12 Feb -

In the morning, snow.  In the afternoon, we flew beneath an overcast sky and observed each of the packs that have radio-collared wolves: Middle Pack at a new kill site in the big Siskiwit Swamp; Chippewa Harbor Pack at a new kill site west of Chickenbone Lake, and East Pack traveling just south of Daisy Farm, pushing into the stronghold of Chippewa Harbor Pack territory.  We also observed tracks of a lone wolf at Conglomerate bay, and tracks of two wolves near the moose carcass at Lake Mason.

 

13 Feb -

Snow and wind in the morning.  Able to fly by 10:30am.  Middle Pack had spent the night and this morning at their kill site in the big swamp.  East Pack was bedded ~1/2 mile NNE of Daisy Farm.  Chippewa Harbor Pack was bedded at the southwest end of Harvey - the furtherest southwest we’ve seen CHP this year.  

     Quite by luck, we also observed some interesting interactions between two unidentified lone wolves, at ~1130am.  One wolf traveled NE on the north side of Siskiwit Bay, the other traveled southwest toward the first.  We saw both when they were ~300 yards apart, and before they saw each other.  When they did detect each other, at ~200 yards, the NE bound wolf ran - nearly full speed - about 1/2 mile onto the frozen ice of Siskiwit Bay, where it stopped, turned, and watched the shoreline.  The SW bound wolf stood still and watched.  After several minutes, the SW bound wolf continued on its way, presumably to MP’s kill site in the Siskiwit Swamp.  After passing, the NE bound returned to the shore and continued on its way.  These wolves likely didn’t know each other, and weren’t remarkably interested to become acquainted.    

     By late afternoon, EP had begun hunting and was north of Ojibway Tower.  CHP was scent marking and chasing moose between the Greenstone Ridge and the northeast end of Siskiwit Lake.  Middle Pack had traveled for most of the day and covered about 17 miles by the time they reached the NE end of Siskiwit Lake.  For the fifth time this season, we saw Paduka Pack. Well at least we saw two of the four wolves that make up PP.  They had usurped, at least for the time being, the site where CHP had killed a yesterday.  At about the same time we observed PP, we observed a lone wolf just a couple miles away traveling N up McCargo Cove - possibly a member of Paduka Pack.

    Over the past few weeks, CHP has been assaulted by territorial incursions from each of the other three packs.  Each pack has also spent time at one kill site or another within CHP territory.  However, it’s difficult to tell which pack is suffering most - CHP has been killing far more moose than the other packs.

    Today the resupply flight from Ely came - bringing Mark, Dave, and Leah, and taking George and Valena.  Mark and Dave went to Daisy Farm.

 

14 Feb -

    After sharing two productive weeks of counting moose and observing wolves, Don Murray Jr. left Isle Royale for the mainland.  

    During our afternoon flight, we found Middle Pack bedded just northeast of Lake Richie.  Until now this had been core territory of Chippewa Harbor Pack.  At the same time, we observed two of CHP’s wolves bedded just two miles to the east.  

    After making these observations, Don dropped me at a swamp just south of McDonald Lake.  From there I snowshoed south to necropsy the moose (see image) that CHP had killed a few days earlier, and that Paduka Pack had visited yesterday.  

    While hiking in on that kill site, Don picked Rolf up and took him to Hatchet Lake, where he hiked southwest to perform a necropsy on a moose that Paduka Pack killed several days earlier.  While Rolf and I were doing this work, Don flew and found East Pack at a new kill site a couple miles northeast of Lake Eva.

   At the end of the day, Don picked up me and my new cargo from the swamp where he had left me a few hours earlier.  As we flew home, we observed Middle Pack traveling deeper into CHP territory, just north of Lake Mason.  Tracks indicated that MP had been followed the two wolves of CHP that we’d had seen earlier today.  At the end of the day, four wolves of CHP were just about two miles ahead of MP, near Newt Lake.