I hadn't seen this one before. Thanks Angela.

On the subject of handedness, I caught a wolf this winter that I called Lefty. He would only mark a pee post by hiking his left leg, if he wanted to mark a pee post on the right side of the trail he would walk past it and turn around so he could hike his left leg, then after marking it turn back around to continue on his way.

Crazy good thread! Felt like I was sitting at a wolf Q&A with an expert at a convention. Good stuff and and another wolf book ordered. Jack, I got your other book, but are you still making progress on your wolf book?
Biologists and people with all the degrees are smart, but I think the best stuff is written by someone with all this….and has been out there trapping them. You see a much different perspective than you do from a classroom, chopper or video.

Actually it was I brought it back lol! Just forget to buy I back in. Tanks for the remainder though

Yeah, 3 three YEARS ago, LOL

There are at least two things that we overlook having to do with critters and trapping. Very few people will talk about this or even acknowlege their importance. They are "handedness" and barometric pressure. The movements and activity, I believe, are dictated largely by atmospheric pressure, not temperature or some other factor(s).

Jack

How do you think pressure changes their activity? I know around here, the day before a big storm is forecast the animals seem to be really active, and after the storm passes.

Most animals, before a storm (as the air pressure falls), increase their activity. Likewise, as the storm passes (rising barometer), activity increases. A stable barometer (either high or low) doesn't elicit much of a response. Wolves, according to telemetry data, really increase their travels due to raising barometer.

Jack

Interesting, I'll try and pay attention to that. How's your wolf book coming along?

I have a wolf question for you Jack, have you ever known a wolf to dig out snapping turtle eggs? I saw a place that wasn't real fresh so it was hard to tell, but something had made a much bigger hole than what a normal dig out would look like and it had huge tracks in it. I have caught them on a mouse in a dirt hole, so I guess the size of the food source isn't an issue.

Steve R - Good question, man. I've never lived or worked where there's been snapping turtles. I imagine their eggs would be a fine, easy meal. I have seen near Gustavus in SE Alaska, where a wolf dug huge craters in the beach, digging clams.

Wolf book is about half done. Looks like it'll be on hold for the foreseeable future; I'm going through some medical issues.

Dang! Sorry to hear that. Hope they get you fixed up from whatever it is as soon as possible!

I have noticed that about wolves really moving as the storm passes. You find a LOT of wolf tracks with a half inch or inch of snow in them because they are moving at the end of the storm. Of course it probably makes more of an impression because my traps have two feet of fresh snow over them when the wolves come through at the end of a storm and leave all those tracks. lol

I also notice that wolves do a lot of moving in the mornings from daylight up until about 9 am. Sure they are a nocturnal animal and move and hunt at night, but I think I find more sign that I can say is made in the first three hours of daylight than in any other three hours in a 24 hour period. This isn't scientific, I've never kept records or anything, just stands out in my memory over time.

Hope your medical issues improve, I will really be looking forward to the wolf book.

Over the years I have noticed that moose move a lot just before a storm. I guess it makes sense...in their case....to get into heavier cover with food immediately available and a windbreak around them. At one point I wondered if it was also an attempt to allow the storm to obliterate their tracks . But that gives them too much credit in the reasoning department. I think wiping out their tracks is just an ancillary benefit.

For a coupl'a' winters, I surveyed moose repeatedly (16 times) along the Kuskokwim River lowlands south of McGrath. From the weather station in McGrath, I kept a close eye on the barometric pressure. Doing aerial surveys, I calculated that I was seeing 12% more moose when the air pressure was rising versus when it was steady or falling. The calves, in particular, were more visible, in that if I flew over at 100 or 200 feet, the calves would jump up out of their beds, shake off the snow, and be nervously active; the barometer increased their movement, making them more visible. It would be straightforward to compute a sightability correction factor for moose surveys, except many of my survey units were 100+ miles from a weather station, and pressures at the weather station wouldn't necessarily be the same as on the count units.

Jack

Jack: Would it be possible/feasible to use a comparison between a GPS altimeter and a barometric altimeter ?
If at point of origin you set the Kollsman window with the current setting and then take off and at ...say 500 feet AGL on the GPS note any difference on the barometric. Then do the same thing in the survey area and compare. Could you then calculate the fairly accurate altimeter setting from the differences ? At least the GPS AGL reading should be constant.

interesting Rogan podcast.

Diane K. Boyd is a wildlife biologist who has devoted 4 decades to studying wolves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FYv4yjOi2Q

some I'm sure will poo-poo some of it, but one can't expose himself to too much of other peoples experiences especially when it comes to Wolves, reintroduction, trapping, relocation and biology.

bearcat2]

I notice that wolves do a lot of moving in the mornings from daylight up until about 9 am. Sure they are a nocturnal animal and move and hunt at night, but I think I find more sign that I can say is made in the first three hours of daylight than in any other three hours in a 24 hour period. This isn't scientific, I've never kept records or anything, just stands out in my memory over time.

Bearcat2 -

I agree with your assessment, at least during summer. I used to check all my traps (when collaring) before 0900 in the mornings. I am a morning person and like to get started at 04:00 or 05:00. I noticed quite a few wolves that had been in the trap a long time, meaning they probably got caught sometime just after I checked traps. Also, I was seeing a few wolves and bumping them off my sets. Checking sets after 09:00 eliminated this. After all, in summer, dawn 'til 0900 is usually the coolest part of the day, and it just makes sense that wolves would be active when its cool. Telemetry data confirmed that just after midnight and then again from 0 5:00 'til 09:00 were their most active periods.

Jack