The Timber Wolf or The Grey Wolf
Wolves are members of the family Canidae. Early taxonomists recognized about 24 New World and eight Old World subspecies of Canis lupus, with four subspecies thought to occur in Alaska.
The pelt color of Alaska wolves ranges from black to nearly white, with every shade of gray and tan in between. Gray or black wolves are most common, and the relative abundance of each color phase varies over time and from place to place.
Most adult male wolves in Interior Alaska weigh from 85 to 115 pounds, but they occasionally reach 145 pounds. Females average 10 to 15 pounds lighter than males and rarely weigh more than 110 pounds. Wolves reach adult size by about 1 year of age.
Wolves are social animals and usually live in packs that include parents and pups of the year. The average pack size is six or seven animals, and pack members often include some yearlings and other adults.
Packs of 20 to 30 wolves sometimes occur, and these larger packs may have two or three litters of pups from more than one female. In some cases a pair of wolves may not form a pack or belong to a pack, and will bring off a litter of pups.
The social order in the pack is characterized by a separate dominance hierarchy among females and males. In most areas wolf packs tend to remain within a territory used almost exclusively by pack members, with only occasional overlap in the ranges of neighboring packs.
Despite a generally high birth rate, wolves rarely become abundant because mortality is also high. In much of Alaska, the major sources of mortality are: predation by other wolves; hunting; and trapping. Predation by other wolves is a major cause of death because wolves defend their territories from other wolves.
Wolves are carnivores, and in most of mainland Alaska moose and/or caribou are their primary food, with Dall sheep, squirrels, snowshoe hares, beaver, and occasionally birds, fish and in our case, horses as supplements in the diet.
The rate at which wolves kill large mammals varies with prey availability and environmental conditions. A pack may kill a deer or moose every few days during the winter. At other times, they may go for several days with almost no food. Since wolves are opportunistic, young, old, or debilitated animals are preyed upon more heavily than healthy middle-age animals. Under some circumstances, however, such as when snow is unusually deep or prey is scarce, even animals in their prime may be vulnerable to wolves.
Their range includes about 85 percent of Alaska's 586,000 square-mile area. The wolf occurs throughout mainland Alaska, on Unimak Island in the Aleutians, and on all of the major islands in Southeast except Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof.
Wolves are adaptable and exist in a wide variety of habitats extending from the rain forests of the Southeast Panhandle to the arctic tundra along the Beaufort Sea. Alaska is home to an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 wolves.
Wolves have never been threatened or endangered in Alaska. They are found in nearly all of their historic range, excepting the center of urban areas, although they are found on the outskirts of Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.
Alaska is home to an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 wolves. Wolves have never been threatened or endangered in Alaska.
Wolves are often seen and heard in most parts of Alaska by those willing to spend time in remote areas. The long term future of the wolf in Alaska is secure, and Alaska will probably continue to deal with the challenges related to the effects of wolf predation on big game populations for a long time.
The Wolverine
The wolverine, a relative of the mink and weasel, is the largest terrestrial member of the family Mustelidae. Its scientific name is Gulo gulo, meaning “glutton.”
Wolverines have long dense fur that is generally dark brown to black with a creamy white to gold stripe running from each shoulder along the flanks to the base of the tail. A white hair patch on the neck and chest is common. It has a thick body, short legs, short ears, and a broad flat head. Like humans and bears, wolverines walk on the soles of their feet, called semiplantigrade posture. They have curved, semi-retractile claws and can climb trees readily. They are well suited to travel through deep, soft snow.
Wolverines are found throughout Alaska but there are areas that wolverines tend to avoid or exist at lower densities because the habitat is not suitable for denning or are highly developed or used by people.
They are primarily solitary creatures throughout most of the year. Wolverine spatial patterns include: intersexual overlap, with home ranges of resident males overlapping those of 2-6 resident females; familial overlap, with offspring sharing their mother’s home range; and temporal exclusive intraspecific home ranges, with resident males defending their territories during February through July which coincides with the denning and breeding periods.
Wolverines are active at any time of day, year round. They have tremendous physical endurance. Movements of 40 miles in a day have been documented.
Because of their great endurance, strength, and foraging behavior, wolverines have become a center of folklore. However, its fierce reputation has often been exaggerated. They are known to steal furbearers from traps and to damage cabins but contrary to stories will not attack a larger predator, like a wolf or a bear. Instead, they avoid these animals as encounters with either of these predators may be fatal to the wolverine. Wolverines will defend a food source or its territory against other wolverines or smaller predators.
Wolverines travel extensively in search of food. In general, males have larger home ranges that females, females not accompanied by kits have larger ranges compared to females with kits, and home range size and use changes with season of the year. In Alaska, resident male home range sizes are large ranging between 200-260 square miles. Resident females have home ranges as large as 115 square miles.
It appears that few wolverines live longer than 5 to 7 years in the wild. Some, however, do survive to 12 or 13 years of age. The primary natural mortality factors are starvation, being killed by larger predators, primarily wolves, and by other wolverines.
Wolverines are opportunistic; eating about anything they can find or kill. They are well adapted for scavenging. The wolverine has a powerful jaw and large neck muscles allowing it to crush and utilize bones and frozen flesh.
Also, wolverines can survive for long periods on little food. Their diet reflects annual and seasonal changes in food availability. In the winter wolverines primarily rely on carrion, remains of moose and caribou killed by wolves and hunters or animals that have died of natural causes.
Throughout the year, wolverines feed on small and medium-sized animals such as voles, squirrels, snowshoe hares, and birds. In the right situations, wolverines can kill moose, Dall sheep or caribou, but these occurrences are rare. They have been known to take the young Dall sheep in the spring when they are most vulnerable.
The Lynx
The lynx (Lynx Canadensis) is the only cat native to Alaska. Lynx occur over most of northern North America (though their numbers in the northern continental United States have been greatly reduced) and throughout Alaska except the Aleutian islands, Kodiak archipelago, the islands of the Bering Sea and some islands of Prince William Sound and Southeast Alaska.
Because they are shy and unobtrusive animals, people think that lynx are scarce. In Alaska, however, they are commonly seen during long periods of summer daylight, especially during years that they are abundant. “Link” is a common local term for lynx in Alaska and the Yukon.
The lynx is a large, short-tailed cat, similar to the bobcat, but distinguished by its long legs, furry feet, the long tufts on the tip of each ear, and a black-tipped tail. The large broad feet function as snowshoes to aid the lynx in winter hunting and traveling. The dense soft fur is buffy grey with indistinct spotting. Most adults weigh from 18 to 30 pounds. Male lynx are generally larger than females and occasionally weigh 40 pounds or more.
Mating occurs in March and early April and kittens are born about 63 days later under a natural shelter such as a spruce felled by wind, a rock ledge, or a log jam. Lynx kittens resemble domestic cats at birth and are buff colored with longitudinal streaking on their backs. Their eyes open about 1 month of age, and they are weaned when 2-3 months old. Most litters include two to four kittens, but sometimes as many as six are born and survive.
The production and survival of lynx kittens is strongly influenced by cyclic changes in snowshoe hare and other small game populations. When prey are abundant, a high percentage of 1-year old or older female lynx produce kittens, most of which survive. When prey is scarce, very few yearlings breed, the number of breeding adults declines, and very few kittens survive until winter.
Kittens remain with their mother until late winter and acquire the hunting skills and knowledge necessary for their survival. During the following breeding season, family units begin to break up.
The best lynx habitat in Alaska occurs where fires or other factors create and maintain a mixture of vegetation types with an abundance of early successional growth. This provides the best habitat for snowshoe hares and other small prey of lynx. The primary prey of lynx in most areas is the snowshoe hare, which undergoes an 8-11 year cycle of abundance. This cycle appears to be caused by the interaction of hares with their food and predators.
Lynx numbers fluctuate with those of hares and other small game, but lag one or two years behind. When a hare population crashes, lynx numbers soon decline because of the small number of kittens reaching adulthood and the movement of some lynx out of the area.
Lynx normally travel one to five miles per day within home ranges ranging from five to more than 100 square miles. The largest ranges occur when prey are scarce. Lynx travel and hunt at a walk most of the time and capture their prey with short bursts of speed. They often ambush hares and other small prey while bedded down near small game trails. Lynx are adept at climbing trees but hunt mainly on the ground, sometimes using trees as a refuge from larger predators such as wolves.
Lynx are curious animals and are fairly easy to trap using lures made from beaver castor, catnip, or other scents. Visual attractors such as bird wings or aluminum foil are often used to take advantage of the lynx's visual acuity.
Marten
The American marten (Martes americana) is a carnivorous, furbearing member of the weasel family. Although similar in color, size, and shape to mink, martens are usually found in the uplands while mink are more associated with streams and coastal areas.
American martens are found from Southeast Alaska all the way up to the northern and western portions of the state where the last trees disappear and the true arctic tundra begins.
The marten's coat is characterized by soft, dense fur which varies in color from pale yellow to dark brown, often shading to black on the feet and legs. Lighter-colored martens tend to have grayish brown tails, while darker animals have dark brown tail fur. The fur around the muzzle varies from gray to light brown with a short dark line extending up the forehead from the corner of each eye. The marten's throat and upper chest are usually pale or buff or deep orange. The ears are erect and rounded.
Martens vary in body length from 19 to 25 inches, not including the tail. They may weigh up to nearly 4 pounds. Males are considerably larger then females. The tail accounts for nearly a third of the marten's total length. Martens have sharp, non-retractable claws which they use for climbing as well as for holding their prey. Large furry paws allow the marten to travel easily over deep snow.
Martens are rather solitary creatures except during the mating season. Mating encounters are temporary and males may mate with multiple females which live within their home ranges. Mating occurs in July and August. Fertilization is followed by a period of delayed implantation, during which the fertilized eggs do not develop beyond the multi-cellular blastosyst stage. After six months the blastocysts implant in the uterus and embryos begin to develop, growing rapidly for about 27 days. The litter, averaging three young, is born in April or May.
Young martens are highly dependent at birth and weigh only about 1 ounce. Sparsely covered with fine, yellowish hair, their eyes do not open until they are 5 to 6 weeks of age. Under their mother’s care, young martens grow rapidly. By late summer they can forage for themselves and become independent. Juvenile martens usually disperse from their mother’s territory during the autumn. Martens normally mate for the first time when they are 2 years old and bear young in their third year. Some females may breed at 15 months.
Males typically have larger home ranges than females. Within sexes, home ranges are exclusive with little overlap. Home ranges of martens vary in size in response to population levels and food availability. Although 1 square mile may be sufficient for a male when food is abundant; 15 square miles may be required when food is scarce.
When food is in very short supply, martens may leave their regular home range areas entirely and travel extensively to find food. Young begin to disperse in late summer, looking for vacant space to establish a home range. While hunting for food, martens cross their home range areas frequently seeking areas with small mammals and resting sites. When crossing open swamps, lakes, or bogs, martens uses every tree for cover, perhaps for protection from large carnivores and birds of prey.
Martens are very courageous, but when pressed closely in open areas they may burrow into loose snow and tunnel for long distances beneath the surface. If snow conditions prohibit burrowing, martens will climb the nearest tree to avoid capture. When all else fails, martens will stand and fight.
Martens depend heavily on meadow voles and red-backed voles or mice, which are their primary food source over much of Alaska. Fluctuations in food availability often create corresponding variations in marten populations. Probably the second most critical food source is berries, especially blueberries, followed by small birds, eggs, and vegetation.
The marten is a voracious and opportunistic feeder. Carrion such as the remains of wolf kills or salmon carcasses are eaten in many areas. Wild martens are fond of sweets such as jam. They will sometimes take treats from humans.
It has been reported that red squirrels are a major food source for martens, but this does not seem to be the case in Alaska. In fact, the two seem to get along quite well. Martens commonly use red squirrel middens as resting places.
Although martens are suited for nocturnal foraging, they are also active during mornings and evenings, especially during the long days of summer.
Red Fox
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), is the subject of many stories, songs, fables, and parables. Its flashy good looks and its ability to live close to people and their varied activities have undoubtedly contributed to this notoriety. Probably a more important reason is the fox's reputation for cunning and intelligence.
Several English expressions testify to the fox's wily mind: “sly as a fox,” “foxy,” “outfoxed,” and “crazy as a fox.” Actually, the red fox has well developed senses of sight, smell, and hearing, which are responsible for much of its reputation.
The red fox is common in most of northern North America. It is found throughout Alaska, except for some of the islands of Southeast Alaska and the western Aleutians and is rare in Prince William Sound. It is native to Kodiak Island but is an introduced animal on many islands in the state as a result of fox farming operations in the early 1900s.
Red fox populations in Southeast Alaska are sparse, but the animal is found in the Taku and Stikine river valleys and the Mendenhall Flats. Red foxes have also been seen on Douglas Island near Juneau.
The fox prefers broken country, extensive lowland marshes, and crisscrossed hills and draws. It is most abundant south of the arctic tundra. It is also present in tundra regions, which it shares with the Arctic fox. Where the ranges of the two species overlap, the red fox is dominant. In these areas, red foxes have been observed digging white (Arctic) foxes from their dens and killing them.
Red foxes are members of the dog family Canidae, and their general appearance is similar to dogs, wolves, and coyotes. The European red fox is the same species as the American red fox. The red fox measures 22 to 32 inches in head and body length, and the tail is 14 inches to 16 inches long. The adult fox weight is from 6 to 15 pounds, but it appears heavier than it actually is. The males, or “dogs,” are usually heavier than the females, or “vixens.”
The red fox is usually recognized by its reddish coat, its white- tipped tail, and black “stockings,” although the species does have many color variations. The outside of the ears may be black-tipped, while the inside is usually white. The white tip on the tail will distinguish this fox from other species, regardless of its color phase. Red is the most common color, but the hair may be from light yellowish to deep auburn red. Several color phases can occur in one litter.
Red foxes displaying a distinct color pattern are referred by the name of that phase (i.e., red, cross, silver, black). The cross fox, for example, has a black/brown cross on the back and shoulders. The silver and black phases are similar. However, the black does not have the silver-tipped guard hairs characteristic of the silver fox. The occurrence of black-silver phase appears to increase toward the north and the northwest of Alaska. However, even where most abundant, it comprises less than 2 percent of the population.
Red foxes breed during February and March. The den is a hole in the earth, 15 to 20 feet long, usually located on the side of a knoll. It may have several entrances. Sometimes foxes dig their own dens. More often, though, they appropriate and enlarge the homesites of small burrowing animals, such as marmots. They also will use abandoned wolf dens. Conversely, wolves may enlarge and use a fox's den.
Within the den is a grass-lined nest where well-furred but blind babies, called kits, are born after a gestation of 51–54 days. A litter of four kits is common, though a litter of 10 is not a rarity. At birth, kits weigh about 4 ounces. Normally only one litter is born each year. The kits' eyes open eight to 10 days after birth. The young leave the den for the first time a month later. The mother gradually weans them, and by the time the kits are 3 months old, they are learning to hunt. Both parents care for the young. The family unit endures until autumn, when it breaks up and each animal is on its own.
The red fox is omnivorous. Although it might eat muskrats, squirrels, hares, birds, eggs, insects, vegetation, and carrion, voles seem to be its preferred food. Foxes cache excess food when the hunting is good. They return to these storage sites and have been observed digging up a cache, inspecting it, and reburying it in the same spot. Apparently, they want to be sure that their food is still there.
Coyote
The wily coyote (Canis latrans), so deeply rooted in the history and lore of the American West, is a newcomer to the Alaska scene. Coyotes were first noted in the state shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Populations were first reported on the mainland of Southeast Alaska and then slowly expanded northward into the upper Tanana Valley from which they radiated in all directions.
A population peak occurred around 1940; since that time numbers have declined in many areas. There are few records of the coyote north of the Yukon River, although they do occur in this area. Portions of the state with the highest densities of coyotes are the Kenai Peninsula, the Matanuska and Susitna valleys and the Copper River Valley.
The coyote, like the wolf, is a member of the dog family (Canidae) and resembles a medium-sized shepherd-collie type dog. Distinctive features of the coyote are its sharp pointed ears that never droop, a sharp pointed nose, and long bushy tail. The legs of the coyote are generally slimmer and the feet smaller than those of a dog of comparable size.
Coyotes average 22 to 33 pounds or about one-third the size of wolves. Males are slightly heavier than females. Coyotes average 2 feet high at the shoulder and, including tail, are approximately 4 feet long.
The summer coat is predominantly gray, washing into tan along the belly, lower legs, muzzle, and ears. Some guard hairs are tipped with black, as is the tail. The upper lip and underside are whitish. The intensity and amount of coloring varies, and individuals are usually lighter in winter.
The coyote is best described as an opportunistic feeder. In Alaska snowshoe hares, microtine rodents, and carrion comprise the bulk of the coyote's diet while marmots, ground squirrels, muskrats, fish, insects, and even Dall sheep are taken in fewer numbers.
Coyotes hunt singly, in pairs, and occasionally in packs. They sometimes hunt cooperatively and have been observed using techniques such as chasing prey animals in relays, which allows them to capture animals that could outrun a single coyote. The coyote's method of capturing microtine rodents is similar to that of the fox. Upon locating its prey, the coyote makes a high, arching jump and pins the rodent to the ground with its forepaws. Often the prey is trapped under a mat of surrounding vegetation through which a more direct approach would be difficult.
Occasionally the coyote finds itself on the other end of the “dinner table.” Great horned owls, bald and golden eagles, wolves, and bears all have been known to prey on coyotes. In some locations, free-ranging dogs will readily kill coyotes when the opportunity presents itself.
Coyotes breed between January and March. A mated pair may stay together through the spring and share parental duties after the pups are born. Other coyotes, especially young of the previous years, may also help care for the pups. Shortly before whelping, one or more dens are prepared for the litter.
Coyotes give birth to an average of five to seven blind and helpless pups. The size of litters varies in response to the food supply. Litters born in times of plenty will, on the average, be larger than those born when food resources are scarce. For the first three weeks the young coyotes subsist entirely on milk. About this time some solid food regurgitated by the females is introduced into their diet, and the pups are weaned at five to seven weeks.
Once the pups establish a pattern of eating regurgitated food they will induce the parents to regurgitate by licking, biting, and clawing at their lips. At the age of three to three-and-a-half months, pups are able to capture food for themselves.
Coyotes den in a variety of protected places and frequently take over the dens of other animals. It is not unusual for coyotes to move their pups to other dens. Family units may begin to break up as early as August, although is not unusual for them to remain together into November or even later. Coyotes are generally less social than wolves, but the adult female and male pair is the basic social unit that maintains a territory and may remain together for several years.
The coyote may be the most vocal of the canids and is sometimes referred to as the “song dog.” The most common call is a long, mournful high-pitched howl which ends in a series of sharp yips and yaps. The howl of the coyote has a somewhat ventriloquistic effect, and it has often been reported that the howling of two or three coyotes sounds like a dozen or more animals are involved.
The secretive nature of the coyote makes it an animal which is seldom seen by most Alaskans. It is for this reason that those rare sightings of a coyote take on a special significance. It appears that this newcomer to the Alaskan scene, the “song dog of the West,” has found a niche in our state.