The Searching Wolf



The Gray Wolf Course

11. Food and Prey

  1. A gray wolf's diet
    1. Daily food intake
    2. Fasting
    3. Wolves need large prey
    4. Food sources
      1. Large mammals
      2. Small animals
      3. Plants
      4. Garbage
      5. Cannibalism
      6. Livestock depredation
    5. Scat analysis
  2. Hunting by gray wolves
    1. The wolf is a hunter
      1. Behavior
      2. Sensory abilities
      3. Teeth and digestion
      4. Physical strength
    2. Stimulus to hunt
    3. The rally
    4. General hunting technique: The Hunting-Killing Process
      1. Locating & encountering prey
      2. Stalking
      3. Rushing & chasing
      4. Attacking & killing
    5. Success rate
    6. After the kill
      1. Who eats first?
      2. What's eaten first?
      3. Resting
      4. Caching
    7. Surplus killing
    8. Costs of Hunting
      1. Time
      2. Energy
      3. Prey-caused injury and death
  3. The effect of gray wolf predation on prey populations
    1. Theoretical background
    2. Predicting the effects of wolf predation
    3. Patterns of prey selection
    4. Predation in a multiple-ungulate system
    5. Specific examples of wolf predation
  4. The effect of gray wolf predation on ecosystems

Resources

Articles and Reports

Bjorge, R.R. and J.R. Gunson. 1989. Wolf, Canis lupus, population characteristics and prey relationships near Simonette River, Alberta. Canadian Field-Naturalist 103:327-334.

Boertje, R.D., P. Valkenburg, and M.E. McNay. 1994. Increases in moose, caribou, and wolves following wolf control in Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 60:474-489.

Ciucci, P., L. Boitani, E.R. Pelliccioni, M. Rocco, and I. Guy. 1996. A comparison of scat-analysis methods to assess the diet of the wolf Canis lupus. Wildlife Biology 2:37-48.

Darimont, C.T. and T.E. Reimchen. 2002. Intra-hair stable isotope analysis implies seasonal shift to salmon in gray wolf diet. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80:1638-1642.

Forbes, G.J. and J.B. Theberge. 1992. Importance of scavenging on moose by wolves in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Alces 28:235-241.

Fuller, T.K. 1991. Effect of snow depth on wolf activity and prey selection in north central Minnesota. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69:283-287.

Hayes, R.D., A.M. Baer, U. Wotschikowsky, and A.S. Harestad. 2000. Kill rate by wolves on moose in the Yukon. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:49-59.

Marquard-Petersen, U. 1998. Food habits of Arctic wolves in Greenland. Journal of Mammalogy 79:236-244 (1998).

McLaren, B.E. and R.O. Peterson. 1994. Wolves, moose, and tree rings on Isle Royale. Science 266:1555-1558.

Mech, L.D. and M.E. Nelson. 1990. Evidence of prey-caused mortality in three wolves. American Midland Naturalist 123:207-208.

Messier, F. 1885. On the functional and numerical responses of wolves to changing prey density. Pages 187-197 In Carbyn, L.N., S.H. Fritts, and D.R. Seip, Editors. Ecology and Conservation of Wolvesin a Changing World. Canadian Circumpolar Institute: Edmonton, AB.

Okarma, H. 1995. The trophic ecology of wolves and their predatory role in ungulate communities of forest ecosystems in Europe. Acta Theriologica 40:335-386.

Phillips, D.P., W. Danilchuk, J. Ryon, and J.C. Fentress. 1990. Food-caching in timber wolves, and the question of rules of action syntax. Behavioural Brain Research 38:1-6.

Robinson, W. L., D.J. Groebner, and R.N. Schultz. 1991. Foraging of gray wolves at a great blue heron rookery. American Midland Naturalist 126:196-197.

Schmidt, P.A. and L.D. Mech. 1997. Wolf pack size and food acquisition. American Naturalist 150:513-517.

Seip, D.R. 1995. Introduction to wolf-prey interactions. Pages 179-186 In Carbyn, L.N., S.H. Fritts, and D.R. Seip, Editors. Ecology and Conservation of Wolves in a Changing World. Canadian Circumpolar Institute: Edmonton, AB.

Spaulding, R., P.R. Krausman, and W.B. Ballard. 2000. Observer bias and analysis of gray wolf diets from scats. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28:947-950.

Weaver, J.L., C. Arvidson, and P. Wood. 1992. Two wolves, Canis lupus, killed by a moose, Alces alces, in Jasper National Park, Alberta. Canadian Field-Naturalist 106:126-127.

Books, Monographs, and Proceedings

Ballard, W.B., L.A. Ayres, P.R. Krausman, D.J. Reed, and S.G. Fancy. 1997. Ecology of wolves in relation to a migratory caribou herd in northwest Alaska. Wildlife Monographs 135:1-47.

Committee on Management of Wolf and Bear Populations in Alaska, Board of Biology, Commision on Life Sciences, National Research Council. 1997. Wolves, Bears, and Their Prey in Alaska: Biological and Social Challenges in Wildlife Management. National Academy Press: Washington, DC.

Gasaway, W.C., R.D. Boertje, D.V. Grangaard, D.G. Kelleyhouse, R.O. Stephenson, and D.G. Larsen. 1992. The role of predation in limiting moose at low densities in Alaska and Yukon and implications for conservation. Wildlife Monographs 120:1-59.

Mech, L.D. 1970. The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species. Natural History Press/Doubleday Publishing Co.: Garden City, NY. (Chapter VI - "Food Habits," Chapter VII - "Hunting Habits," Chapter VIII - "Selection of Prey," and Chapter IX - "Effects of Wolf Predation")

Mech, L.D. 1991. The Way of the Wolf. Voyageur Press: Stillwater, MN. (Chapter - "Hunting and Feeding")

Mech, L.D., L.G. Adams, T.J. Meier, J.W. Burch, and B.W. Dale. 1998. The Wolves of Denali. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, MN.

Theberge, J.B. 1998. Wolf Country: Eleven Years Tracking the Algonquin Wolves. McClelland & Stewart, Inc.: Toronto, ON.

Videos

Following the Tundra Wolf. 1975. 45 minutes. Vestron Video: Stamford, CT.

Yellowstone Wolves: Predation. 1998. Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Fund: Bozeman, MT.