Wolf fishing for suckers

This is a really cool video showing a wolf in Voyageurs national park successfully catching several suckers out of what looks like a shallow part of a river/stream. What else is interesting is that the moose population in this area is much more stable than other parts of the state with high wolf populations/densities and some of these biologists are speculating this is because the wolves in this area focus on eating other prey such as beaver and fish.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/science-and-nature/4542765-video-shows-wolves-fishing-voyageurs-national-park

Very cool, thanks for sharing

Or maybe….. there are more Moose because there are less Wolves.

Is that fact or theory Dutch? As far as I know, the density of wolves in that area is not materially less than anywhere in the northern third of the state that houses the majority of MNs wolf population.

Here in northern MN in my neck of the woods, the wolf population has done anything but decrease in the last few years. Its holding stable or if anything, growing, depending on the specific area.

awesome info coming from these researchers!

Cool stuff on how a localized echo system sustains itself.
Reminds of the decline of the elk herd in Yellowstone and small change of part of that echo system affected a shift in things. That change was corrected and the Elk herd is rebounding.

I will add, the change that was needed had nothing to do with wolves, it was a fish that was added to the ecosystem by man that had to be removed to set the balance right again. Yes, a fish.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Is that fact or theory Dutch? As far as I know, the density of wolves in that area is not materially less than anywhere in the northern third of the state that houses the majority of MNs wolf population.

Here in northern MN in my neck of the woods, the wolf population has done anything but decrease in the last few years. Its holding stable or if anything, growing, depending on the specific area.

Theory.
In my over 10 years at VNP I’ve seen exactly 2 Wolves. One several years ago crossing the road on the Ash River Trail and the other swimming last summer in Namakin. We do hear the pack howling occasionally.
In the same 10+ years I have seen exactly zero Moose.

How that all correlates I don’t know. I can tell you that the locals will tell you when the Wolves need trimming………there isn’t any Deer to be found.

That is SWEET!

Dutchboy wrote:

Theory.
In my over 10 years at VNP I’ve seen exactly 2 Wolves. One several years ago crossing the road on the Ash River Trail and the other swimming last summer in Namakin. We do hear the pack howling occasionally.
In the same 10+ years I have seen exactly zero Moose.

How that all correlates I don’t know. I can tell you that the locals will tell you when the Wolves need trimming………there isn’t any Deer to be found.

They’re reintroducing wolves on Isle Royale for one of many reasons. Probably the biggest reason is to control the moose population. A ranger told me that if they didn’t reintroduce wolves that they expect the moose population to exceed 5000 in the next 5 or 10 years. Currently it just under 2000.

It’s a great theory for that reason but the DNR has been funding studies with radio collared moose and haven’t found that wolf predation is the big factor. I think they’ve found brain worm to be the biggest killer. Brain worm is a parasite that lives in whitetail without damage to the host but will kill moose when infected. Whitetail population has exploded in the past 20-30 years in northern Mn and is likely the biggest factor.

Consider Isle Royale and it’s complete lack of whitetail, I think you find your answer to the disappearing moose.

The moose-wolf population correlation has been studied since the 60’s on Isle Royal. There is a direct correlation between the two. I live in the Arrowhead and spend a lot of time in the woods. The moose population is at the lowest that I can recall since the 60’s. The deer population here is also at a low. There is more wolf sightings, sign and evidence of their presence is at an all time high in spite of what the media and DNR says.I guess that would explain why the locals have the pets in at night and weapons by the door.

They’re reintroducing wolves on Isle Royale for one of many reasons. Probably the biggest reason is to control the moose population. A ranger told me that if they didn’t reintroduce wolves that they expect the moose population to exceed 5000 in the next 5 or 10 years. Currently it just under 2000.

It’s a great theory for that reason but the DNR has been funding studies with radio collared moose and haven’t found that wolf predation is the big factor. I think they’ve found brain worm to be the biggest killer. Brain worm is a parasite that lives in whitetail without damage to the host but will kill moose when infected. Whitetail population has exploded in the past 20-30 years in northern Mn and is likely the biggest factor.

Consider Isle Royale and it’s complete lack of whitetail, I think you find your answer to the disappearing moose.
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I find the reintroduction of wolves at Isle Royal amusing. Years ago Isle Royal was the model of natural selection. There have been wolves on and off that island in many cycles. They wanted to leave it alone with zero outside interference quoting a grand ecological experiment in nature. Now I guess it’s okay to mess with it. The wolves eventually died off from too much inbreeding and of course they killed most of the moose and were starving. Now that the wolves are gone and the moose are going through their boom cycle it’s suddenly okay to introduce more wolves to artificially change the ecology, 180 degrees from their previous stance. So why not sell moose hunts to reduce the population? Why not wait for wolves to naturally migrate. The water will freeze again between the mainland and the Island. It is said that wolves can smell prey easily the distance from the mainland to the island. to me it’s just a glaring example of the feds talking out of both sides of their mouths. If there are too many moose on the island, herd them up and ship them overland to Minnesota where they are declining in population. And why again are the moose populations on the island growing but not on the mainland?

I think he’s over his limit.