure they eat their fill despite the pack still showing signs of hunger.
Hunting has actually been going much better these past few weeks but despite the successful hunts, there has not been enough food for the pack to regain the weight they lost early in the season. At least half the pack, and elder Sandor especially, are looking noticeably thinner. I worry how they'll get along as the colder months roll in.
Thank you so much!
