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| Wolf Scat |
Yesterday we finally went out and scooting some locations for howling! I have been waiting for this opportunity for a few weeks. I could have went out on my own, but I just feel like I would not have been prepared for what to do. So I waited, patiently, for Adrian to be ready and we went out! Here is some pictures from our scouting! Not pictured: elk crossing sign blinking (meaning elk were nearby), bobcat running across the road, & bear track!
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| Bear Scat |
For the first two hours of scouting we found a lot of wildlife signs. In one area, we found a bobcat track, bear track, and an elk track! This is fairly impressive because it rained the day before. Although the tracks may have held through the rain, it is unlikely. This means within 48 hours all three of those animals made their way through our location. We also got to see quite a few different scats. In my pictures you will see three, a typical wolf scat, which contains hair and a deer hoof (see if you can spot it!), a bear scat, and a wolf scat which indicated a recent kill. This scat is more like a mud pie! Lack of hair and animal parts, indicates that the wolf was eating more of the fleshy part of the animal.
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Wolf Scat, however this is not a typical canid scat.
This indicates the wolf had a recent kill! |
The pack we were near is called the "Ghost Lake Pack," because it lives in a region with a lake called this. We did find signs of them throughout our time, besides the scat. I also have pictures a few wolf tracks! We found quite a bit of them and followed them for more than a half mile. The gravel/sand mix road was not the easiest to track but we could find a few then follow their direction of origin and find a few more. We estimated at least three individuals, one being a pup, due to its smaller prints. We saw this because there were three sets of tracks heading in the same direction. We even got to see where they entered the road and left it.
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| Wolf Track |
When I write this information it sounds like science is precise, however, from my program we learned that science is many times not. Although we say "3 individuals" we will never know for sure. The road isn't the best predictor of the number of individuals because some tire tracks had covered them, there are areas not able to be imprinted by their paws. We also would lose and find the tracks as we went. Wildlife science, especially in the field is always an estimate. We can only guess what these animals were doing and paint a picture in our head. It helps us conceptualize what we cannot see. Although science is informed by these observations, it is still altered by what we can and cannot see.
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| Elk Track |
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| Bobcat Track |
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| Badger Den |
Well after we finished up scouting the area we predicted the pack to be in, we headed home and waiting for sunset. From here we went out howling. I was really nervous, Adrian is so well known and intelligent about wolves and I really wanted to do a good job! He had complimented me for finding some tracks that were only slightly pressed into the gravel! I really love doing this work and I usually am very confident in what I am doing, but doing field work and environmental work (non education based) is an area that I am still developing my confidence. With that, I do feel like every once in a while I need some reassurance. So it made me feel really great that he was impressed by my ability to find tracks. Anyways, we went out howling and I never actually howled to wolves before. I did go out on the howling trip last year with the wolf weekend workshop, but did not howl. Admittedly I had been practicing with my dog, who does howl back!
So what we do is drive about every 1-1.5 miles and stop, get out quietly, mark a way point on our GPS, then do three sets of howling (quiet to loud) with minute intervals between each set. So we did our first three stops and nothing, which was disappointing because we knew that the tracks were near that location, although as we know animals move, so seeing tracks a few hours ago doesn't mean the animals are near by at the current time. I was gaining talent in howling like a wolf, being able to go louder and for a bit longer each time. Adrian and I traded off who would start the howl cycles. I had not given up hope as we continued along though, because we still had many miles to howl at! But on our fourth stop, after our third howl in the cycle, we heard it. We heard the voices of 2-3 individuals respond to our call. We just sat there and listened and waited, trying tried to count how many individuals or pups we could hear. So we decided to drive back towards where we heard them to call again and this time Adrian wanted me to do most of the calling so I could have them respond to me instead of him. So I was very excited and ready to howl and get a response to my voice. The excitement brought bad luck, as my voice began cracking on my first loud howl. As Adrian did the third howl and he got a response. Here we heard 2 individuals and at least one pup! We did this one more time to narrow down their location. Adrian predicted they were less than 1 miles away, which seems to me, so close, yet so far. It was the most connected I have ever felt to the predator. As elusive as it is, I will probably never see one in the wild, so I know this is the closest I will get to having a relationship with the wolf. Hearing them communicate with us made me so happy. This was truly a special experience that I will never forget. I can't wait to do this a few more times throughout the summer!
Part of my philosophy of education is putting individuals in an experience that requires them to be involved with the world around them. This was that type of experience, to have a wolf respond and interact with you in the wild (safely) is something that I believe can build an acceptance and allure to learning about the wolf and working towards it conservation. It also was a great time for this to happen, because I am doing 5 programs within the next week which I will talk about wolves. I finally have an experience that I feel like truly connected me to the species and will make an impact on my programs and my passion for this species.
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