Fig. 15.—The wolves often used woods roads for traveling (Photo by James Havemen)
Fig. 16.—The released wolves were sometimes observed from the aircraft feeding on deer they had killed (Photo by Richard P. Smith)
Movements of the Translocated Wolves
Wolf No. 10 never joined any of the other radioed wolves after their release, whereas the others generally remained as a pack. Thus the movements of the pack will be described separately from those of lone wolf No. 10.
Four phases were seen in the movements of the pack: (1) Post-Release Phase, March 12 to 14; (2) Directional Movement Phase, March 15 to 24; (3) Exploratory Phase, March 25 to May 7, and (4) Settled Phase, May 7 to July 6.
Post-Release Phase
This first phase of the wolves' movements, including the first 2 days after release, seemed to be characterized by confusion and indecision. On March 13, the morning after the release, the three wolves were separated, but all remained within 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south to west of the release site, the general direction in which they had headed upon release (Fig. 17). No. 11 and 13 were about a half-mile (0.8 km) apart in the morning, and by late afternoon, No. 13 apparently had joined No. 11. No. 12 remained about 2 miles away from the others all day, although he did move about a half-mile during the day. By the 14th, No. 11 and 13 had moved 2 miles southwestward, but were separated by a half-mile; No. 12 had moved only a half-mile west.