VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, Minnesota Beavers have poor vision but a great sense of smell.
Over eons, their chief natural predator – wolves – have come to understand that, and have adopted appropriate hunting techniques.
In a groundbreaking research project, a team from Minnesota s Voyageurs Wolf Project spent the past five years studying the tactics wolves use to increase their chances of success.
In a new paper just published in the journal
Behavioral Ecology, they document how wolves have evolved ambush hunting methods specifically tailored for catching and killing beavers.
The Voyageurs Wolf Project focuses on wolf activity in the Greater Voyageurs ecosystem near the Ontario-Minnesota border.
Voyageurs Wolf Project continues to break new ground on how wolves live, thrive, eat and die. 9:00 am, Feb. 9, 2021 ×
Voyageurs Wolf Project researchers Austin Homkes, left, and Thomas Gable inspect a site where a wolf had ambushed and ate a beaver in August 2019. The researchers this week published the first-ever peer-reviewed scientific paper on wolf-ambushing behavior and success. (Steve Kuchera / File / News Tribune)
Back in August 2019, a reporter and photographer followed Thomas Gable and Austin Homkes as the two wildlife researchers crawled on hands and knees, on an island in Voyageurs National Park, inspecting a site where a wolf had killed a beaver.
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Wildlife researchers say they found two collared wolves last month that were killed illegally in the wilderness of northeastern Minnesota and have turned over their findings to state conservation officials for investigation in hopes of finding whoever is responsible.
While a lead researcher, Tom Gable, said he is keeping details about the killings under wraps so as not to undermine the investigation by the state Department of Natural Resources, a DNR report obtained by the Star Tribune disclosed that one of the wolves had been shot in the chest.
The most recent discovery by members of Gable s Voyageurs Wolf Project was made on Jan. 22 slightly north of Grand Rapids.
Rest When You Need To
The world isnât exactly a safe place for moving freely right now. Certain resources are in short supply. Many animals take these as cues to enter hibernation. Woodchucks are snoring softly underground. Wood frogs and spring peepers have become frogcicles in the leaf litter. Bears are resting in their dens.
These are some of the most charismatic hibernators in Wisconsin, but not the most abundant. Virtually every single insect species is in some type of dormancy right now. As eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults they lace their bodies with sweet potions of antifreeze, find a sheltered spot, and hunker down.