Part 6

R. A. Rausch. Personal correspondence to L. D. Mech, 1967.

The largest pack seen in our study area included 13 members, and there apparently were at least two such packs. Although larger packs than this have been reported, any group containing more than 8 to 10 members is unusually large (Mech 1970).

Wolf sociology is a complex subject and is still not well understood, so the following detailed observations of the associations between our radiotagged wolves and others are given. Associations are defined as relationships in which two or more wolves relate in a close, positive manner.

As mentioned earlier, 1051 may or may not have been associated with other wolves when he was captured. However, although this animal was observed 55 times throughout winter and spring, only twice was he seen associating with another wolf. Probably the same individual was involved each time, because the location was about the same (the vicinity of the juncture of Aitkin, Carlton, and St. Louis Counties).

The first occasion was on April 3. Wolf 1051 in the previous week had moved 46 miles straight line distance from the northeast. He was then observed lying peacefully within 15 feet of another wolf near a freshly killed deer. The very proximity of the two animals implied a positive relationship. On April 7, 10 and 14, 1051 was seen 1 mile, 10 miles, and 8 miles from the kill and was alone each time.

However, on April 17, 1051 was back in the general vicinity of the kill, and he and another wolf were resting on an open hillside about 100 feet from each other. As we descended for a closer look, the smaller animal arose and headed to the larger, presumably 1051 because he had not been disturbed by the aircraft. The larger wolf did not arise for several seconds, but eventually followed the other into the woods. No tail raising or other expressive posturing was seen in either wolf. One week later 1051 was 26 miles northwest of the kill traveling alone.

Wolf 1053 was never seen less than 80 yards from another wolf, and there was no evidence that she ever associated with a conspecific. Even when she was seen 80 yards from the other wolf, both were resting, and when the strange wolf left, 1053 made no attempt to accompany or follow it.

No. 1055 apparently had been traveling with another wolf when caught on January 5, and tracks showed that the individual had remained near her until we arrived to handle her. Tracks found on January 7 and 10 suggested that 1055 was with another animal, but that animal was not seen during any of the six times 1055 was observed through February 1. However, from February 5 to 19, 1055 was with another wolf on eight of the 12 times she was seen. The two animals were observed resting, traveling, hunting, and feeding together. On February 20, and thereafter, 1055 was alone all 14 times she was seen.

It is possible that 1055's associate was killed between February 19 and 20. About March 6, a 63-pound male wolf pup was found dead (by Mr. Charles Wick, USDA Forest Service) within about 50 feet of a highway and less than a mile from where 1055 and her associate were seen on February 19. Because of the snow conditions, it was judged that the wolf had been killed (probably by an automobile) sometime in February.

Wolf 1057, whose foot froze during capture, was a member of a pack of 10 to 13 wolves, and was seen with the pack on January 13 and 18. After that she was usually found alone, although on at least five occasions she was with one or more wolves:

No. of Period observations Associations

Jan. 13 1 10 other wolves Jan. 14-17 1 None Jan. 18 1 10 or 11 other wolves Jan. 19-29 2 None Jan. 30 1 1 other wolf Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 2 None Feb. 3-4 2 2 other wolves Feb. 5 1 1 other wolf Feb. 6-13 6 None Feb. 14 1 3 other wolves Feb. 15-22 5 None Feb. 23 1 10 to 13 other wolves Feb. 24 to Apr. 24 6 None

February 23 she was with the pack at a kill in her usual area, and although the pack left that night, 1057 remained near the kill the next day. Presumably this animal would have traveled with pack if she could have.

No. 1059 was part of a pack that included three to five members (fig. 26). From January 25, the first time she was observed after release, through April 2, the animal was seen 19 times with two other wolves, eight times with at least three others, and eight times with four others. She was never seen alone until April 17; both times after this when she was seen, May 9 and 21, 1059 was also alone.

Some insight into the fluctuating size of this pack was obtained on February 27 when the five animals were followed for 2 hours. During that time two members (one of which was larger than the other) often lagged behind the other three by as much as a mile. These two romped and played considerably, with one carrying a stick or a bone part of the time. Eventually they caught up again to the other three. The behavior of the two lagging wolves would be consistent with the hypothesis that they were either pups or a courting pair of adults. In either case, they seemed to be an actual part of the pack even though they temporarily traveled separately.

The fact that 1059 was observed traveling alone three times from April 17 to May 21 may be further evidence that the pack had a den in the area at that time. The presence of a den allows individual pack members to venture off singly and return each day to a known social center, as Murie (1944) observed, so they do not need to travel with each other to maintain social bonds. Wolves in our area breed during the latter half of February (see below), and the young should be born in the latter half of April. Since dens are prepared a few weeks in advance (Young 1944), pack members might be expected to begin traveling singly in mid-April.

Some information on social relations within our radiotagged pack of five was also obtained. One of the members could often be distinguished from the others by its reddish cast and this individual appeared to be the pack leader or alpha male (Schenkel 1947). In urinating, this animal lifted his leg, a position seen almost exclusively in males. Except for only two temporary occasions, this animal always headed the pack, which usually traveled single file. The second wolf in line generally was noticeably small, possible a female, and the third wolf was twice identified as 1059 on the basis of sightings of her collar.

The leader often gained a lead on the other wolves, especially during a chase (see below), much as reported for a lead wolf on Isle Royale (Mech 1966a). Upon returning to the lagging members of the pack, this animal usually held his tail vertically, an expression of social dominance (Schenkel 1947). On two occasions he led chases against strange wolves and demonstrated the highest motivation (see below).

The leader was also the most active in his reactions when scent posts were encountered. Because the function of scent-marking behavior is still unknown, it is important that detailed descriptions of the natural behavior of free-ranging wolves around scent posts be made available (fig. 27). Thus the following excerpt from field notes by Mech dated February 27, 1969, is presented:

"When they [the three wolves] came to a small frozen pond, where the wolf trail [which they had been following] branched and there were some packed down areas, they became quite excited [fig. 28]. This was especially true of the reddish wolf. He nosed several spots, and scratched around them. Usually his tail was vertical. He defecated at one spot, and right afterwards another wolf did. After about 2 minutes that pack went on.

"About 15 minutes later the 2 'satellite' wolves arrived at this spot, hesitated, nosed around but continued on after less than a minute.

"The three wolves meanwhile came to a junction of 2 logging roads. There they nosed around, scratched, and acted much as described above. Again the reddish wolf was most active and had its tail up.

"When the last 2 wolves came to this spot, they nosed around, ran back and forth, and 1 defecated. They then headed on a different branch of the trail than the first 3 had gone on just 10 minutes before.

"The first 3 wolves meanwhile were running along a logging road but eventually they circled and one other than the reddish one headed across a swamp toward the last 2. Then the reddish one and the other followed this one, and they met the last 2 on a ridge. There was the usual tail wagging, then all headed off together in a new direction. They passed the first scent post again and there was some nosing by the reddish wolf but little hesitation.

"When they traveled, one wolf lagged behind by 150 yards. The wolf just ahead of it had its tail vertical part of the time, as did the reddish leader.

"Soon the pack came upon another area packed with wolf tracks on a pond. There they followed every little trail, nose to the ground, wagged tails, grouped together often, chased each other, rolled over, etc. for 6 minutes. The reddish animal had tail up most of the time.

"The wolves continued on, and we left them about 1 mile S.W. of the S.W. arm of Bald Eagle Lake [at 6:05 p.m.]."

Unfortunately it was not known whether the trails that the wolves were following were their own or those made by other wolves.