PREDATOR, PREY RELATIONSHIPS
I HAVE BEEN READING A NEW BOOK ENTITLED, “RESTORING THE BALANCE”, WHAT WOLVES TELL US ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE. IT IS BASICALLY A HISTORICAL RECORD OF FIELD NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, BY SEVERAL DOCTORIAL CANDIDATES THAT WERE STUDYING THE WOLF – MOOSE PREDATOR PREY RELATIONSHIPS ON ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK. DR. DURWOOD ALLEN INITIATED THE STUDY PROJECT IN 1958 AFTER FINDING THIS SOMEWHAT CLOSED ECOSYSTEM OFF THE COAST OF MICHIGAN. THE CANADIAN BORDER IS CLOSE ENOUGH THAT THERE IS AN OCCASIONAL ICE BRIDGE THAT FORMS BETWEEN THE ISLAND AND THE MAIN LAND, ALLOWING WOLVES TO COLONIZE THE ISLAND IN THE 1940’S. BEING AN ISLAND, OFFERED A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN A SOME WHAT CLOSED ECOSYSTEM.
WHEN I FIRST FOUND THE BOOK IT REMINDED ME OF PAST CONNECTIONS I HAD MADE WITH THE STUDY. IN 1964, I PRESENTED A PAPER AT THE MIDWEST WILDLIFE CONFERENCE AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, ON A VEGETATIVE INVENTORY PROCESS I HAD COMPLETED IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI. THE RESULTS WERE BEING USED BY THE MISSOURI STATE TURKEY BIOLOGISTS TO DETERMINE WHERE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS WOULD PROVIDE THE BEST RESULTS TO SUPPORT LARGER TURKEY POPULATIONS. FOLLOWING MY PRESENTATION, I WAS PRIVILEGED TO HEAR DR. ALLEN’S PROGRAM ON THE ISLE ROYALE WOLF STUDY.
SEVERAL YEARS LATER, I WAS ASSIGNED TO A DISTRICT RANGER POSITION ON THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST. DR. DAVID MECH HAD COMPLETED HIS DOCTORATE UNDER DR. ALLEN, AND WAS INITIATING A STUDY OF THE WOLF POPULATION IN NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA. THE FOCUS WAS ON THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA. MY COLLEGE ROOMMATE’S FATHER WAS A PROFESSIONAL TRAPPER, AND HAD BEEN SELECTED TO CONDUCT THE TRAPPING NECESSARY TO OUTFIT THE WOLVES WITH RADIO COLLARS. I SPENT TWO YEARS HELPING SUPPORT DR. MECH’S PROJECT, AND EXPERIENCED SEVERAL LIFE-CHANGING EVENTS WITH INDIVIDUAL WOLF ENCOUNTERS I WAS PRIVILEGED TO OBSERVE.
I REMEMBERED A FEW EXPERIENCES THAT HIGHLIGHTED MY CONTACTS WITH WOLVES. THEY ARE A MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL WITH A VERY STRONG SOCIAL ORDER WITHIN THE PACK. OUR HEADQUARTERS WERE LOCATED IN ELY, MINNESOTA WITH THE DISTRICT BEING JUST NORTHEAST OF THE COMMUNITY. THE LOCAL MAYOR, WHO WAS ALSO A MEDICAL DOCTOR, BECAME INTERESTED IN DR. MECH’S PROJECT AND INDICATED HE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SPENDING SOME TIME OBSERVING. A SHORT TIME LATER DAVE CALLED AND INFORMED ME HE HAD A MALE WOLF READY TO EXAMINE AND I SHOULD SEE IF THE MAYOR WAS AVAILABLE TO COME OUT. I PICKED THE MAYOR UP AND A SHORT TIME LATER WE WERE AT THE SITE. THE WOLF WAS A LARGE MALE THAT APPEARED NOT TO HAVE FED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. HE HAD BEEN TRANQUILIZED AND THE MAYOR WAS INTERESTED IN A PHOTOGRAPH WITH THE WOLF. MECH SUGGESTED THE MAYOR GET CLOSER TO THE WOLF AS I RAISED THE HEAD OF THE WOLF FOR THE PICTURE. WHEN I DID THE WOLF MADE A GRUNT NOISE WHICH SENT THE MAYOR RUNNING UP THE BANK FOR SAFETY. WE DID FINALLY GET THE PICTURE.
ANOTHER TIME AS WE WERE FLYING AND LOOKING FOR A RADIO COLLARED WOLF, WE SPOTTED A LONE WOLF ATTEMPTING TO SNEAK UP ON A DEER THAT WAS OUT ON A FROZEN LAKE. AFTER GETTING AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE, THE WOLF MAD A DASH FOR THE DEER. THE SOFT SNOW SWIRLED AROUND THE PAIR, AND WHEN IT FINALLY SETTLED, THE WOLF WAS ON THE BOTTOM AND THE DEER WAS STOMPING IT WITH IT’S FRONT HOOVES. THE WOLF FINALLY DECIDED THERE MUST BE AN EASIER WAY AND LEFT.
MY FINAL MEMORY CAME WHEN MECH LEARNED THAT CANADIAN BIOLOGISTS HAD BEEN HANDLING SOME WOLVES WITHOUT TRANQUILIZING THEM. THIS PARTICULAR DAY THEY HAD TRAPPED A SMALL FEMALE WOLF AND DECIDED TO FITTING A RADIO COLLAR WITHOUT TRANQUILIZING HER. WITH A FORKED STICK OVER HER NECK, THE TWO HELPERS REMOVED HER FROM THE TRAP, WEIGHED AND MEASURED HER AND PLACED THE COLLAR ON HER. SHE LAY PERFECTLY STILL, SEEMING TO BE IN A COMMA. ONE HELPER DECIDED TO GET A PHOTO OF HER WHEN SHE RECOVERED. SHE LAID THERE FOR OVER A HALF HOUR, SUDDENLY BOLTED AND WAS GONE BEFORE A PICTURE COULD BE TAKEN.
THE BOOK OBVIOUSLY BROUGHT BACK FOND MEMORIES, BUT MY INTEREST IN THE BOOK WAS BASED ON MY DESIRE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD. UNFORTUNATELY, THE BOOK PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON FINITE DETAILS OF OBSERVATIONS AND FIELD NOTES FROM SEVERAL STUDENTS THAT HAD STUDIED PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WOLVES AND MOOSE ON ISLE ROYALE. THE STUDIES HAVE PROVIDE IMPORTANT INSIGHT INTO THE IMPACT PREDATION CAN HAVE ON POPULATION LEVELS AND DEMONSTRATE HOW POPULATION FLUCTUATION’S CAN IMPACT OTHER SPECIES SUCH AS VEGETATION. THE BOOK IS OBVIOUSLY NOT WRITTEN FOR GENERAL CONSUMPTION. THE PREFACE OVER-SELLS THE CONTENTS AND LEADS TO DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MOST READERS.
THE STUDIES ON ISLE ROYALE OFFER INFORMATION THAT NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR COMPARISON WITH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE HUMANITY HAS EVER FACED. HUMANS ARE A PREDATOR SPECIES AND OUR WORLDWIDE POPULATION IS STRESSING EARTH’S ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED RESOURCES AND ENERGY TO SUSTAIN LIFE ON OUR PLANET. ARE WE RAPIDLY APPROACHING THE LIMITS OF EARTH’S CARRYING CAPACITY? WE HAVE STUDIED AND OBSERVED NUMEROUS SITUATIONS WERE NON-HUMAN SPECIES HAVE EXCEEDED THEIR ECOSYSTEM’S ABILITY TO SUSTAIN POPULATION NUMBERS. DISEASE AND STARVATION BECOME NATURE’S METHOD OF TRYING TO RESTORE BALANCE. THIS STUDY DISCLOSES THE FACT THAT LOSS OF DIVERSITY AND INBREEDING CAN CONTRIBUTE TO MAJOR POPULATION DECLINES. IT DEMONSTRATES HOW OVER POPULATIONS OF MOOSE ADVERSELY EFFECT THE BALSAM FIR TREE GROWTH AND REPRODUCTIVE RATES RESULTING IN THE LOSS OF THE MAJOR VEGETATIVE FOOD SOURCE FOR THE MOOSE. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.
CHAPTER 10, THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, FINALLY GOT MY ATTENTION. THE AUTHOR FINISHED BY PRESENTING HIS ANALYSIS OF HOW THE YEARS OF STUDYING THE PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ISLE ROYALE’S WOLVES AND MOOSE RELATES TO HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD. HE CONCLUDES THAT,” HUMANS KILL IN THE NAME OF CONSERVATION, AND TYPICALLY ARE CULPABLE FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MOTIVATED THE KILLING”. “HUMANS HAVE A LONG-RUNNING TENSION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM.” THE QUESTION; IS HOW DO WE ENERGIZE PEOPLE TO APPRECIATE HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD?
I WISH I KNEW HOW TO ELEVATE THE CONCERNS OF PEOPLE TO GET THEM TO REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE NATURAL WORLD, WE AND THE OTHER LIFE SYSTEMS DEPEND UPON FOR SURVIVAL! IN OUR QUEST FOR FREEDOM AND NORMALCY, WE THROUGH CAUTION TO THE WIND AND IGNORE WHAT LIES AHEAD. JUST OBSERVE THE CURRENT COVID SITUATION. WE ARE TRIED OF BEING RESTRICTED FROM OUR NORMAL ACTIVITIES, SO WE IGNORE COMMON SENSE PROTECTION METHODS.
THERE IS MUCH TO LEARN AND MUCH TO ACCOMPLISH IF WE WANT TO ACHIEVE OUR DESIRED FUTURE! WE SEEM OPEN TO POLITICAL MIS-INFORMATION AND LIES, YET FAIL TO ACCEPT PROVEN SCIENTIFIC DATA AND STATICS ABOUT WHAT HUMANITY IS DOING TO THE NATURAL WORLD. WE WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!
I HAVE BEEN READING A NEW BOOK ENTITLED, “RESTORING THE BALANCE”, WHAT WOLVES TELL US ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE. IT IS BASICALLY A HISTORICAL RECORD OF FIELD NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, BY SEVERAL DOCTORIAL CANDIDATES THAT WERE STUDYING THE WOLF – MOOSE PREDATOR PREY RELATIONSHIPS ON ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK. DR. DURWOOD ALLEN INITIATED THE STUDY PROJECT IN 1958 AFTER FINDING THIS SOMEWHAT CLOSED ECOSYSTEM OFF THE COAST OF MICHIGAN. THE CANADIAN BORDER IS CLOSE ENOUGH THAT THERE IS AN OCCASIONAL ICE BRIDGE THAT FORMS BETWEEN THE ISLAND AND THE MAIN LAND, ALLOWING WOLVES TO COLONIZE THE ISLAND IN THE 1940’S. BEING AN ISLAND, OFFERED A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN A SOME WHAT CLOSED ECOSYSTEM.
WHEN I FIRST FOUND THE BOOK IT REMINDED ME OF PAST CONNECTIONS I HAD MADE WITH THE STUDY. IN 1964, I PRESENTED A PAPER AT THE MIDWEST WILDLIFE CONFERENCE AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, ON A VEGETATIVE INVENTORY PROCESS I HAD COMPLETED IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI. THE RESULTS WERE BEING USED BY THE MISSOURI STATE TURKEY BIOLOGISTS TO DETERMINE WHERE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS WOULD PROVIDE THE BEST RESULTS TO SUPPORT LARGER TURKEY POPULATIONS. FOLLOWING MY PRESENTATION, I WAS PRIVILEGED TO HEAR DR. ALLEN’S PROGRAM ON THE ISLE ROYALE WOLF STUDY.
SEVERAL YEARS LATER, I WAS ASSIGNED TO A DISTRICT RANGER POSITION ON THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST. DR. DAVID MECH HAD COMPLETED HIS DOCTORATE UNDER DR. ALLEN, AND WAS INITIATING A STUDY OF THE WOLF POPULATION IN NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA. THE FOCUS WAS ON THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA. MY COLLEGE ROOMMATE’S FATHER WAS A PROFESSIONAL TRAPPER, AND HAD BEEN SELECTED TO CONDUCT THE TRAPPING NECESSARY TO OUTFIT THE WOLVES WITH RADIO COLLARS. I SPENT TWO YEARS HELPING SUPPORT DR. MECH’S PROJECT, AND EXPERIENCED SEVERAL LIFE-CHANGING EVENTS WITH INDIVIDUAL WOLF ENCOUNTERS I WAS PRIVILEGED TO OBSERVE.
I REMEMBERED A FEW EXPERIENCES THAT HIGHLIGHTED MY CONTACTS WITH WOLVES. THEY ARE A MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL WITH A VERY STRONG SOCIAL ORDER WITHIN THE PACK. OUR HEADQUARTERS WERE LOCATED IN ELY, MINNESOTA WITH THE DISTRICT BEING JUST NORTHEAST OF THE COMMUNITY. THE LOCAL MAYOR, WHO WAS ALSO A MEDICAL DOCTOR, BECAME INTERESTED IN DR. MECH’S PROJECT AND INDICATED HE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SPENDING SOME TIME OBSERVING. A SHORT TIME LATER DAVE CALLED AND INFORMED ME HE HAD A MALE WOLF READY TO EXAMINE AND I SHOULD SEE IF THE MAYOR WAS AVAILABLE TO COME OUT. I PICKED THE MAYOR UP AND A SHORT TIME LATER WE WERE AT THE SITE. THE WOLF WAS A LARGE MALE THAT APPEARED NOT TO HAVE FED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. HE HAD BEEN TRANQUILIZED AND THE MAYOR WAS INTERESTED IN A PHOTOGRAPH WITH THE WOLF. MECH SUGGESTED THE MAYOR GET CLOSER TO THE WOLF AS I RAISED THE HEAD OF THE WOLF FOR THE PICTURE. WHEN I DID THE WOLF MADE A GRUNT NOISE WHICH SENT THE MAYOR RUNNING UP THE BANK FOR SAFETY. WE DID FINALLY GET THE PICTURE.
ANOTHER TIME AS WE WERE FLYING AND LOOKING FOR A RADIO COLLARED WOLF, WE SPOTTED A LONE WOLF ATTEMPTING TO SNEAK UP ON A DEER THAT WAS OUT ON A FROZEN LAKE. AFTER GETTING AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE, THE WOLF MAD A DASH FOR THE DEER. THE SOFT SNOW SWIRLED AROUND THE PAIR, AND WHEN IT FINALLY SETTLED, THE WOLF WAS ON THE BOTTOM AND THE DEER WAS STOMPING IT WITH IT’S FRONT HOOVES. THE WOLF FINALLY DECIDED THERE MUST BE AN EASIER WAY AND LEFT.
MY FINAL MEMORY CAME WHEN MECH LEARNED THAT CANADIAN BIOLOGISTS HAD BEEN HANDLING SOME WOLVES WITHOUT TRANQUILIZING THEM. THIS PARTICULAR DAY THEY HAD TRAPPED A SMALL FEMALE WOLF AND DECIDED TO FITTING A RADIO COLLAR WITHOUT TRANQUILIZING HER. WITH A FORKED STICK OVER HER NECK, THE TWO HELPERS REMOVED HER FROM THE TRAP, WEIGHED AND MEASURED HER AND PLACED THE COLLAR ON HER. SHE LAY PERFECTLY STILL, SEEMING TO BE IN A COMMA. ONE HELPER DECIDED TO GET A PHOTO OF HER WHEN SHE RECOVERED. SHE LAID THERE FOR OVER A HALF HOUR, SUDDENLY BOLTED AND WAS GONE BEFORE A PICTURE COULD BE TAKEN.
THE BOOK OBVIOUSLY BROUGHT BACK FOND MEMORIES, BUT MY INTEREST IN THE BOOK WAS BASED ON MY DESIRE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD. UNFORTUNATELY, THE BOOK PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON FINITE DETAILS OF OBSERVATIONS AND FIELD NOTES FROM SEVERAL STUDENTS THAT HAD STUDIED PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WOLVES AND MOOSE ON ISLE ROYALE. THE STUDIES HAVE PROVIDE IMPORTANT INSIGHT INTO THE IMPACT PREDATION CAN HAVE ON POPULATION LEVELS AND DEMONSTRATE HOW POPULATION FLUCTUATION’S CAN IMPACT OTHER SPECIES SUCH AS VEGETATION. THE BOOK IS OBVIOUSLY NOT WRITTEN FOR GENERAL CONSUMPTION. THE PREFACE OVER-SELLS THE CONTENTS AND LEADS TO DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MOST READERS.
THE STUDIES ON ISLE ROYALE OFFER INFORMATION THAT NEEDS ANALYSIS FOR COMPARISON WITH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE HUMANITY HAS EVER FACED. HUMANS ARE A PREDATOR SPECIES AND OUR WORLDWIDE POPULATION IS STRESSING EARTH’S ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED RESOURCES AND ENERGY TO SUSTAIN LIFE ON OUR PLANET. ARE WE RAPIDLY APPROACHING THE LIMITS OF EARTH’S CARRYING CAPACITY? WE HAVE STUDIED AND OBSERVED NUMEROUS SITUATIONS WERE NON-HUMAN SPECIES HAVE EXCEEDED THEIR ECOSYSTEM’S ABILITY TO SUSTAIN POPULATION NUMBERS. DISEASE AND STARVATION BECOME NATURE’S METHOD OF TRYING TO RESTORE BALANCE. THIS STUDY DISCLOSES THE FACT THAT LOSS OF DIVERSITY AND INBREEDING CAN CONTRIBUTE TO MAJOR POPULATION DECLINES. IT DEMONSTRATES HOW OVER POPULATIONS OF MOOSE ADVERSELY EFFECT THE BALSAM FIR TREE GROWTH AND REPRODUCTIVE RATES RESULTING IN THE LOSS OF THE MAJOR VEGETATIVE FOOD SOURCE FOR THE MOOSE. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.
CHAPTER 10, THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, FINALLY GOT MY ATTENTION. THE AUTHOR FINISHED BY PRESENTING HIS ANALYSIS OF HOW THE YEARS OF STUDYING THE PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ISLE ROYALE’S WOLVES AND MOOSE RELATES TO HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD. HE CONCLUDES THAT,” HUMANS KILL IN THE NAME OF CONSERVATION, AND TYPICALLY ARE CULPABLE FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MOTIVATED THE KILLING”. “HUMANS HAVE A LONG-RUNNING TENSION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM.” THE QUESTION; IS HOW DO WE ENERGIZE PEOPLE TO APPRECIATE HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD?
I WISH I KNEW HOW TO ELEVATE THE CONCERNS OF PEOPLE TO GET THEM TO REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE NATURAL WORLD, WE AND THE OTHER LIFE SYSTEMS DEPEND UPON FOR SURVIVAL! IN OUR QUEST FOR FREEDOM AND NORMALCY, WE THROUGH CAUTION TO THE WIND AND IGNORE WHAT LIES AHEAD. JUST OBSERVE THE CURRENT COVID SITUATION. WE ARE TRIED OF BEING RESTRICTED FROM OUR NORMAL ACTIVITIES, SO WE IGNORE COMMON SENSE PROTECTION METHODS.
THERE IS MUCH TO LEARN AND MUCH TO ACCOMPLISH IF WE WANT TO ACHIEVE OUR DESIRED FUTURE! WE SEEM OPEN TO POLITICAL MIS-INFORMATION AND LIES, YET FAIL TO ACCEPT PROVEN SCIENTIFIC DATA AND STATICS ABOUT WHAT HUMANITY IS DOING TO THE NATURAL WORLD. WE WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!
