"The single wolf continued running and looking back for at least another mile. We left at 12:21 p.m.
"At 4:07 p.m. we saw a single wolf running across a small lake and looking behind it about 8 miles N.W. of these animals. The creature behaved the same as the one being chased today, and we wondered whether it could be the same animal."
On February 18, 1969, Ream made a similar observation, as follows (quoted from his field notes):
"Got visual sighting on 1059 with 3 other wolves at 11:55 about a mile west of Omaday Lake and they were running along fairly fast on a trail. When we circled a second time we saw 2 wolves curled up sleeping on a knoll ahead (south) of the running pack. We then realized the running wolves were on the trail of the sleeping wolves and when the pack of 4 with "red" in the lead was about 50 yards from the knoll the 2 sleeping wolves jumped up and charged away in the opposite direction full tilt, and split and went in 2 directions. When the pack reached the knoll they started off on the trail of the wolf that headed N.E. and then changed and went after the one that headed S.W. The reddish wolf was in the lead and really picked up the pace. Although the reddish wolf seemed to gain on the chased one 3 or 4 times, the pack as a whole couldn't catch up, even though the single was breaking trail. The reddish wolf, after gaining, always stopped and waited for the others or went back to find them. They chased this wolf for 2½ to 3 miles, all the way down to Highway 1 at a point 3.0 miles from the lab [Kawishiwi Field Station, U.S. Forest Service]. There was a dense patch, 10-15 acres, of woods just before Highway 1 and we lost sight of the chased wolf for a while and also the 4 when they entered it, but shortly we found that the chased one had somehow doubled back and was heading N.E. again. The pack was apparently confused for at one point 3 of them were wandering back and forth on Highway 1, apparently looking for the trail of the chased wolf. Two of these paralleled the Highway for a couple hundred yards and then stopped on top of a hill, apparently resting. During this chase both the single wolf and the pack chased up deer from their route of travel and didn't seem to pay much attention to them, even though some were really floundering in the deep snow. We finally stopped watching all of this at 1:30 p.m. and proceeded on our rounds."
On February 21 we also saw a single wolf running and looking behind several times on Ojibway Lake. Even when it saw a fisherman on the lake within 1/8 mile, it continued across to the opposite shore seeming most intent on avoiding whatever was on its trail. Presumably it had also been chased by a pack.
The cases of tolerance or indifference that we witnessed between wolves involved our lone animals. On January 27, 1051 was at a kill he had made the day before, and another wolf was sitting within 100 feet looking toward the carcass. Eventually the unidentified wolf left without approaching any closer. A lone wolf was also seen near 1053 in the general vicinity of a moose carcass, which probably both were feeding on at different times. Three such observations were made, on February 10, 15, and 18; and on February 21 another wolf was also seen near 1053 some 2.5 miles away from the moose carcass. In all cases, the two animals were 80 to 200 yards apart in open country and must have been aware of each other's presence.
Hunting, Killing, and Feeding Behavior
The primary prey of most wolves in our study area is the white-tailed deer ([fig. 29]), but some moose ([fig. 30]) are also killed. We have examined the remains of six moose that were eaten by wolves, two of which were killed by them ([fig. 31]). One was found on February 25, 1967, on Gillis Lake and the other on March 7, 1969, on Twinkle Lake. These locations are within 3 miles of each other, suggesting that a wolf pack in that area may be more accustomed to preying on moose than other packs. The other four moose carcasses were found in other parts of the study area, but circumstances were such that the causes of death of those animals could not be determined. A discussion of the details of wolf-moose relations in our study area must await the collection of additional data.
