1055 1-2 Jan. 9 to 61 4-9 6.7-15.0 13-25 2.8-3.3 Mar. 14 1057 1-13 Jan. 24 to 51 5-7 7.3-10.2 25-33 4.7-5.0 Feb. 28 1059 5 Jan. 25 to 180 10-13 14.0-18.0 75 5.8-7.5 Mar. 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary 22 Nov. 27 to 468 35-48 [16]9.8-13.4 145-181 [17]3.8-4.1 Apr. 3 Before 142 7-9 [18]15.7-20.3 39-56 5.1-5.6 Feb. 1 After 326 28-39 8.4-11.6 106-125 3.2-3.8 Jan. 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES: [14] Kill rate per wolf. [15] Figures for this animal are so low because she was basically a scavenger. [16] Average kill rate per wolf for all radiotagged wolves and their associates, derived by dividing total number of wolf-days by total number of kills. [17] Average number of days that each wolf spent at each kill, derived by dividing total number of wolf-days spent feeding by the total number of kills. [18] This figure probably is the closest to the actual kill rate during most winters. Therefore it is probable that the kill rate per wolf for members of the pack of five is much closer to the usual average winter kill rate. It can still be considered higher than the usual winter rate, however, because this pack also was leaving some of its kills partly uneaten. A reasonable approximation of the average kill rate during most winters would be the rate found for our radiotagged wolves before February 1, because the relations among the wolves, the deer, and the snow during that period were not unlike those of most winters. The average kill rate per wolf before February 1 was estimated at one deer per 15.7 to 20.3 days. After this period, the rate increased to about one deer per 8.4 to 11.6 days, and an estimated 50 percent of the available food was left uneaten (see Mech _et al._, page 51). This implies that the kill rate during February and March was about twice as high as usual. On this basis, the usual kill rate would be estimated at one deer per 16.8 to 23.2 days, which checks well with the rate found before February (one deer per 15.7 to 20.3 days). Thus we feel that an estimated kill rate of about one deer per 18 days per wolf is a close approximation of the average kill rate for most winters. This is about 50 percent less than the kill rate of one deer per 4 days estimated by Stenlund (1955) for two packs of three wolves (one deer per 12 days per wolf). However, it compares favorably with the actual kill rate of one deer per wolf per 17.6 days found for a pack of eight wolves in Ontario.[19]