GPS tracking of 6 different wolf packs in Voyageurs National Park.

a reply to: putnam6

Any idea what the scale is? Just curious about the approximate size of the territories.

a reply to: IAMALLYETALLIAM

I have also heard "If you think you are wise think again". I have no idea who said that..lol

originally posted by: Skeletonized
Any idea what the scale is? Just curious about the approximate size of the territories.

No idea in the specific OP case. However, this is an interesting read for background...

Wolf behaviour

By nature wolves are very territorial animals. They can have a home range from 33 to 6,200 km2 but it depends on the type of wolf and where they reside. On average it is about 35 km2. This is quite a bit of territory for a single wolf pack to take over. That is why many of them overlap with others. It is seldom that these packs of wolves will come into contact with each other.

It is estimated that 50% of the territory of a wolf pack is covered daily.

a reply to: putnam6

Wow ... it is really incredible how they respect some kind of invisible (to us?) kind of mutually-exclusive 'borders', only rarely straying from their own usual hunting grounds.

This GPS study image makes me wonder: so ... the borders between packs appear clear, and, does that infer that there are probably other wolf packs working in the outside bordering areas that were not included in this study, in every direction?

Also, why do they stick to such distinct general areas?

a reply to: Fowlerstoad

They piss on trees to mark their territories.

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM

originally posted by: putnam6
Found this on Reddit, wasn't sure where to put it, Pets forum seemed inappropriate

GPS tracking of 6 different wolf packs in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. Notice how territorial they are and how much they avoid each other, although there's at least one wolf from the white pack who doesn't give a shift.

Very cool stuff! Quite interesting how territorial they are - guess it is natures inbuilt way of ensuring each pack stays sustainable and they don't eat eachother out of existence.

When I was in the US 8 years ago and people were desperate to know how on earth we dealt with all the dangerous wild life here.

Our response was give me snakes and spiders ANY day over the likes of wolves, bears, mountain lions and whatever the hell else is prowling around out there. Most people said they'd prefer dealing with the US animals as they could see them.

Deaths from snake and spider bites here are extremely rare.

My family and I watched a program on NatGeo on box jellyfish. That prospect of experiencing vicious, uncontrollable pain from a sting in a matter of seconds, possibly not close to shore, was pretty unnerving.

I'm a fan of Survivorman, and in one of his ordeals in The Outback, he mentioned that Australia has the highest concentration of poisonous creatures of anyplace on the planet, although he did mention the caveat that it's actually a huge tract of land (being a continent and all) so one's odds of encountering such fauna are still pretty low.

I think I'd agree with the idea of preferring to deal with potentially dangerous wildlife I can see, versus say box jellyfish or a king brown snake lurking in the shrubs, but I definitely envy all of the cool creatures you have Down Under!

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: Fowlerstoad

They piss on trees to mark their territories.

^^^ This, you beat me to it.

Just about any creature that reproduces sexually will mark territory, either by urinating or depositing scent gland secretions on landmarks, to ward off competitors.

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM

originally posted by: putnam6
Found this on Reddit, wasn't sure where to put it, Pets forum seemed inappropriate

GPS tracking of 6 different wolf packs in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. Notice how territorial they are and how much they avoid each other, although there's at least one wolf from the white pack who doesn't give a shift.

Very cool stuff! Quite interesting how territorial they are - guess it is natures inbuilt way of ensuring each pack stays sustainable and they don't eat eachother out of existence.

When I was in the US 8 years ago and people were desperate to know how on earth we dealt with all the dangerous wild life here.

Our response was give me snakes and spiders ANY day over the likes of wolves, bears, mountain lions and whatever the hell else is prowling around out there. Most people said they'd prefer dealing with the US animals as they could see them.

Deaths from snake and spider bites here are extremely rare.

I guess it's what you get used to dealing with I suppose.

That said with the deadly snakes and the cassowary and crocodiles, salties as if the sharks weren't enough of an ocean challenge. There is a reason Australia was settled first with prisoners and America was settled by clergy. Hell I've slept in the woods here before, at least in the southeast, its not bad, Australia just seems you are gonna need hyper awareness

I'm in the far south east whereas the saltwater crocodiles and cassowaries are all way up north, thousands of kilometers from me.

The most dangerous things we have here apart from snakes are the dingoes (native dogs/asiatic wolf) and the wild dogs which, judging by the shot ones I've seen hanging from trees in the high country can be as big as wolves. Oh, that and the yowies we are conversing about on my thread

We do however, have a disproportionate amount of the worlds most venomous snakes though.

Pretty much how it is here in the southeastern US. Only an occasional black bear and they will mostly run away. Rattlesnakes. Copperheads and Cottonmouths are plentiful not as deadly as the Australian versions but a biting encounter is likely gonna mess up your week. We got coyotes, bobcats but if we got bigger cats in the SE they are rare and elusive. We do have a wild boar and feral pig problem, but even they are charging at you can either shoot it or climb a tree. It's extremely rare to have a fatal bear encounter, except where Grizzlies might be found. While their range is expanding it's really just here and there out in the northwest. Mountain Lions are also mostly out west, there are big cat rumors in Kentucky and the Carolina's but those sightings are extremely rare.

Thanks for the info! Love learning about the environment and animals of other parts of the world.

There is also rumors and some evidence of big cats out in the Australian bush with many theories abounding such as they are escaped circus animals, were bought over as mascots of the US military in WW2 and some even suggesting they could be native, marsupial (carry their young in a pouch, only native Aussie animals do this!) big cats.

I have heard first hand stories from farmers and experienced bushmen who have seen these things along with anomalies like finding sheep carcasses up trees!

It's a big wide, wild world out there

I enjoy hearing about other places too. I've been fascinated by Australia, since watching the Earthling when I was a kid.
So anything Australian always catches my attention.

It looks so beautiful and diverse, along with a healthy dose of a little untamed. I'd love to visit there one time.

originally posted by: Skeletonized
a reply to: putnam6

Any idea what the scale is? Just curious about the approximate size of the territories.

Found this little nugget and accompanying article

In Voyageurs National Park a typical wolf pack territory is somewhere around 50-70 square miles but that can vary from year to year. So that’s about the size of the areas marked with the different colors. The white line marks the boundary of the national park.

I got interested in wolves after reading about them being reintroduced into Yellowstone and their positive effect on the environment and ecosystem there. Its like here in the southeast and southwest being overrun by feral hogs, coyotes and rumors of a diseased whitetail deer population, might be because they have no natural predators here anymore.

Here is an animation page showing where the map from the OP came from, along with other interesting discoveries.

www.voyageurswolfproject.org...

They have a pretty cool Facebook page
www.facebook.com...

Loads of information on their website.
www.voyageurswolfproject.org...

It's why reading stuff like this bothers me, no reason to cull the population that much when its effects on domesticated animals are so low. I'm sure Idaho ranchers and farmers feel different, by there has got to be a better balance.

www.theguardian.com...

The state of Idaho, new legislation signed days ago by Governor Brad Little will allow professional hunters and trappers to use helicopters, snowmobiles, ATVs, night vision equipment, snares, and other means to kill roughly 90% of the state’s wolves, knocking them down from an estimated 1,500 to 150. A group of retired state, federal and tribal wildlife managers wrote to Little asking him to veto the wolf kill bill, saying statewide livestock losses to wolves have been under 1% for cattle and 3% for sheep. The group further noted that the overall elk population has actually increased since wolves were reintroduced into Idaho more than two decades ago. It made no difference.

Why exterminate the wolves? To make the country safe for cattle and sheep; more productive for deer, elk, caribou and moose. To better fill hunters’ freezers with winter meat. To sell the pelts.

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM

originally posted by: putnam6
Found this on Reddit, wasn't sure where to put it, Pets forum seemed inappropriate

GPS tracking of 6 different wolf packs in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. Notice how territorial they are and how much they avoid each other, although there's at least one wolf from the white pack who doesn't give a shift.

Very cool stuff! Quite interesting how territorial they are - guess it is natures inbuilt way of ensuring each pack stays sustainable and they don't eat eachother out of existence.

When I was in the US 8 years ago and people were desperate to know how on earth we dealt with all the dangerous wild life here.

Our response was give me snakes and spiders ANY day over the likes of wolves, bears, mountain lions and whatever the hell else is prowling around out there. Most people said they'd prefer dealing with the US animals as they could see them.

Deaths from snake and spider bites here are extremely rare.

I’d rather deal with the furry animals than snakes, the fury animals tend to stay away. Snakes are just plane gross.

Wolves are like big tall German shepherds. Haha!

There's a lot of wolf piss marking those territories.

a reply to: putnam6
If you’ve ever been to Idaho, every hunter ive talked to is anti-wolf, almost to the extreme.

Being from AK, I’ve really not experienced that type of behavior, we just like listening to them howl, beautiful.

originally posted by: 38181
a reply to: putnam6
If you’ve ever been to Idaho, every hunter ive talked to is anti-wolf, almost to the extreme.

Being from AK, I’ve really not experienced that type of behavior, we just like listening to them howl, beautiful.

No, I've never been but heard its a beautiful state.

I'm wondering why the hunters are so anti-wolf? Do they really cull the elk moose and deer population that much? Are they a threat to hunters while they are hunting? I can understand farmers and ranchers being negative towards wolves.

That said Idahoans must agree if this guy is still Governor.

originally posted by: 38181
a reply to: putnam6
If you’ve ever been to Idaho, every hunter ive talked to is anti-wolf, almost to the extreme.

Being from AK, I’ve really not experienced that type of behavior, we just like listening to them howl, beautiful.

No, I've never been but heard its a beautiful state.

I'm wondering why the hunters are so anti-wolf? Do they really cull the elk moose and deer population that much? Are they a threat to hunters while they are hunting? I can understand farmers and ranchers being negative towards wolves.

That said Idahoans must agree if this guy is still Governor.

originally posted by: 38181
a reply to: putnam6
If you’ve ever been to Idaho, every hunter ive talked to is anti-wolf, almost to the extreme.

Being from AK, I’ve really not experienced that type of behavior, we just like listening to them howl, beautiful.

I'm originally from Idaho and I've been an Alaskan now for over 20 years. I think I can answer that.

For a couple of decades before the wolves were reintroduced, we were lied to about the wolves being gone and we knew it. I could have driven anyone, had I had the desire, to an area where they could find a pack of wolves. Farmers knew where they were and kept it to themselves to protect them.

One week before the first group of wolves were let loose in Yellowstone, I personally drove by a dying wolf that had been hit by a car in the park, where they were not supposed to exist, but did. The numbers had been kept quietly under control for a long while.

Two weeks later the State Biologist admitted publically he'd been lying all along about the wolves being extinct in Idaho, which did not go over well.

Before they imported the wolves, they gave the ranchers and farmers their word that they could defend their livestock from the wolves if need be. Of course, the first rancher who shot a wolf with a calf in its belly went straight to jail. He won in court but the people who released the wolves wanted him locked up forever.

In addition to putting the farmers' and ranchers' tenuous livelihoods at risk, the increasing wolf numbers started reducing the population of elk and mule deer. Wolf packs grow quickly, but then you know that.

Are you a hunter, rancher, or farmer? Have you ever relied on livestock to feed your family? The loss of even a few cattle can mean the difference between a good year and a bad year.

A few months after the wolves were imported I personally saw one on the side of the highway going up into Montana. It was stalking some calves in the field. Why they thought they could contain them inside the park or on wilderness land is beyond me. They go where the easiest prey is.

Of all the predator's wolves pose the most risk to both livestock and to game animals. Not controlling them is a fool's move and the product of illiterate activists work.