Howling...but not at the Moon

The chances of seeing a wolf in the wild is an extremely difficult thing to do, even if you are a researcher. The closest people usually get is finding some tracks or scat left behind. We got one step closer the other night, attending the Algonquin Park wolf howl. What an incredible event to be a part of. This was technically the second wolf howl we attended, we made an attempt to hear them at the park's first gathering in August but it was rained out. It was on our 'list' to do before they ended and we managed to get there for their last one of the year.

The evening begins with an introduction to wolves, discussing the park's relationship with this animal, what research at the park has taught us and the logistics of the actual howling event.

This event happens in August only for very specific reasons. This is the time that the pups have grown so much that they no longer physically fit into the dens that were keeping them safe from danger. The parents are still feeding them (by regurgitating food) and need to hunt while the pups are in a relatively safe place. This place of safetly is the rendezvous place; a field or dry spruce bog, which provides the pups with cover of low lying full plants and bushes. The wolf pack (which consists of mama, papa and their cubs, sometimes a few litters from different years) stays in this meeting place for a few days. The organizers head out to a few areas matching this description and howl hoping to elicite a response. Once they have had a pack howl back, there is a good chance this pack will be in the same place for the next few days making it highly possible to hold a 'successful' wolf howl at the same place.

A few of the other interesting things we learned during the intro portion of the evening:

*the main three foods wolves eat in this area are deer, moose and beaver

*in the early 1900's Algonquin Park considered wolves a nuisance because they were eating the deer, the same deer that Algonquin had become famous for being hand fed. The parks conservation duty was to protect animals, all except the wolf which they paid a bounty to be killed.

*wolves behaviour has nothing to do with the moon (although the wolf howl was on a full moon which we thought was pretty cool)

*lone wolves will howl to connect with their mate, packs howl to send territorial messages

*a pack will push out sick or injured young, abandoning them. up to 50% of the pups can die in their first year of life

*a healthy deer can easily out run a wolf, however a wolf can out run a sick or old deer which naturally takes care of the deer population

*2-6 pups are born in a litter every year

*a wolf's sense of smell is 100x's greater than a human

*a wolf mates for life, only when the mate dies do they look for another mate

After the talk the guides coordinate everyone to a new location (which of course is always different depending on where the wolves are) by car. This really is incredible on it's own. The first night we went there was 500 cars and 2000 people. This second time there were 200 cars. They drive everyone out in convoy, close down the highway or road down and when everyone is outside of their car (in the pitch black) quietly waiting the howling begins. There are two men who are the expert callers. The routine is the first caller gives a lone wolf howl, three consecutive times with a pause in between until a wolf or pack responds. If there is no response then the two men together mimic a wolf pack howl, again three times until there is a response.

This particular evening they did a single call and the wolf pack responded in full choir like glory!

It was incredible, you could hear the high piercing sound of the adult wolves and the barks of the pups. It was so clear and loud. It sounded like they were just behind the trees. We all stood there with our jaws dropped in awe of how incredible it was we were listening to wolves.

So my visiting friends, next year in August plan on coming for a Thursday night because it is soooo worth it.

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