Table 7. Habitat types in which the released wolves were located
| Habitat | No. of Locations | Percent of Total | Percent Available[12] |
| Northern Hardwoods | 43 | 48.3 | 40.9 |
| Northern Hardwoods-Coniferous[13] | (57) | ...[13] | ...[13] |
| Spruce-fir | 19 | 21.3 | 17.0 |
| Aspen-hardwoods | 11 | 12.4 | 20.5 |
| Elm-ash-maple | 1 | 1.1 | 4.5 |
| Pine | 2 | 2.2 | 5.5 |
| Oak | 0 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| Non-commercial forests | 0 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| Other (near towns, farms, dumps) | 13 | 14.6(8.9)[13] | 7.6 |
| __ | ______ | _____ | |
| Totals | 89(146) | 100.00 | 100.0 |
[12] Spencer and Pfeifer 1966.
[13] This forest type was not distinguished separately by Spencer and Pfeifer (1966), so they did not provide availability figures for it. Thus in this comparison, we did not include the 57 wolf locations that fell in the type. However in calculating percentage figures for non-forest areas (towns, farms, dumps), these 57 fixes could validly be used as representing forest locations.
Failure of Female No. 11 to Whelp
There was no sign that adult female No. 11 whelped or attempted to locate or construct a den. The usual gestation period for wolves is about 63 days (Brown 1936). Because No. 11 was seen coupled in copulation on February 12 and 16, she should have whelped between April 13 and April 21, if she had conceived. Probably she would have moved little during the preceding 2 or 3 weeks (Mech 1970). However no such changes in this animal's movements were noticed. The three wolves stayed near Kenton between April 15 and April 18 but also killed a deer during that time. They moved extensively from April 19 to May 7. The only indirect evidence that the female may have been pregnant was an observation made by a local citizen on April 5 (Table 6) who saw the three wolves and stated that the small wolf looked "fat." This would probably have been No. 11, but a full stomach could easily have been mistaken for pregnancy.
Unfortunately, neither the reproductive tract collected from No. 11 in September nor the blood sample taken in early March shed any light on the cause for the wolf's failure to produce pups. The ovaries did contain corpora albicantia, indicating that at some time the wolf had ovulated, but it could not be stated with certainty just when (R. D. Barnes, personal communication). The blood progesterone levels were more helpful. No. 11 had 3,560 picograms of progesterone per milliliter, compared to 56 picograms per milliliter for Wolf No. 10, whose reproductive tract appeared immature. This high progesterone level of No. 11 indicated that the animal had recently ovulated, but it was impossible to tell whether she was carrying any fetuses at the time the sample was taken (U. S. Seal, personal communication).
Demise of the Translocated Wolves
All four translocated wolves were killed by humans (Table 8). The alpha male (No. 12) was the first victim. He was found from the air in the same location on July 6 and 10. A ground check on July 11 showed him already decomposed. He lay about 60 feet (18.3 m) from paved highway US 141 north of Amasa (Fig. 22). The articular processes on the right side of his fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae were broken and inverted. Part of the process of the sixth cervical vertebra was lodged in the neural canal between the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae and would have exerted pressure on his spinal cord. His acrylic radio collar was also cracked on the right side in three places. We concluded that he had been struck and killed by an automobile. A scat found beneath the remains contained deer hair, so apparently the animal had been feeding not long before his death.
