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Fauna Series No. 5
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Contents
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Fauna of the National Parks — No. 5
The Wolves of Mount McKinley |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Outline of the study
Acknowledgments
Climate
Physiography
Vegetation
CHAPTER 2. WOLF
Physical characteristics
Tracks
History of wolves in Mount McKinley National Park
Causes of fluctuation in wolf numbers
Breeding
Home life
Toklat River den
Savage River wolf family
East Fork River den—1940
East Fork River den—1941
Hunting range
Intraspecific intolerance
The wolf pack
Wags, the captive wolf Food habits of wolves
Discussion of food items in wolf diet
Caching
Trapping wolves
CHAPTER 3. DALL SHEEP
Description
Distribution of Dall sheep in Alaska
History of the sheep in Mount McKinley National Park
Distribution of Dall sheep in the park Winter distribution
Summer distribution
Migration
Food habits
Winter food habits
Summer food habits
Mineral licks
Carrying capacity of the winter range
Disease and parasites
Actinomycosis
Lungworm
Scabies
A sick lamb
Lamb dies in captivity
Insects sometimes annoy sheep
Accidents
The menace of deep snow
The rut
Gestation period
Lambs
Precocity
Ewe-lamb relationships
Lost lambs
Play
Weaning
Relation with animals of minor importance
Snow buntings compete for food
Wolverine and sheep
Lynx and sheep
Coyote and sheep
Golden eagle and sheep
Wolf and sheep
Reaction of sheep to wolves
Hunting incidents
Discussion of wolf hunting habits
Do the wolves prey mainly upon the weak sheep?
The problem
Search for sheep skulls
Determination of age
Determination of sex
Segregation of sheep remains into classes
Discussion of skull data
Effect of wolf predation on the sheep as a species
Classified counts of the mountain sheep
Classifications for 1939
Classifications for 1940
Classifications for 1941
Discussion
Some wolf-sheep relationships
Effect of artificial intrusions on wolf predation
Do caribou divert predation from sheep?
Historical evidence that wolves are curbing sheep numbers
Effect of the wolf on sheep numbers
The sheep and the wolves may now be in equilibrium
CHAPTER 4. CARIBOU
Description
Classification
Numbers
Movements of Mount McKinley National Park caribou
Brief survey of movements from 1925 to 1941
Winter movements
Summer movements
1939 movements
1940 movements
1941 movements
Trails
Food habits of caribou
Winter food
Summer food
Rutting period
Caribou calves
Description
Calving
Relation of calves to cows
Parasites
Disease
Some predator-caribou relationships
Lynx, wolverine, and caribou
Coyote and caribou
Grizzly and caribou
Golden eagle and caribou
Relation of reindeer to caribou
Wolf predation
Predation on adult caribou
Predation on caribou calves
Hunting incidents
Animals found dead from causes other than predation
Crippled caribou
Calf crop
1939 calf crop
1940 calf crop
1941 calf crop
Survival of calves to yearling stage
Effect of the wolf on the caribou population
CHAPTER 5. MOOSE
Distribution
Breeding
Food habits
History of the moose in Mount McKinley National Park
Moose-wolf relationships
Condition of moose range
CHAPTER 6. GRIZZLY BEAR
Description
Food habits
The grizzly as a vegetarian
Annotated list of grizzly foods
Breeding habits
Home range
Denning
Grizzly-wolf relationships
Effect of the grizzly on the fauna and flora
CHAPTER 7. RED FOX
Home range
Home life
Injuries and disease
Food habits
Discussion of food items
Bear-fox relationships
Coyote-fox relationships
Eagle-fox relationships
Wolf-fox relationships
CHAPTER 8. GOLDEN EAGLE
Nesting
Home range
Food habits
Annotated list of animals eaten by the golden eagle
Relationship of the golden eagle to the park fauna
CHAPTER 9. CONCLUSIONS
INDEX (omitted from on-line edition)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
0 A Mount McKinley wolf
1 Map of eastern portion of Mount McKinley National Park
2 Tracks of a wolf in soft mud
3 Tracks of five wolves in the snow
4 Locale of East Fork wolf den
5 The person is standing near the East Fork wolf den
6 A girl at the entrance of the East Fork wolf den
7 Wolf portraits—"Grandpa," black male, "Robber Mask"
8 Wolf portraits——"The Dandy," black female, gray female
9 "All together"
10 "Siesta"
11 Female wolf pup, Wags, about a week old
12 Wags drinking condensed milk
13 Wolf pup at the age of about 7 weeks
14 Wolf pup at the age of about 3-1/2 months
15 Wags enjoyed playing with a malemute pup
16 Wags waiting for a romp with a little girl
17 Dall sheep ram
18 Heap of 142 ram horns at a hunter's cabin
19 Double Mountain and Teklanika River
20 Group of rams on the hills along East Fork River
21 Sheep range, East Branch of the Teklanika River
22 Looking up Igloo Creek to Sable Pass, a caribou migration route
23 Excellent sheep range along East Fork River
24 Sheep range on Igloo Creek
25 A ewe and a ram on an exposed grassy ridge
26 Ewes feeding in about 14 inches of snow
27 A swale between lateral ridges of Igloo Mountain
28 Cathedral Mountain is a rather poor winter sheep range
29 Yearling sheep with injured leg
30 Two lambs remain close to their mothers
31 Ewes with lambs congregate on rugged cliffs
32 Ewe and her lamb in the fall of the year
33 Band of ewes, lambs, and yearlings on Cathedral Mountain
34 Ewe, lamb, and yearling plow through September snow
35 "Come on!"
36 "The lamb made it!"
37 The sheep have access to nearby cliffs for safety
38 Two ram horns showing variation in size
39 Two ewes, showing types of horns
40 First-year growth rings on horns of a 6-year-old ewe
41 Surface wear in teeth of an old ram
42 Necrosis in mandible and palate of old ewes
43 Diseased condition in mandible of an old ram
44 Necrosis in mandibles of Dall sheep
45 Abnormal sheep teeth, the result of necrosis
46 Ewe with two lambs which appeared to be her twins
47 The highway offers wolves access to sheep range
48 A caribou calf less than a day old
49 A caribou mother with her newborn calf
50 A caribou calf bruised by a fall in the rocks
51 Moose range along Teklanika River
52 Cow moose, whose newborn calf suffered a broken leg
53 A grizzly feeding on buffaloberries
54 "The fight with the grizzly"
55 The red fox is plentiful in Mount McKinley National Park
56 Two eagle nests in a typical location on a cliff
57 Male willow ptarmigan in breeding plumage
58 Male rock ptarmigan in winter plumage
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Last Modified: Thurs, Oct 4 2001 10:00:00 pm PDT
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