Date: March 6, 1996
To: Journey North
From: Janice M. Hood, International
Wolf Center, Ely, Minnesota
Dear Students,
Greetings from the International Wolf Center. As you've discovered while studying caribou, wolves are their main predators. We thought you might be interested in learning more about wolves. We believe that the more you learn about the real wolf - puppy fur, snowshoe paws, sharp teeth, and all - the better decisions you can make in support of the wolf's survival.
Depending on where they live, wolves live mainly on the meat from such animals as caribou, deer, moose, elk or bison. They also eat beavers, rabbits and even mice. Wolves do not eat humans. In fact, wolves are very shy around people and try to avoid them in the wild.
Because they usually hunt for large animals, the wolves work together to catch their prey. They usually catch animals that are sick, injured, very old or very young, because they are easier to catch. Wolves will eat a healthy, strong animal if they can catch it. Wolves need an average of three to ten pounds of meat each day. Hunting is not always successful, so their bodies are designed to feast (eat a lot) or famine (eat nothing). Wolves can eat as much as 22 pounds of meat at a time and then may not eat again for many days.
In northern Minnesota, wolves don't eat caribou. Instead, white-tailed deer and moose make up most of their diet. As is typical of wolves in March in Minnesota, our collared wolves have been focusing on finding enough food to survive during the winter. Their movements tend to follow those of the deer and moose.
The temperatures this morning were well below zero (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) without considering any wind-chill factors, so it is definitely still winter here. In addition, our total snowfall for this winter season so far is up to 92.3 inches. These factors make it very difficult on the deer and moose populations, since it takes so much energy to move through these drifts of snow in order to find foliage for food. This winter has been very hard on the wildlife of northern Minnesota.
If you would like to track the travels of the wolves being studies by the National Biological Service in the Superior National Forest of northern Minnesota, visit our Web page on the Internet by clicking here . If you don't have access to the World Wide Web and would like to request more information about wolves, send an e-mail message to me at wolfinfo@wolf.org.
"At last I caught what I was listening for - the long-drawn quavering howl
from over the hills, a sound as wild and indigenous to the north as the
muskegs or the northern lights. That was wilderness music, something as
free and untamed as there is on this earth."
- Sigurd F. Olson, The Singing Wilderness
 |
|
|---|
