MY FIRST TIME
Many years ago, my wife and I were camped on a small gravel bar along the Yukon River, several miles east of Beaver, Alaska
During the first night of our encampment under a clear and crisp September night, snuggled up within our down sleeping bags without a tent, we were awakened in early morning by a voice across the river. We soon realized that we were being serenaded by two wolves, one up stream and one above our camp. First one, then the other howled as if chastizing our small party for intruding on their home ground.
To have heard the howl of a wolf within the backcountry is truely a memory to be cherished, especially for the first time.
"TRACKS"
The tracks of the Alaskan wolf are rather large by any measurement. I have measured many tracks as carefully and precise as I could within the Brooks Range of Alaska. I had to be most careful in not confusing the tracks of "Tiny", my Alaskan malamute with those of the resident wolf pack. In the opinion of this writer, wolf tracks are almost identical with those of domestic large breeds of dogs but only larger.
I have measured tundra wolf tracks measuring nearly 5 inches long and almost as wide in soft snow, mud, or wet sand. I have been told by area trappers, visiting biologists and various researchers that tracks from east-central Alaska can measure slightly over 6 inches.
What is confusing about measuring a track? It appeared to me on several occasions that the slightly smaller hind feet come down almost precisely on the prints of the forefeet, or wolves step in one anothers tracks just to fool us humans.
The best composed tracks measured by me within half-dried mud measured as follows:
Front feet measured 4 3/4 inches long by 3 7/8 inches wide. The hind feet measured 4 1/4 inches long by 3 inches wide. Measurements were taken in the field and are approximate. Instrument of measurement was a standard contractors type steel tape measure.
ANIMAL TRACKS "THE STORY"
The story of animals passing through our mountains and valleys is left by its tracks. Tracks consist of bent blades of grass, gnawed bone, broken seeds, the dragged body or tail of the animal. It is interesting to note that all prints of an animal are not the same as they depend on the following:
a.) The age of the animal.
b.) The movement of the animal..run,walk,etc.
c.) The material it is walking on..sand, mud, etc.
d.) The season.
e.) The age of the track.
Three Types of Tracks:
a.) Nail Walkers: (Deer, Horse & Caribou)
b.) Flat Walkers: (Squirrels, Bear, Raccoon)
c.) Toe Walkers: (Cat & Dog)
Quality of Tracks:
Surface:
a.) Dry Sand: Track rapidly collapse, not many details
b.) Very Wet Sand: Tracks fill with water and mud and disappears.
c.) Dry sand Surface: Ideal track when surface is dry but humid below.
d.) Humid Sand: Good track. Track size will increase upon drying.
e.) Humid Clay: Can dry and preserve the track.
f.) Humid Snow: Good Track.
g.) Crusty Snow: Track breaks crust but details lost in dry snow below.
h.) Grass: Track will be twisted and broken blades of grass.
Sun, Wind, and Rain Effects on a Track:
Weather: SUN
Tracks in sand will rapidly dry and cause sides to fall.
Tracks in snow will melt, enlarge hole, and obliterate details.
Tracks in rock will dry in a few minutes.
Weather: RAIN
Tracks in sand wash out.
Tracks in snow obliterate in the rain.
Tracks in rock will not reproduce. No tracks.
Weather: WIND
Tracks in the sand tend to dry and crack. Sides fall. Leaves sand and other debris deposits in the cavity.
Tracks in snow are poor as snow drifts across the track.
Tracks in rock will dry in a very few minutes.
Age Of Tracks:
Tracks made by animals "age" by the action of weather and other tracks being run over them. A track is made by the pressure of the weight of the animal on the ground and this pressure usually breaks the surface exposing humid soil or a lower layer of snow.
As soon as the track is made the weather will start acting (aging) on the track. It is my own personal experience that when frost crystals form on the track after a cold night, the track was made before the frost. If there is no frost, the track is recent.
A fresh track in the tundra (in snow) will have a crisp curl with snow particles kicked in the direction of movement. A track is old when evaporation or blown snow has dulled the crispness. Aging happens in a few hours as the sun dries the dew, frost, or humidity from a dirt track and the edges start to crumble.
"SCAT"
Admittedly I really don't know a whole lot about scat other than being in deep scat most of the time. BUT Linda my wife is a true collector of scat for analysis for many definitions.
It is Linda's opinion after years of collecting and disecting scat of many species that the scat of the wolf can and is confused with domesticated dog when residential territories over lap or cross as they often do with our dwindling wilderness areas and with the intrusion of humans more and more into the back country.
Average size of scat as measured by Linda on numerous occasions usually measured in the neighborhood of 3 inches to a solid 6 inches in length. Isn't that interesting?
Analysis of scat can tell us the general health of a single wolf or the overall health of a speific resident pack. We can tell what the wolf or wolves have been eating at various times of the year by disection and analysis of their droppings.
Wolves will eat hares, rabbits, grouse, ptarmigan, waterfowl, beavers, marmots, mice, and the like. A diet of small species is insufficient, however. Linda and I have been told by professional wildlife biologists that mice constitute a fare amount of the wolfs diet only on occasional summer days when mice are plentifully available. To survive on a diet of mice, a grown wolf would have to capture more than five dozen daily. You ask how we arrive at that computation? By research involving the analysis of the wolfs scat.
THE ULTIMATE GIFT
My Grandfather left me a treasure chest of heart felt sentimental memories but his greatest gift of life to me was "much greater" for it was a view into the vision of nature itself and impreganted with love and uderstanding for the natural world.
I have always known that my granfathers teachings, his words of encouragement, his valued suggestions, his creations, his insights into game behavior and habitat were instrumental in strengthening my bond with nature itself.
As fourth generation hunters and harvesters, my grandfather believed that for the hunter/harvester to survive in the world of today, he or she must recant the absurb modern belief in conquering nature and instead to be guided by it. We believe the modern day harvester has a special incentive to investigate natures mysteries.
Throughout the years, I yearned and learned the hare as intimately as the Bobcat knows it, and learned to know the Bobcat equally as well.
The track in the snow, the browsed leaf, the game bed, told me not only what that specific species had been doing and where it was likely to be, but also how it lives. Each revelation strengthened my own "personal bond" with nature. Thanks to my Grandfather.
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