Weekly Summer Diet of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) in Northeastern Minnesota

Gable, Thomas D.; Windels, Steve K.; Bruggink, John G.; Barber‐Meyer, Shannon M.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031-179.1.15

Cited by 39 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Though wild berries do not provide as much caloric value as mammalian meat (0.51 kcal/g vs. 1.87 kcal/g respectively; Gable et al 2017 b ) and are likely less digestible for wolves than mammalian meat, their abundance and relatively low risk and energetic cost to obtain likely makes berries a valuable alternate food source for wolves. We think this unique observation, in combination with previous research in the GVE (Gable et al 2017 a , 2018 a ), provides another example of the potential importance of berries as a food source for wolves. Given the dearth of information on the role of berries in wolf ecology, we think considerable research is needed to understand the importance of wild berries to wolves.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…The GVE's landscape was dominated by southern boreal forests, aquatic habitat, and numerous lakes. Wolves in the GVE primarily preyed upon adult and neonatal white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ; density = 2–4 deer/km 2 ; Gable et al 2018 a ) and beavers ( Castor canadensis ; density = ~1 colony/km 2 ; Gable et al 2018 a ). Wolf densities during summer were 4–6 wolves/100 km 2 (Gable et al 2016).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wolves ( Canis lupus ) are cursorial predators that primarily hunt and kill mammalian prey. However, wolves are also opportunistic generalists that can capitalize on abundant nonmammal foods such as garbage, bear bait piles, and fruits (Mech et al 2015, Gable et al 2018 a ). In southern boreal ecosystems, such as northern Minnesota, USA, wild berries (mainly Vaccinium spp.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Berry Important? Wolf Provisions Pups with Berries in Northern Minnesota

Homkes¹,

Gable

Windels³

et al. 2020

Wildl. Soc. Bull.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wolves (Canis lupus) primarily provision pups by catching mammalian prey and bringing remains of the carcass to the pups at a den or rendezvous site via their mouths or stomach. In August 2017, we observed an adult wolf regurgitating wild blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) to pups at a rendezvous site in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, Minnesota, USA, which is the only known observation of wolves provisioning pups with wild berries. This observation, in combination with other evidence from the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, suggests wild berries might be a more valuable food source for wolves in southern boreal ecosystems than previously appreciated. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Berry Important? Wolf Provisions Pups with Berries in Northern Minnesota

Homkes¹,

Gable

Windels³

et al. 2020

Wildl. Soc. Bull.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When close to deep water, though, this defense could make the difference between the wolf killing the beaver and the beaver escaping into the water. In Voyageurs National Park, live‐captured beavers have had healed puncture tail wounds presumably from wolves (the main predators of beavers in that system), indicating beavers do escape wolves even after being attacked on land (Gable et al ). It is worth noting that the beaver (presumably a sub‐adult) from our observation was not large (~10 kg).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Gable et al. ). Our understanding of wolf predation during this period is relatively poor (Palacios and Mech , Metz et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Do wolves ambush beavers? Video evidence for higher‐order hunting strategies

Gable

Stanger²,

Windels³

et al. 2018

Ecosphere

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Over the past decade, there has been much debating about whether wolves possess high-order cognitive abilities that facilitate deliberate or cooperative hunting strategies such as ambush to capture prey. Beavers can be important alternate or primary prey for wolves in North America and Europe, but no observations of wolves hunting and killing beavers exist. We describe the first documented observation of a gray wolf killing a beaver, an observation that has provided valuable insight into how beavers defend themselves when attacked by wolves, how wolves hunt beavers, and the predatory strategies and cognitive abilities of wolves. Our observation confirms that wolves do hunt and kill beavers by surprising and ambushing them, which demonstrates that wolves have a unique ability to switch between cursorial and ambush hunting strategies depending on the prey. We suggest that wolves learn how to hunt beavers using high-order mental abilities combined with information learned from prior interactions with beavers.

show abstract

Logging, linear features, and human infrastructure shape the spatial dynamics of wolf predation on an ungulate neonate

Johnson‐Bice,

Gable,

Homkes

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Humans are increasingly recognized as important players in predator‐prey dynamics by modifying landscapes. This trend has been well‐documented for large mammal communities in North American boreal forests: logging creates early seral forests that benefit ungulates like white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), while the combination of infrastructure development and resource extraction practices generate linear features that allow predators like wolves (Canis lupus) to travel and forage more efficiently throughout the landscape. Disturbances from recreational activities and residential development are other major sources of human activity in boreal ecosystems that may further alter wolf–ungulate dynamics. Here, we evaluate the influence that several major types of anthropogenic landscape modifications (timber harvest, linear features, and residential infrastructure) have on where and how wolves hunt ungulate neonates in a southern boreal forest ecosystem in Minnesota, USA. We demonstrate that each major anthropogenic disturbance significantly influences wolf predation of white‐tailed deer fawns (n=427 kill sites). In contrast to the ‘human shield hypothesis’ that posits prey use human‐modified areas as refuge, wolves killed fawns closer to residential buildings than expected based on spatial availability. Fawns were also killed within recently‐logged areas more than expected. Concealment cover was higher at kill sites than random sites, suggesting wolves use senses other than vision, likely olfaction, to detect hidden fawns. Wolves showed strong selection for hunting along linear features, and kill sites were also closer to linear features than expected. We hypothesize linear features facilitated wolf predation on fawns by allowing wolves to travel efficiently among high‐quality prey patches (recently logged areas, near buildings), and also increase encounter rates with olfactory cues that allow them to detect hidden fawns. These findings provide novel insight into the strategies predators use to hunt ungulate neonates and the many ways human activity alters wolf–ungulate neonate predator‐prey dynamics, which have remained elusive due to the challenges of locating sites where predators kill small prey. Our research has important management and conservation implications for wolf–ungulate systems subjected to anthropogenic pressures, particularly as the range of overlap between wolves and deer expands and appears to be altering food web dynamics in boreal ecosystems.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

show abstract

Weekly Summer Diet of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) in Northeastern Minnesota

Cited by 39 publications

References 36 publications

Berry Important? Wolf Provisions Pups with Berries in Northern Minnesota

Berry Important? Wolf Provisions Pups with Berries in Northern Minnesota

Do wolves ambush beavers? Video evidence for higher‐order hunting strategies

Logging, linear features, and human infrastructure shape the spatial dynamics of wolf predation on an ungulate neonate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About