Top dog loses
patience
Biologists at
Yellowstone National Park expected the wolf to knock the coyote out
of the top dog position in the ecosystem, but not this
quickly.
Biologist Bob Crabtree of Yellowstone
Ecological Studies has counted 12 coyotes killed by wolves this
winter, and says the actual number could be three times higher. All
but one of the coyotes were killed near an elk
carcass.
Crabtree says a wolf pack kills an elk
about every five days. Since the carcasses are too big for a pack
to eat in one sitting, it often strays from the kill, then
scavengers like coyotes, magpies, ravens, eagles, foxes and badgers
move in.
At first, the wolves tolerated the
coyotes, merely chasing them away from the kill. But beginning last
fall, the wolves seemed to lose patience. Crabtree says the pack
would send one wolf out in pursuit of one of the
coyotes.
“Coyotes actually defend pretty well
against a single wolf,” Crabtree says. But then two or three other
wolves would come up and circle the coyote. In short order, they
had it pinned down and would play tug-of-war with the coyote until
it died.
Crabtree thinks studying the effect of
wolves on the coyote population could be an important tool for
improving Animal Damage Control methods. “I think we need to keep
our minds open to this natural control of the coyote situation,” he
says.
*Mark
Matthews
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Top dog loses patience.
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