Part 4

The food of sheep consists of grasses, herbaceous species and browse, chiefly willow. Scattered over the range are a number of salt licks which the sheep seek for minerals.

The most active mating period extends from about the middle of November to the middle of December. The rams who have been fraternizing on friendly terms for many months, now and then showing mating behavior such as gentle joustings, begin to take greater notice of the ewes. The old rams continue to associate, but now serious battling takes place. The fighting follows rather uniform conventional rules. The two matched battlers move apart several yards, then, as though by a signal, they turn and face each other and at the same time rise up on their hind legs, then charge full speed at each other, their horns crashing together with a loud thud. If the joust is even, they may repeat the performance until the superiority of one of the combatants is evident. But there is some tolerance among the rams, for two or more may breed with ewes in a band indiscriminately.

The numbers of sheep on a range under natural conditions may vary considerably. In the park, a very high population, possibly as high as 5,000 or more, suffered severe losses during 1929 and again in 1932, due to extremely deep snow conditions, and an icy crust in the latter year. In 1945 the population was down to about 500. Since 1945 there has been a steady increase. The numbers in 1959 were up to about 2,000.

Sheep are subject to wolf predation, especially when the numbers are so high that part of the population must graze on hills too gentle for safety. Sheep legs are strong and sturdy but for their effective functioning steep country is needed. The steep terrain is, so to speak, part of their legs. In my studies in the park, the losses showed that it was the very old, the ailing, and the lambs in their first winter that were most vulnerable to predation. The lynx (when rabbit numbers have crashed and these animals have become scarce), wolverine, and grizzly may capture an occasional sheep but their effect is unimportant. The golden eagle may capture an occasional young lamb, but all my observations and food-habit studies indicate that any eagle predation that takes place is insignificant. If the park is large enough to support the sheep and their predators (natural conditions), we have a situation ideal for the future of the sheep.

Mountain sheep have a high esthetic appeal. In part this may be due to their setting, for we associate them with their beautiful haunts, the precipitous cliffs and ledges intermingled with green slopes spangled with flowers. This is idyllic country in which to hike and climb. Here we encounter the golden eagle who shares the ridge tops with the sheep; the wheatear, who comes all the way from Asia to nest; the gray-crowned rosy finches; the flashing black and white snowbirds nesting in rock crevices; and the surfbird that has left the ocean beaches to nest in these remote mountains. And up high, the saxifrages, delicate yellow poppies, forget-me-nots and spring beauties add color to it all.

Mountain Goat Oreamnos kennedyi

On May 27, 1955, a goat was discovered on Igloo Mountain on the slope directly above the cabin I was occupying. It remained on the mountain for 3 weeks before wandering away. It has not been seen since. This is the only verified record for the park. But two road men reported seeing a goat cross the road at Mile 3, on August 8, 1950. I believe this to be a good record because both men are reliable observers. In the fall of 1950 a goat was shot at Cantwell, not far from the park boundary.

The nearest known goat range is about 60 miles from the park in the Talkeetna Mountains. The goats that reached the park may have been sporadic wanderers for it is not unusual for goats to occasionally wander 25 or 30 miles from their known ranges. On the other hand, it is possible that the goats are expanding their range toward the park. In 1959, I was told that a band of a dozen goats had been reported at the head of Jack River where they had not been reported before. Jack River lies between the goat range and the park.

Identification is not difficult. The goat’s horns are short, slightly curved spikes, similar to the horns of the female sheep, but shiny black and smooth rather than grayish and rugose. The goat’s chin whiskers are identifying, as is the shoulder hump, and the knee length pantaloons of long hair. Also the goat’s face is noticeably longer than that of sheep. The goat sexes are similar.

It is not unlikely that goats will continue to be occasionally seen in the park. Any lone “sheep” might turn out to be a goat.

Wolf Canis lupus pambasileus

Wolves vary considerably in size and color. The average male weighs about 100 pounds and the female somewhat less, about 85 pounds. Their color may be almost white, black, gray, or brown. Most wolves in interior Alaska are either black or brownish like a coyote. The facial markings show some variation and there may occasionally be noticeable patterns over the rest of the body. A few wolves have a blackish saddle; one that I knew had a black robber-mask across the eyes. Individual disposition and behavior also varies. A handsome male had an extra touch of spirit in his gallop; a male parent had a dour expression and seemed, to my imagination, weighted with care. Wolves raised in captivity from puppyhood are extremely friendly.

For a den, the wolf considers an enlarged fox burrow both convenient and suitable. Dens have been found in a variety of situations. One was located on a wooded rock bluff, another was beyond timber near the top of a bluff bordering a river, and one was on a wooded island between old river channels. The four to six young, probably the average size of litter, are born the early part of May. The mother remains at home with the pups and the male provides the victuals.

At one den that I observed closely there were two extra males and an extra female with the pair. These wolves all fraternized in the most friendly manner. Before departing for the night hunt, the five would sometimes assemble in a close group, wag tails and frisk about, and sitting on haunches sing in chorus. Later in the season this group of five adults was joined by two additional males.

The following year the same pair returned to the den. They were accompanied by one of the extra males that had been at the den the previous year. The extra female and one of the bachelors set up their own housekeeping farther down the river. But when their pups were large enough to travel, they all came up the river and joined the original pair. Young and old combined added up to 15 wolves. This wolf pack was composed of two pairs, an extra adult, and 10 pups. Some of the extra wolves of the previous year were not seen—they may have been trapped or poisoned beyond the park boundaries during the winter months.

The wolf’s food varies with the seasons and the prey species available. When voles and lemmings are plentiful, the wolves may spend hours in the grass and sedge areas pouncing on them. During the summer months the ground squirrel has at times been one of the more important food items. Occasionally an unfortunate marmot is surprised and in years when rabbits are plentiful, the snowshoe rabbit becomes a food source. I have found remains of several porcupines eaten by wolves, the spine-covered hide neatly inverted.

But the wolf also, and primarily, feeds on the ungulates—the mountain sheep, caribou, and moose. Under natural conditions the relationship between the wolf and these prey species is old and tried. There is the aphorism, “nothing in nature offends nature.” In the hunting of these animals the wolf appears to be an evolutionary force in that there is a tendency for the weaker individuals to succumb.

In spring the wolf hunts the caribou calves, which early develop surprising speed, so that when a wolf chases a group of caribou, the calves race along with the adults. But after a time a weak calf, one not up to the others in endurance, may begin to drop behind, and it is this weak individual that is overtaken, an example of the elimination of the weak, the survival of the fittest. In the winter hunting, the old and weak animals are the most susceptible. It is a struggle, a testing for all, but through the ages, the sheep, moose, and caribou have survived and come down to us adapted to their particular way of life, with the wolf as one of the environmental factors.

At McKinley we have an opportunity to preserve a northern flora and fauna. But the future of the wolf is precarious because the home range of the park wolves extends beyond park boundaries into territory where the wolf has no protection, where there is a bounty on his head. The silencing of the longdrawn call of the wolf would be a tragic loss to the human spirit.

Coyote Canis latrans incolatus

So far as known, the coyote has always been rare out in the park. Along the Nenana River, however, I frequently have heard his song. Here he seems to find conditions more favorable for his way of life. Perhaps it is the presence of the snowshoe rabbit in this low brushy country that attracts him.

The coyote weights about 25 pounds on the average. His color is brownish with black-tipped hairs intermingled. Color variation in coyotes is so slight it is not noticeable in the field; he does not have the black, whitish and various color patterns that are present in the wolf. The muzzle is long and pointed, ears well developed, eyes sharp.

As a field biologist I have had an opportunity to observe coyotes in many regions. In Yellowstone I made a 2-year study of its relationships with other animals because it had been feared by some that he would destroy the antelope, bighorn, and deer, if not controlled. The study showed that the coyote there lived chiefly on meadow mice and pocket gophers in summer, and carrion in winter, and that he had no harmful effect on the large ungulates.

On the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona the coyote was blamed for cattle losses. Here a study showed that the basic cause of losses was over-use of the range and that where grazing was good all losses were insignificant. Cattlemen are finding this true and are beginning to appreciate the usefulness of the coyote as a curbing influence on rodent depredations. In addition to a meat diet, which includes great quantities of grasshoppers in season, the coyote feeds extensively on fruit. On Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, I found it feeding on sarsaparilla berries; in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on silverberry and quantities of haw; in Arizona, on manzanita and juniper berries, the latter being the winter staff of life.

The coyote is best known for his song, which in all its variations, symbolizes the spirit of wildness and remote country. J. Frank Dobie in his The Voice of the Coyote expresses the sentiment of many when he writes: “I confess to a sympathy for the coyote that has grown until it lives in the deepest part of my nature.”

Red Fox Vulpes fulva alascensis

The fabled red fox is abundant, widely distributed over the park and frequently seen. Silver, cross, and red color phases, along with some intermediate variants, are well represented, and two or three of these types frequently show up in a single litter. The prominent white tip on the tail distinguishes the fox from the coyote and wolf.

Hundreds of dens are scattered over the countryside, many more than are used in any one season. They are located indiscriminately in spruce woods and out on the open tundra miles from the nearest tree. Each pair has a selection of old dens to choose from, but often they occupy favorite sites year after year. During a season, a family sometimes moves from their first choice to a den nearby. The connecting burrows of a den usually have 5 or 6 entrances and one I examined had 19.