Usually the first parts of a carcass to be eaten are the hams and part of the viscera from the coelomic cavity. In one case where a wolf was interrupted while feeding it was apparent that the animal had been stripping the omental fat from the carcass. This may be the wolf's favorite part of a deer, for the stomach of one wolf that we examined in January 1967 contained nothing but such fat.
The average consumption and kill rate of deer by wolves has not yet been determined, but we have some information bearing on the subject. Because our data were obtained during a winter of unusually deep snow, and it was obvious that wolves were killing more deer than they could eat at the moment (see Mech et al., [page 51]), our figures should be considered much higher than average. However, they should be useful in that they probably represent the maximum kill rate not only throughout the year but also throughout a period of many years.
By observing each of our radiotagged wolves whenever possible and noting whether or not it was feeding on a kill, we learned that our wolves generally remained close to their kills for periods of from 1 to 7 days, depending on how recently they had eaten ([fig. 32]). Thus, when a wolf was found at a new location each day, the assumption could be made that the animal did not currently have a kill.
Figure 33.—Radiotagged wolf (upper left) found at kill (lower right). (Photo courtesy of L. D. Frenzel.)
We assumed that wolves found at fresh kills ([fig. 33]) had made them unless there was evidence to the contrary as with 1053, the scavenger. When a wolf was found at one location for several consecutive days but could not be observed, we assumed it was feeding on a kill, since whenever wolves were observed remaining in the same location for several days they were seen feeding. Thus a range of possible number of kills per wolf was determined, with the lower limit being the known minimum and the upper limit the possible maximum. When more than one wolf fed on a kill, as with the pack, the figures were calculated on a per-wolf basis.