Moving through wolf territory

[Traveling62]

Knowing most mammals are lazy s***s

Not lazy; increasing survival probability through energy conservation.

Wolves can acclimate to a certain level of human disturbance, but are much less adaptable than other large mammals such as black bears, coyotes, deer and even mountain lions. Road density and concentrated human activity are at the top of the list of criteria determining whether or not a wolf pack will maintain a territory. Unsuitable 'habitat' (towns, neighborhoods, even highway corridors, etc.) may exist within a wolf territory, but will be rarely frequented in relation to other areas of the territory. Their presence will decrease in certain areas as human activity increases, i.e. building more houses, roads, etc.

Disturbing them excessively during winter months can negatively effect them as can den disturbance during rearing.

Although an apex predator, they are vulnerable to our presence, and their adaptability is relatively limited in comparison to the mammals mentioned above.

Having said all that, I don't think what you're doing will have much of an affect on them. Enjoy yourself, I think it's great you're taking an interest in them. They are amazing animals. I have a bit of experience with them in both the wild and sanctuary settings.

 

[T Y L E R]

Thanks for the input traveling62; much appreciated

I've always referred to deer as 'lazy' as well, but I recognize the energy conservation reality of the term. If I'm in an unknown area I've always followed the deer trails in or out for a few decades now. They always seem to find the easiest lines .. though they tend to meander, unlike the wolf.

I've got a question for you:

How do I begin to try and map out the packs general territory?

I live on the Northern shore of Lake Superior and less than 25 miles from the US border. I am on the shore of a modest inland lake approx 1x2 miles.

On a few occasions (the only times I have actually seen the wolves) I have peered out a window upstairs to see a lone wolf (different wolf each time) sitting in the middle of the lake. The first let out some low howling, and the second did not that I heard. Each time they wandered off across the lake to the north. Along that north shore I have seen some excellent fresh tracks and scat which had been rolled in (by a dog? or perhaps a wolf scent rolling?) .

Each time I saw the wolf on the lake it was approximately noon.

Based on this data can you derive any ideas on territory?

For instance, if we know when a wolf begins its day, and we know how far they move a day looking for food etc can we establish how far the animal might have traveled before it hit my lake? Ex: Awake by 5, on the road by 7 .. 5 kmh trot = (5km/h x5 hrs) 25 kms from lake centre.

The first time I saw the wolf he seemed pensive as though he didn't know whether he wanted to move north or south. He sat and howled, had a whizz, and rolled around on the snow. Then he eventually moved off NE, to gain access to the area north of the lake but avoiding the cliffs.

Deer are quite abundant this year, and it makes me wonder if there are actually 2 packs which find my lake as the geographical outer limits to their individual territories. Perhaps the lone wolves on the lake are reaching out to their familial ties which whom they ran with only a year ago.

Do you happen to know 'how' a wolf moves each day in search of food? Is it a linear approach? Or does he meander?


Thanks for any help you can contribute 62.

Cheers,


TY

 

[T Y L E R]

Update

How 'curious' are wolves in the wild, and how much energy will they expend entertaining that curiosity?


Update: I got an email from my wife today when I was at work. She had decided to go up and clear our upper deck of snow. This is the deck that has a staircase going up into the woods .. with a gate at the top. She noticed tracks coming from well into the bush, and down my snowshoe trail .. rather than jump the gate the wolf bounded down the snow covered granite rock hill a foot beside our stairs and once on the ground cut onto our interlocking brick for 5 feet before bounding back onto the deep snow instead of just following the interlock down the drive and onto the road.


So it would seem a lone wolf followed me back home, within 12 hrs of my hiking that trail to check on the cam. And come to think of it he followed directly along my trail, so it is my hope that he did so from an hours hike away because then he's going to have been captured on the cam


Traveling62 do you understand what it means that the wolf took the time to follow me back home .. to my den?


Cheers,

TY


PS: DAMN huge claws on those fresh prints

 

[cruiserpilot]

I used to survey along the Alaska Hwy back in the early 80's. We'd do a fair amount of walking in the winter away from any civilization. There was a pack that lived in the valley where we were surveying the new highway R/W. There were many times that we were circled throughout the day as we came in and out on the same trail. We never saw them, just their tracks on ours. I believe it was just a natural curiousity, they are highly intelligent and don't tend to waste energy for no reason. Just keep watching your backtrail.

 

[T Y L E R]

I'll try to attach a few images. One is of our house for an overview, and the other is from this morning as I ran down the stairs to get to work showing the tracks bounding down the hill .. (cruiser content in the drive *G* ) The tracks on from up in the bush, and come down beside the upper/back deck over the granite you see on the left of the house.

 

[wob]

nice pad

 

[Sno bored]

The wolf is stalking you and is going to eat you.

 

[T Y L E R]

nice pad

Spent 7 yrs in a condo, then bought this country home last year. Suits us well. Bit of an acclimation coming from the city though.

The wolf is stalking you and is going to eat you.

Yeah, with 42 teeth and a bite strength of around 4500 PSI I may as well just hike the back 40 drizzled in steak sauce. •L•




TY

 

[Traveling62]

I've got a question for you:

How do I begin to try and map out the packs general territory?

TY

First check with your local game warden, wildlife biologist, etc. and find out if they are doing any population monitoring, radio collaring or have data on regional packs. *They may be able to provide you with loose territory boundaries for your area. *I did some work with WI DNR on population and territories were basically determined through radio collared tracking and field signs and sightings. *Boundaries were dynamic and often changed year to year (based on data). *In heavily wooded habitat, packs tend to be smaller in size as do the territories if prey is abundant.

If you start journaling when and where you are seeing particular wolves, you should start to see patterns. *Use distinguishable physical characteristics to help identify animals. *Naming them actually will help you by anchoring particular animals in your mind which will help identify them with quick glances or mixed in with other wolves. *It's very much the same as being able to identify your wife walking away from you on a busy street at a distance with a quick glance. *

Solitary howling can be an individual trying to reunite with or locate the pack but can also be in relation to breeding which typically is during Feb and March depending on location. *The situation in which the wolf howled and rolled on the ground - either leaving scent or rolling in another wolf's scent - could be associated with breeding. *Only speculation. *Could also be border announcement.

Wolves are almost constantly on the move looking for prey, especially during winter months. *Home body behavior is more associated during rearing months. *There could be different packs in your area, but territories usually have a bit of a 'buffer' zone between them and rarely overlap. *With the exception of dispersing wolves, the boundaries are for the most part respected (in times of low stress). *The wolves you're seeing on the lake are possibly from the same pack. *

There are just too many variables to accurately answer the many questions you have. *You will be surprised how much you will learn about them through observation, tracking and deliberate notes. *The only thing you may want to be conscious of is that during *March and April, typically, when they are starting to den, you want to disturb them as little as possible. *Tracking them for longer distances can stress them and they may abandon den sites, which you want to avoid.

Hope this is helpful. Are you somewhere between Thunder Bay and Cloud Bay?

 

[T Y L E R]

Hope this is helpful. Are you somewhere between Thunder Bay and Cloud Bay?

Excellent, insightful input .Thanks I think I'll pull out one of my field notebooks and keep logs on them, and give them codes or names which can be mapped as waypoints without cluttering the screen up.

And yeah, in the sticks



TY

 

[T Y L E R]

Just keep watching your backtrail.

I tend to do that once in a while but usually because of an noise cue, not by routine which perhaps it should be. I was speaking with a hunter today while picking up supplies and he took out a pad to illustrate what he said would be happening behind me if they were coming up on my 6.

He drew a dotted line to represent my trail, and said one wolf will take up the rear directly on my trail but quite a ways behind me. Then 2 sentinels would be sent out perhaps 30 yards apart to zigzag out off the trail laterally and then loop back in and across in a sort of search pattern.


I had to smile as he described this because a few hikes ago I saw some fresh tracks about 1500' from my back door that did almost that. But the zigzagging was much, much tighter so I think they were just 3 wolves trotting through the bush looking for their own way versus the 'energy conserving walk in the other guys tracks' movement style.



TY

 

[Traveling62]

Yes, TYLER, they are curious. I would speculate that the wolf was satisfying its curiosity by following you; intrigued by your presence. It was probably also not a stranger to your property.

Cruiser pilot mentioned circling, which is a normal wolf behavior. It's done for a few reason, curiosity being one of them.

 

[T Y L E R]

Yes, TYLER, they are curious. I would speculate that the wolf was satisfying its curiosity by following you; intrigued by your presence. It was probably also not a stranger to your property.

Cruiser pilot mentioned circling, which is a normal wolf behavior. It's done for a few reason, curiosity being one of them.

So does this curiosity carry with it any element of malevolence? Where might low impact hiking cross a line into being interpreted as threat, outside of denning months?

I think I misunderstood 'circling'. I took it to mean being surrounded at a distance, whereas now it sounds as though it's like a loose spiralling wolf path that keeps at bay but continuously observes, moving with the observed but in a non-linear track with time.

Thats really interesting. I'm going to have to try mapping that out when I see more than one group of tracks .. or for that matter when I see any fresh tracks. I keep thinking I'll come across a recent kill, but so far nadda.



TY

 

[T Y L E R]

Well this is a first since moving here over a year ago - there have been 2 groups of wolves howling tonight back and forth for several hrs since I came home from work (and before says my wife). There is a small group 1-3 to my south almost where I suspect the den to be, and then a larger group to the north.

Once one group calls, the other matches pitch and answers almost instantly. The larger group though is calling near constantly, and have been doing so for hours! I'm not sure whats going on. I get that howling is the social glue for them, but I don't know why they have chosen to begin this 'tonight', and why they are doing so across the lake at each other without let up.


I keep hoping they'll migrate towards each other and meet on the lake, or at least the larger group will come across it in search of the other group.

If I'd EVER heard them before tonight it would be no big deal, but this is unique to my experiences here on the lake.



TY

 

[Traveling62]

So does this curiosity carry with it any element of malevolence? Where might low impact hiking cross a line into being interpreted as threat, outside of denning months?

I think I misunderstood 'circling'. I took it to mean being surrounded at a distance, whereas now it sounds as though it's like a loose spiralling wolf path that keeps at bay but continuously observes, moving with the observed but in a non-linear track with time.

Thats really interesting. I'm going to have to try mapping that out when I see more than one group of tracks .. or for that matter when I see any fresh tracks. I keep thinking I'll come across a recent kill, but so far nadda.



TY

I don't think there is any malevolence in their actual curiosity, however, it's important to remember that all 'arousal', whether it is curious excitement, sexual (mating) excitement or playful excitement, is border line aggression. The triggers that push an animal across that line can be specific to that individual, although there are some generic triggers.

Wolves do form a kill circle when taking down prey in which each wolf maintains two specific distances. Safe distance from prey and equal distance from other wolves. This occurs without specific communication between the pack members which is a new thesis and counter to the thought that they are coordinating this process through communication. I happen to subscribe to the theory that the process is intrinsic and non-communicated. The other circling is associated with observation, pattern scenting and observing their own back track. Often times you may come across sets of tracks crossing your trail at varying intervals and think they are different wolves but may be the same wolf looping around you.

 

[Traveling62]

Well this is a first since moving here over a year ago - there have been 2 groups of wolves howling tonight back and forth for several hrs since I came home from work (and before says my wife). There is a small group 1-3 to my south almost where I suspect the den to be, and then a larger group to the north.

Once one group calls, the other matches pitch and answers almost instantly. The larger group though is calling near constantly, and have been doing so for hours! I'm not sure whats going on. I get that howling is the social glue for them, but I don't know why they have chosen to begin this 'tonight', and why they are doing so across the lake at each other without let up.


I keep hoping they'll migrate towards each other and meet on the lake, or at least the larger group will come across it in search of the other group.

If I'd EVER heard them before tonight it would be no big deal, but this is unique to my experiences here on the lake.



TY

Interesting...I suppose I would venture a guess that you may have some territory demarcation on your lake. Maybe a new pack has moved in or boundaries are being 're-drawn'? Sounds like some fun stuff going on in your neighborhood! Hope you enjoyed the night song.....

Forgot to answer your question about low impact hiking. You should be in the position of not being viewed as a threat or as prey. Not being considered a threat does not mean they shouldn't have a healthy fear or tentativeness regarding humans. Threat - meaning something against which they feel the need to protect or defend themselves.

Observation, education and adventure should be on your list, but making friends should not....

 

[Jomama]

Observation, education and adventure should be on your list, but making friends should not....

The guy was crawling into bear dens... Its a ego trip, and borderline harassing imo...

 

[Traveling62]

The guy was crawling into bear dens... Its a ego trip, and borderline harassing imo...

I was unaware....if this is indeed the case, I certainly don't condone that kind of interaction or intrusion by untrained people for the sake of both the wildlife and persons involved.

Wolves will often abandon dens with only slight pressure and are sensitive of intrusion both prior to birthing and obviously afterward. This can be detrimental to the well being and/or survival of the pups. I hope respect for the wolves, den site and 'pack' space would be considered a top priority and satisfying ones ego would be at the bottom or even fail to make the list.

.02

 

[T Y L E R]

I used to live in the city. In the core of the city. 500 yards from my condo was an area the city was trying to develop as a business park. A few business had settled in including Environment Canada. It's amazing what you will find in such a small area of bush. I suppose it was because just across the HWY which bordered it's western edge, ran miles of woods. Not a vast tract, but a narrow band that ran west out of town. Perhaps this is where the odd bear came from. A few made the trip across the HWY and into the park, and on one summer day while out photographing I came across a 'den' along the edge of the business park. It lay under some balsam firs and approximately 100' off a 45 mph expressway. It seemed an odd place for a bear den. In the opposite direction was the main business park road. The bear did seem to do some digging out that summer, but I never imagined a black bear would actually den the winter in such close proximity to man, and his highways. At one point that summer I did slide down into the den.

I'm not sure where the word 'ego' comes into that action. It wasn't calculated, and perhaps shortsighted but I didn't expect the bear to follow through and spend the winter. Plenty of dens North, West, and south of the city. Why den 100' from 2 roadways? The city just about mowed it under when they ran an exit road from the business park to the expressway which came 25' from that 'den'.


Jomama, if your apprehension is that I'm going to crawl into a wolf den out here, or trample their den area, rest easy and put aside this tirade, it's not going to happen. I'm out here to listen, observe and study. If I want a close look at something I have celestron noble 8x42's, a nikon D700 with telephoto lenses, and of course the cam.

I'm not interested in pushing the wolves away, as I have a vested interest (distant observation) that they hang around generation, after generation.

I'm combining what I learn here, with online resources, and speaking with trappers, hunters, and eventually I'll reach out to researchers at the university.

What I'm consciously not doing is mentioning any of this to the folks in the area. A lot of them hunt and in speaking to most hunters, one alarming fact becomes clear - they enjoy killing. Mention wolves, and they go off about how evil they are, how they should be shot, how they're a huge threat to man, and livestock, and then they go on to the coyotes .. then jump on the 'lets kill all the bloody foxes' bandwagon. I want to slap 'em in the side of the head and say WTF man?? If I do engage someone in conversation about wolves, I never tell them what area I live in. There are many packs in the area but I'm not interested in anyone taking an interest in my back yard and these wolves.

-----------

62, I suspected the lake was a boundary. Can't verify it but with the various sightings in the middle of the lake, the scat and scent rolling evidence and now the two groups howling I have to wonder if this is in fact the case.

Do you know how far away the mating pair will den from the rest of the pack? It's my understanding that they will want some privacy while they den but I'm not sure if they den 100' from the pack, or 1 mile. Could I have been hearing the pack to the north the other night calling over to see how the newly weds were doing to the south?

With the howl-barks being fairly short bursts (sub 2 second) does that say anything about the exchange? What about the fact that the large group seemed to be calling incessantly?

*googling*

Ok, I just found this :

Wolf howls are generally indistinguishable from those of large dogs.[117] Male wolves give voice through an octave, passing to a deep bass with a stress on "O", while females produce a modulated nasal baritone with stress on "U". Pups almost never howl, while yearling wolves produce howls ending in a series of dog-like yelps.[118] Howls used for calling pack mates to a kill are long, smooth sounds similar to the beginning of the cry of a horned owl. When pursuing prey, they emit a higher pitched howl, vibrating on two notes. When closing in on their prey, they emit a combination of a short bark and a howl.[117] When howling together, wolves harmonize rather than chorus on the same note, thus creating the illusion of there being more wolves than there actually are.[115] Lone wolves typically avoid howling in areas where other packs are present.[119] Wolves do not respond to howls in rainy weather and when satiated.[118]

To my ear it sounded like a bark-howl, so it seems likely that what I was hearing that night was a pack closing in on their prey.

I'm still unsure what the couple voices I was hearing on the south side of the lake were.

What interaction would this have been if the majority of a pack were hunting on the north?



Cheers,


TY

 

[T Y L E R]

Here is an image of the tracks I found leading to the back gate on the upper deck. They were approx. 1000' from the house. Shortly afterwards they seemed to loop around and back onto my track. It became difficult to track because he looped around like this and eventually I lost him. Not really sure where if actually came 'from'.

And a few images from the cam. It's getting some nice movies of frisky deer. Image quality is really nice, but I'm always going to have to resize and post as .gifs so they are under the size limit here unless I go with an image host. Raw images are approx. 3200x1800. The cam captures an image and then immediately starts 30 seconds of video.

Theres some fugly mugs in dem woods ..



TY