1 of 2
Rolf Peterson
Wolves crossing the ice during an Isle Royale winter.
2 of 2
John Vucetich
“To become an Alpha is nothing less than heroic and most wolves end up dead trying.”
– John Vucetich, co-leader of the Wolf-Moose study
Running for her life, the lone wolf flees into the cold waters of Lake Superior, where she is surrounded by 11 wolves from Middle Pack.
She stands on a submerged rock, cowering as three wolves charge into the shallows and lunge for her. She fights all three wolves at once, the enamel of her fangs clashing with theirs. The young female is forced back into neck-deep water while the attackers return to the shore to dry off by rolling in the snow. The cycle continues; wolves split off in threes and fours and wade out to savage her throughout the day. In the end she is surrounded by all 11 wolves. They tear her to pieces and leave her for dead.
She lies motionless in her own blood as another member of Middle Pack arrives on the scene. This wolf is a male who has been looking for a mate for some time. Because he left on good terms, he is allowed back in the pack when life as a lone wolf gets too tough.
The dying wolf is a “disperser” like him, and she is in heat. The Middle Pack wolf nudges her until she rises and hobbles 50 meters into the forest where she will lay all night as her wounds stabilize. Five days later, the pair is a half-mile from the attack site and the male wolf alternates between licking her many wounds while trying to court her.
Scientist Rolf Peterson observes this animal soap opera from a red Piper Super Cub airplane and asks longtime pilot Don Glaser to land. He is able to locate her bloody bed and collect samples that will enable him to follow her journey using DNA if she survives.
With her new mate, the young female carves out a small territory. Chippewa Harbor Pack is born with her litter that spring. Rolf knows it is her because he collects wolf scat, lots of it. From the air Rolf searches for moose kills and visits every kill he can get to by snowshoe or landing the plane in a nearby inland lake. At the kill site he collects samples from the abundant wolf scat surrounding the carcass. The DNA from the blood he collected from the female’s bloody bed matches the scat he finds at Chippewa’s kill site.
The pair will lead Chippewa Harbor Pack for eight long years. She goes on to produce the second most pups ever recorded on the island. Then, in 2006, the moose become scarce and East Pack starts showing signs of war.
In the winter of 2006, with food scarce, the alpha male of Chippewa Harbor Pack is at a moose kill near the territorial border of East Pack. “A mile away East Pack detects the kill and changes directions. … This is a bold move because they don’t know how many Chippewa Pack wolves will be there yet they are confident,” John Vucetich says. The East Pack alpha male charges in. He ignores the subordinates, like pawns in a chess match, and attacks Chippewa’s alpha male. East Pack succeeds in killing the alpha and claiming the kill.
“Within days the, now-old Chippewa female is courted by a new male and she manages another litter of pups that spring. Moose continue to decline and East Pack’s raids increase. In 2007 the old female, who as a young wolf survived 11 Middle Pack wolves to create her own pack, succumbs to East Pack in another border skirmish.
The cycle continues.