Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration Commons^™

Dynamics, Movements, And Feeding Ecology Of A Newly Protected Wolf Population In Northwestern Minnesota, Steven H. Fritts, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The gray wolf Canis lupus occupies only about 1 percent of its former range in the lower 48 states (Mech 1974a). Most of the range is in northern Minnesota, where the resident population is classified as "threatened" by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Wolves have been and will continue to be the subject of considerable controversy in Minnesota.

The first scientific study of wolves in Minnesota was conducted by Olson (1938a,b). That and all subsequent re- search was in the Superior National Forest (SNF) of northeastern Minnesota even though wolves inhabit approximately the northern third of the state. Consequently, …

Deer Social Organization And Wolf Predation In Northeastern Minnesota, Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus has been subject to intensive research and management, yet we are just beginning to understand its social organization. Little is known about home range formation, migration, social bonds, and traditions in this deer, what functions they serve, and what selective forces have affected them.

Predation by wolves Canis lupus, in particular, has not been examined as a factor in deer evolution, yet the intimate interactions between deer and wolf through the millennia no doubt strongly influenced major morphological and behavioral adaptations in both species. It is a reasonable assumption that wolf predation has been …

Population Regulation In Wolves, Jane M. Packard, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The possibility of social regulation of wolf populations has been discussed in the literature for several years. Some of the first ecological studies of wolves indicated that their populations did not increase as rapidly as was theoretically possible, and that they reached a saturation point apparently not set by food. Subsequent captive studies demonstrated the existence of social mechanisms possibly capable of regulating population growth. However, the importance of these factors in wild populations has not been established. This paper has four objectives: (1) to evaluate the existing concept of "intrinsic limitation," (2) to propose that wolf population dynamics may …

Wolf Howling And Its Role In Territory Maintenance, Fred H. Harrington, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The wolf (Canis lupus) is a wide-ranging social carnivore with a complex spatial organization (MECH, 1972; 1973). The precise manner in which this organization is maintained is unknown, but territory advertisement using olfactory and acoustic modes seems to be involved.

The acoustic mode includes primarily howling. Within a wolf pack, howling may be useful to reassemble separated members (MECH, 1966; THEBERGE & FALLS, 1967), and may communicate information on individual identity, location, and other behavioral and environmental contingencies (THEBERGE & FALLS, 1967). Between packs, however, howling may serve to advertise territory, communicating the locations of packs and thus …

Relating Wolf Scat Content To Prey Consumed, Theodore J. Floyd, L. David Mech, Peter A. Jordan

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

In 9 trials, captive wolves (Canis lupus) were fed prey varying in size from snowshoe (Lepus americanus) to adult deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and the resulting scats were counted. collectible scats were distinguished from liquid, noncollectible stools. In collectible scats, the small prey occurred in greater proportion relative to the prey's weight, and in lesser proportion to the prey's numbers, than did the remains of larger prey. A regression equation with an excellent the data (r² = 0.97) was derived to estimate the weight of prey eaten per collectible scat for With this information …

Productivity, Mortality, And Population Trends Of Wolves In Northeastern Minnesota, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Population parameters, mortality causes, and mechanisms of a population decline were studied in wolves (Canis lupus lycaon) from 1968 to 1976 in the Superior National Forest. The main method was aerial radio-tracking of 129 wolves and their packmates. Due to a decline in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the wolf population decreased during most of the study. Average annual productivity varied from 1.5 to 3.3 pups per litter, and annual mortality rates from 7 to 65 percent. Malnutrition and intraspecific strife accounted equally for 58 percent of the mortality; human causes accounted for the remainder. As wolf …

Wolf-Pack Buffer Zones As Prey Reservoirs, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Abstract. In a declining herd, surviving deer inhabited overlapping edges of wolf- pack territories. There, wolves hunted little until desperate, in order to avoid fatal encounters with neighbors. Such encounters reduce wolf numbers and predation pressure and apparently allow surviving deer along territory edges to repopulate the area through dispersal of their prime, less vulnerable offspring into territory cores.

Research In National Parks, Robert J. Baker, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

This was our first involvement with research in the National Parks and we would like to make some observations concerning interactions among basic researchers, park personnel, and the philosophy on which our park systems are based. Our conclusions are not based only on our own experiences, but also on conversations with other basic researchers (especially those who contributed to this symposium) and with park personnel who have aided and worked with other researchers who were not employed by the National Park Service.

Canis Lupus., L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Order Carnivora, Family Canidae. The genus Canis includes eight species. Approxi- mately 24 New World and eight Old World subspecies of C. lupus are recognized, the number depending on authorities accepted. For summary, see Mech (1970); for full synonymy, see Pocock (1935), Goldman (1944), Ellerman and Morrison- Scott (1951), Novikov (1956), and Hall and Kelson (1959).

The Bobwhite Quail, Norm Dey, Jack Sinn

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

A Year with the Bobwhite

Population Dynamics—Managing the Variables

The Way to Quail Abundance

The Ring-Necked Pheasant In Nebraska, William L. Baxter, Carl W. Wolfe

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Ringneck—Its Past and Prospects: A most successful exotic, pheasant numbers are declining

Nuptial Rites and Nesting: Spring recoups winter’s losses

Summer Broods: While cocks undergo their annual moult, hens enter the brooding period; for eight weeks, hens attend chicks

Hunting the Ring-necked Pheasant

Season of Testing: Nebraska’s winters test a pheasant’s mettle, but given good cover and an adequate food supply, the ringneck is almost impervious to the elements

Methods of Management

Factors Affecting Nesting Success Of The Canvasback In The Aspen Parklands, Jerome H. Stoudt

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The Minnedosa study area is located in the southwestern portion of Manitoba just south of the town of Minnedosa. It is 90 square miles in size and roughly square in shape. The Aspen Parkland, in which the study area is located, is characterized by gently rolling terrain and black soils. Mixed farming is the rule with emphasis on small grain production consisting of wheat, barley, and oats. Roughly 50 percent of the water areas in the parkland are ringed with aspen, Populus tremuloides, and large blocks of aspen are interspersed throughout the area. The Minnedosa area differs because of …

Progress ’61: 1961 Annual Report

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Table of Contents

Commissioners ... 2

Director's Message ... 3

Game ... 4

Fisheries ... 10

Parks ... 14

Federal Aid ... 18

Information and Tourism ... 20

Engineering and Operations ... 24

Land Management ... 26

Law Enforcement ... 28

Boating ... 30

Financial ... 31

Progress ’60: 1960 Annual Report

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Table of Contents

Commissioners … 2

Fisheries … 3

Game … 8

Parks … 14

Information and Tourism … 18

Federal Aid … 21

Engineering … 26

Law Enforcement … 28

Communications … 29

Boating … 30

Financial statement … 31

Permit sales by county … 35