Ecological Studies of the Timber Wolf in Northeastern MinnesotaMech, L. David
Science
Ecological Studies of the Timber Wolf in Northeastern Minnesota
Mech, L. David
Deer -- Minnesota; Gray wolf -- Behavior -- Minnesota; Gray wolf -- Ecology -- Minnesota
"Got visual sighting on 1059 with 3 other wolves at 11:55
about a mile west of Omaday Lake and they were running along
fairly fast on a trail. When we circled a second time we saw
2 wolves curled up sleeping on a knoll ahead (south) of the
running pack. We then realized the running wolves were on
the trail of the sleeping wolves and when the pack of 4 with
'red' in the lead was about 50 yards from the knoll the 2
sleeping wolves jumped up and charged away in the opposite
direction full tilt, and split and went in 2 directions.
When the pack reached the knoll they started off on the
trail of the wolf that headed N.E. and then changed and went
after the one that headed S.W. The reddish wolf was in the
lead and really picked up the pace. Although the reddish
wolf seemed to gain on the chased one 3 or 4 times, the pack
as a whole couldn't catch up, even though the single was
breaking trail. The reddish wolf, after gaining, always
stopped and waited for the others or went back to find them.
They chased this wolf for 2-1/2 to 3 miles, all the way down
to Highway 1 at a point 3.0 miles from the lab [Kawishiwi
Field Station, U.S. Forest Service]. There was a dense
patch, 10-15 acres, of woods just before Highway 1 and we
lost sight of the chased wolf for a while and also the 4
when they entered it, but shortly we found that the chased
one had somehow doubled back and was heading N.E. again. The
pack was apparently confused for at one point 3 of them were
wandering back and forth on Highway 1, apparently looking
for the trail of the chased wolf. Two of these paralleled
the Highway for a couple hundred yards and then stopped on
top of a hill, apparently resting. During this chase both
the single wolf and the pack chased up deer from their route
of travel and didn't seem to pay much attention to them,
even though some were really floundering in the deep snow.
We finally stopped watching all of this at 1:30 p.m. and
proceeded on our rounds."
On February 21 we also saw a single wolf running and looking behind
several times on Ojibway Lake. Even when it saw a fisherman on the lake
within 1/8 mile, it continued across to the opposite shore seeming most
intent on avoiding whatever was on its trail. Presumably it had also
been chased by a pack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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