Friday, July 11, 2008

Day 9

DAVE: We didn’t really accomplish a thing today. We sat on a high sandy hill from 5:45 to 10:45 waiting for wolves to show as they made their way from the den toward the place where they have been showing up several nights in a row. We were positioned between the putative den area and their usual route of the last several nights. We saw nothing except a large arctic hare that came hopping by, acting interested in what in the world we were doing on his/her hill.

The fact that we saw no wolves leaving is not evidence contrary to our notion that we have the right area where they are denning. This is because on our way back to camp, we checked all the loose sand and dust where the wolves have been coming to each night and found no fresh tracks. That could mean that tonight they left the den in a different direction from the usual one, and thus we would not have been able to see them. We’ll have to try this spot again for the next couple of nights. At least the weather was quite comfy with high enough wind to keep the mosquitoes away.