All photos © David Moskowitz
The Methow Conservancy’s March “First Tuesday” program was presented by David Moskowitz, author of the new book, Wolves in the Land of Salmon, as well as the field guide, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest. The free program attracted well over 200 people.
For the past two years David put his expert tracking skills to work all over the Northwest studying and documenting the elusive and thrilling wolf. Wolves have had a long history with North America, and their presence has come and gone for different reasons. When the glaciers crept south, so too did the wolf. When the ice receded the wolf followed it north into Canada. There have been times when the wolf’s range covered all of North America, and we are lucky to live in one of the few places in America where the wolf has begun to naturally reestablish itself.
Wolves’ adaptability is one of its strengths, and through evolution the wolf has separated itself from its cousin the coyote in size, bulk, speed and strength. The increase in the size of their paw and leg, combined with a broader chest, enable the wolf to take down large game like elk. Wolves also have larger and broader noses compared with coyotes, and they have adapted to the snow by increasing paw size and decreasing the height of their ears. They also have thicker coats compared with coyotes, which helps their survival throughout the cold winter months of the Northwest.
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| A wolf den in the North Cascades |
Wolf packs typically contain one mating pair of adults and a group of their offspring and cousins. Wolves coalesce at a “den site” only for the summer birthing period. Dens are dug around natural features, such as holes under rocks, or old burrows of other animals. After the pups have nursed and are outside the den, the pack roams within a territory, often splitting up, but then meeting again at a designated “rendezvous site.” Here in the Pacific Northwest, the ideal range used by wolves is middle to low elevation forests and meadows. Only in the height of summer do wolves move into the high country when large game has moved there too.
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| Two wolves playing on the beach. Clayoquot Sound, BC |
David’s research brought him far north of Vancouver to the Great Bear Rainforest wolf pack of British Columbia where he learned just how adaptable the wolf really is. This area is a chain of uninhabited islands and he observed wolves fishing for salmon, eating barnacles and seals, and swimming miles of open ocean in order to travel between islands. They have adapted to life on the coast to the point that they know to only eat the brain of the salmon, because the remainder of the flesh contains a parasite that can be harmful to canines. We also learned that the Imnaha wolf pack that lives in Northeast Oregon swam across the Snake River in order to establish their new home.
The last historic wolf pack in Washington lived in Olympic National Park in the 1930’s, and as we saw in photos, the elk have overgrazed many areas of the rainforest as a result of the elimination of the wolf. The one thing ecologists, scientists and environmentalists all agree on these days is the fact that everything is interconnected on this planet. The wolf is a glaring example of what can happen when a major predator is removed from a landscape. Populations of various species can expand unnaturally and uncurbed, resulting in imbalances that can be seen throughout the ecosystem, from plants to animals. When a wolf pack keeps populations of deer and elk in check everyone benefits, including the ravens, eagles, bears, coyote, fox and mice that eat from the wolf’s kill.
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| Young wolves in the Great Bear Rainforest, BC |
Another unexpected change that has occurred as a result of the elimination of the wolf is the reduction in the population of the Olympic Marmot. The coyote population expanded after the wolf disappeared, but unlike the wolf, the coyote eats marmots. In another example of interconnectedness, after the wolf was reintroduced into Yellowstone researchers discovered that the beaver made a comeback. The elk no longer over-grazed the streams that contained the cottonwood and aspen groves because they needed to stay alert and on the move with a predator in the vicinity. Beaver will only live where there are mature aspen and cottonwood and the elk had been eating the new shoots and not allowing them to mature, but that all changed when the wolf returned. The elk moved about more and the beaver returned to their natural habitat.
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| A wolf feeding on an elk carcass in MT |
The wolf is at the top of the food chain, except for perhaps humans, David pointed out. Wolves will hunt and kill prey species for food but they will also scavenge from other carnivore’s work. Humans and wolves have a long history of coexisting together, but there is only one documented case in all of history of an attack on a human. The parking lot at the mall poses more of a threat to us and with the help and dedication of people like David, the education process and understanding of wolves will continue moving in a positive direction.
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| Wolf in NW Montana |
Every action we impose on the natural world around us results in a cascade of events. The more we understand about the wolf and the integral part they play in the balance of nature, the better off we will all be. David led an invigorating and enlightening discussion on wolves and his dedication to the species seemed inspiring to those in attendance.
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| The reddish hue of this young grey wolf is typical of many wolves in coastal British Columbia |
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