Wolves on the Hunt: The Behavior of Wolves Hunting Wild Prey

218 Pages·2015·5.2 MB·English

by  L. David Mech

Wolves
on the
Hunt

Wolves
on the
Hunt
The Behavior of Wolves
Hunting Wild Prey
L. David Mech,
Douglas W. Smith, and
Daniel R. MacNulty
With Supplementary Online Video by Robert K. Landis
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
L. David Mech is a senior research scientist with the US Geological The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
Survey and an adjunct professor in the Department of Fisheries, The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
Wildlife, and Conservation Biology and Department of Ecology, © 2015 by University of Chicago
Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. Douglas W. All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Smith is currently project leader for the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Res- Printed in the United States of America
toration Project in Yellowstone National Park. Daniel R. MacNulty
is assistant professor of wildlife ecology at Utah State University. 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5
Robert K. Landis is a freelance videographer for Yellowstone
National Park and has produced several documentaries for National ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 25514- 9 (cloth)
Geographic and others. ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 25528- 6 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226255286.001.0001
A Note on Accompanying Videos by Robert K. Landis
Videos of wolf- prey interactions, by Robert K. Landis, are available
to readers of the print book at the following URL and with these
password credentials:
URL: www.press.uchicago.edu/sites/wolves
User name: wolves
Password: hunt2015
Readers of the ebook will find the videos embedded in the text.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mech, L. David, author.
Wolves on the hunt : the behavior of wolves hunting wild prey
/ L. David Mech, Douglas W. Smith, and Daniel R. MacNulty with
supplementary online video by Robert K. Landis.
pages ; cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
“Videos of wolf-prey interactions, by Robert K. Landis, are avail-
able to readers of the print book at the following URL www.press
.uchicago.edu/sites/wolves . . . with password credentials” — CIP data.
ISBN 978-0-226-25514-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-226-
25528-6 (e-book) 1. Wolves—Behavior. 2. Wolves—Food. 3. Predation
(Biology). I. Smith, Douglas W., 1960– author. II. MacNulty, Dan-
iel R. (Daniel Robert), author. III. Title.
QL737.C22M39982 2015
599.77—dc23
2014038338
o This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48– 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
We dedicate this book to Thomas J. “Tom” Meier
and Kevin Honness, outstanding colleagues, friends,
outdoorsmen, and wildlife biologists. Tom worked
with wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho,
Montana, and Alaska, and many times recorded
wolves hunting. He topped off his career as a
National Park Service biologist in Denali National
Park and Preserve from 1986 to 2012. Kevin made
many observations of wolf- prey interactions as a
volunteer for the Yellowstone Wolf Project from
1997 to 1998 and led the reintroduction of swift
foxes to portions of South Dakota for the Turner
Endangered Species Fund from 1998 to 2008. We
thank both of these fine workers posthumously
for contributing observations to this book.

Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: The Wolf as a Killing Machine 1
1 White- Tailed Deer 10
2 Moose 28
3 Caribou 46
4 Elk 63
5 Mountain Sheep and Goats 91
6 Bison 108
7 Musk Oxen 129
8 Miscellaneous Prey 144
9 Conclusion 159
Appendix: List of Scientific Names of Birds and
Mammals Mentioned 165
Literature Cited 167
Author Index 179 Subject Index 183
Plates follow page 82
A Note on Accompanying Videos
by Robert K. Landis
Videos of wolf- prey interactions, by Robert K. Landis, are available
to readers of the print book at the following URL and with these
password credentials:
URL: www.press.uchicago.edu/sites/wolves
User name: wolves
Password: hunt2015
Readers of the ebook will find the videos embedded in the text.
vii

Foreword
The focus of this book, the prey- killing behavior of So it has been for the authors of this book, who gained
a large carnivore, provides rich material for us to ponder. insight into the hunting behavior of wolves one observa-
Reported here are real-w orld accounts of gray wolves in- tion at a time, decade after decade, with progress com-
teracting with their prey—t racking them down, testing ing at unanticipated moments, when the stars (wolves
them, and trying to kill them. There is certainly drama and their prey) were all aligned. The authors are well
here, and one can sense the violence as well as a timeless qualified, each having had extraordinary opportunities
natural beauty in the behavior of predator and prey. Occa- to make detailed observations of wild wolves hunting
sionally the wolves succeeded, and a lucky observer would and killing most of the prey species that support wolves
gain a life- long memory. Whether an encounter is a suc- in North America. Dave Mech has made a concerted ef-
cess or a failure, of course, depends on one’s point of view. fort, for over 55 years, to observe wild wolves hunting as
There is one case of failed predation I will probably many different prey species as possible. No one else has
remember for the rest of my life. It was spectacular not such a diverse basis for understanding what wolves do in
because it involved wolves or other large carnivores, and the wild. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone
certainly not because of the location, a busy intersection opened up a major window on wolf- elk interaction, as
in the town where I live. It was memorable because I’d wolves were dropped into the largest elk herd in North
never before seen these species in a predator-p rey strug- America. Doug Smith was there when wolves were
gle, and the outcome was so unexpected. A short- tailed brought back, and he is still there over 20 years later,
weasel had almost caught up with a red squirrel on the carefully documenting the ebb and flow of wolf packs and
thick trunk of an isolated old elm tree. The squirrel was their effect on elk population dynamics. Dan MacNulty
racing for its life round and round the tree trunk, with was able to figure out the challenging logistics of camp-
the weasel just inches behind it. I stood transfixed by ing out in snow caves in Yellowstone’s remote Pelican
this roadside scene, while cars by the dozen streamed Valley among the bison, thereby discovering fundamen-
by, drivers oblivious to the drama. After what seemed tal aspects of what it means for wolves to subsist almost
like minutes, but was probably just a fraction of one, entirely on this most difficult of prey. The experiences of
the squirrel scampered up the tree trunk and out onto a these biologists may never be repeated by anyone. Mech’s
branch. Surely, I thought, the weasel will simply trap the record would be difficult to equal, and the opportunities
squirrel out on the end of that limb. However, by then presented to coauthors Smith and MacNulty, coming on
the weasel was exhausted, and when the squirrel went up the heels of wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone, were
the tree the weasel curtailed the attack and went down. unprecedented and may not return.
I’d seen many cases where moose seemed to wear out The first few observations recorded for wolves and a
wolves in chases that went for miles, but I didn’t expect specific prey species are usually very informative, sug-
that to happen when predator and prey were so similar gesting many features that may be similar to wolves and
in size and ability. From that one observation I learned other prey. In my own case, having watched hundreds
that squirrels, as well as moose, have a life- saving anti- of instances of wolves hunting moose and maybe one to
predator strategy. two dozen actual kills, one more observation of wolves
ix