DAVE: Arrived safely at the base camp in Eureka. No wolves at the rock den.
This is a discouraging discovery for the
researchers, especially since the wolves did not den there in the summer of 2007. It is puzzling. The rock den, a number of miles from the weather station, has been a chosen spot for countless generations of wolves in this area. It’s impossible to know why this favored place has been rejected for two years in a row. One theory is that ice might have still been present in the cave-like opening in the rocks when the female was selecting a place to have the pups. But wolves are elusive animals, and Dave and Dean are accustomed to having to use all their skills to figure out where a pack of wolves might be and where they might have their pups securely situated at a den or summer rendezvous site. None of these wolves has a radio tracking collar, a piece of sophisticated hardware that helps to locate wolves in more southerly latitudes. This is the challenge of field work in a place so remote that it requires three days of travel just to get there from the lower 48 states – that is, if the weather cooperates. Nothing is guaranteed. Persistence, patience and determination are basic requirements, and “technology” in the high arctic consists of binoculars and spotting scopes.View Larger Map
Hi, I was wondering, if you don't use radio collars, how do you find a wolf in a place as big as where you are?
ReplyDeleteDo you just travel around the wolves territory looking for signs that wolves were there? Or is there another way you do it?
-Mia Werger