The Wolves of Mount McKinley

by Murie, Adolph

• ISBN13: 9780295962030
• ISBN10: 0295962038
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1985-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

In the time of Lewis and Clark, wolves were abundant throughout North America from the Arctic regions to Mexico. But man declared war on this cunning and powerful animal when cattle replaced the buffalo on the western plains, reducing the wolf's range to those few areas in the Far North where economic necessity did not call for its extinction. Between 1939 and 1941, Adolph Murie, one of North America's greatest naturalists, made a field study of the relationship between wolves and Dall sheep in Mount McKinley National Park (since renamed Denali National Park) which has come to be respected as a classic work of natural history. In this study Murie not only described the life cycle of Alaskan wolves in greater detail than has ever been done, but he discovered a great deal about the entire ecological network of predator and prey. The issues surrounding the survival of the wolf and its prey are more important today than ever, and Murie helps us understand the careful balance that must be maintained to ensure that these magnificent animals prosper. Originally available only in government publications which are long out-of-print, this account of a much maligned animal is now available in its first popular edition.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Summary	xv
Introduction
Outline of the study	1	(2)
Acknowledgments	3	(1)
Climate	4	(2)
Physiography	6	(1)
Vegetation	6	(3)
Wolf
Physical characteristics	9	(1)
Tracks	10	(2)
History of wolves in Mount McKinley National Park	12	(3)
Causes of fluctuation in wolf numbers	15	(2)
Breeding	17	(1)
Home life	17	(25)
Toklat River den	18	(1)
Savage River wolf family	19	(2)
East Fork River den---1940	21	(18)
East Fork River den---1941	39	(3)
Hunting range	42	(1)
Intraspecific intolerance	43	(1)
The wolf pack	44	(1)
Wags, the captive wolf	45	(5)
Food habits of wolves	50	(10)
Discussion of food items in wolf diet	52	(7)
Caching	59	(1)
Trapping wolves	60	(2)
Dall Sheep
Description	62	(1)
Distribution of Dall sheep in Alaska	62	(1)
History of the sheep in Mount McKinley National Park	62	(6)
Distribution of Dall sheep in the park	68	(2)
Winter distribution	68	(1)
Summer distribution	69	(1)
Migration	70	(6)
Food habits	76	(6)
Winter food habits	76	(6)
Summer food habits	82	(1)
Mineral licks	82	(1)
Carrying capacity of the winter range	82	(2)
Disease and parasites	84	(1)
Actinomycosis	84	(1)
Lungworm	84	(1)
Scabies	84	(1)
A sick lamb	84	(1)
Lamb dies in captivity	84	(1)
Insects sometimes annoy sheep	85	(1)
Accidents	85	(3)
The menace of deep snow	87	(1)
The rut	88	(1)
Gestation period	89	(1)
Lambs	89	(6)
Precocity	89	(1)
Ewe-lamb relationships	90	(2)
Lost lambs	92	(2)
Play	94	(1)
Weaning	95	(1)
Relation with animals of minor importance	95	(5)
Snow buntings compete for food	95	(1)
Wolverine and sheep	95	(1)
Lynx and sheep	96	(1)
Coyote and sheep	96	(1)
Golden eagle and sheep	97	(3)
Wolf and sheep	100	(11)
Reaction of sheep to wolves	100	(2)
Hunting incidents	102	(7)
Discussion of wolf hunting habits	109	(2)
Do the wolves prey mainly upon the weak sheep?	111	(17)
The problem	111	(1)
Search for sheep skulls	112	(1)
Determination of age	113	(3)
Determination of sex	116	(1)
Segregation of sheep remains into classes	116	(5)
Discussion of skull data	121	(5)
Effect of wolf predation on the sheep as a species	126	(2)
Classified counts of the mountain sheep	128	(10)
Classifications for 1939	133	(2)
Classifications for 1940	135	(1)
Classifications for 1941	135	(1)
Discussion	136	(2)
Some wolf-sheep relationships	138	(6)
Effect of artificial intrusions on wolf predation	138	(2)
Do caribou divert predation from sheep?	140	(1)
Historical evidence that wolves are curbing sheep numbers	141	(1)
Effect of the wolf on sheep numbers	141	(2)
The sheep and the wolves may now be in equilibrium	143	(1)
Caribou
Description	144	(1)
Classification	145	(1)
Numbers	145	(1)
Movements of Mount McKinley National Park caribou	145	(7)
Brief survey of movements from 1925 to 1941	145	(3)
Winter movements	148	(1)
Summer movements	148	(1)
1939 movements	149	(1)
1940 movements	150	(1)
1941 movements	151	(1)
Trails	152	(1)
Food habits of caribou	153	(1)
Winter food	153	(1)
Summer food	153	(1)
Rutting period	154	(1)
Caribou calves	154	(5)
Description	154	(1)
Calving	155	(1)
Relation of calves to cows	156	(3)
Parasites	159	(1)
Disease	160	(1)
Some predator-caribou relationships	161	(2)
Lynx, wolverine, and caribou	161	(1)
Coyote and caribou	161	(1)
Grizzly and caribou	161	(1)
Golden eagle and caribou	162	(1)
Relation of reindeer to caribou	163	(1)
Wolf predation	163	(12)
Predation on adult caribou	163	(2)
Predation on caribou calves	165	(1)
Hunting incidents	166	(9)
Animals found dead from causes other than predation	175	(1)
Crippled caribou	176	(1)
Calf crop	177	(2)
1939 calf crop	177	(1)
1940 calf crop	178	(1)
1941 calf crop	179	(1)
Survival of calves to yearling stage	179	(1)
Effect of the wolf on the caribou population	180	(2)
Moose
Distribution	182	(1)
Breeding	182	(1)
Food habits	183	(1)
History of the moose in Mount McKinley National Park	184	(1)
Moose-wolf relationships	185	(3)
Condition of moose range	188	(1)
Grizzly Bear
Description	189	(1)
Food habits	190	(11)
The grizzly as a vegetarian	190	(2)
Annotated list of grizzly foods	192	(9)
Breeding habits	201	(2)
Home range	203	(1)
Denning	204	(1)
Grizzly-wolf relationships	204	(3)
Effect of the grizzly on the fauna and flora	207	(1)
Red Fox
Home range	208	(2)
Home life	210	(1)
Injuries and disease	211	(1)
Food habits	212	(4)
Discussion of food items	212	(4)
Bear-fox relationships	216	(1)
Coyote-fox relationships	216	(1)
Eagle-fox relationships	217	(2)
Wolf-fox relationships	219	(3)
Golden Eagle
Nesting	222	(2)
Home range	224	(1)
Food habits	224	(1)
Annotated list of animals eaten by the golden eagle	225	(3)
Relationship of the golden eagle to the park fauna	228	(2)
Conclusions	230	(3)
References	233	(2)
Index	235