Friday, January 26, 2018

"The species known today as Algonquin wolves(synonyms=Eastern Wolf/Red Wolf) used to be found across eastern North America"............... "Now there are only a few small pockets of them remaining, mostly in central Ontario and southern Quebec(50 or so on the North Carolina Barrier Islands)"........... "Over the last few centuries, the species has lost most of its historical range in northeastern North America and has been extirpated from the Atlantic provinces and the eastern United States".............. "The current known “extent of occurrence” of Algonquin wolves within Ontario is only about 80,000 km2"............... "The most recent population estimate from COSSARO( the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario) puts the number of mature wolves between 250 and 1,000, of which about two-thirds live in Ontario".......... "However, scientists warn that the actual population size is likely closer to the lower end of this range"............ "This exceptionally low number of individuals puts the longterm survival of the Algonquin wolf in question"............."As a general rule, a minimum population of 500 individuals is considered necessary for long-term survival"............."There is ample scientific evidence that top predators, like Algonquin wolves, are critical components of ecosystem health and warrant ecologically sound management, not only for their own intrinsic value but for the maintenance of biodiversity more broadly"

›
http://docs.assets.eco.on.ca/reports/environmental-protection/2017/Good-Choices-Bad-Choices-08.pdf FAILING TO PROTECT A THREATENED SPE...
Thursday, January 25, 2018

A new U. of Wisconsin Study on the sympatric mesocrnivores, the Coyote and Red Fox, reveals that in urban Madison, Wisconsin, the two canids are co-existing by using different portions of the landscape.............While both Coyotes(Western and Eastern) and Red Foxes share a prey base of rodents, rabbits, deer fawns, some adult deer, fruit, bird eggs, et al, Coyotes living in and around Madison Wisconsin(2nd largest city in the state-245,000 population) prefer natural cover whereas Red Foxes favored more developed land, closer into and adjacent to human dwellings and infrastructure............While historically it has been perceived that Coyotes will shrink Red Fox populations where the two species exist, this new Study is forecasting the possiblity that Red Foxes are learning how to best co-exist with their larger cousin, allowing for both carnivores to bring their eco-system benefits of rodent control(positively limiting lyme disease vectors) to bear on the environment.............The Study concluded by saying-----"While the focus of our study was not on food or habitat resource availability, we suspect that the mechanism that facilitates coexistence in urban areas is rooted in an abundance of food resources in our urban study area"........... "More abundant resources appear to allow both species to display smaller home ranges, which may allow for these two traditionally competitive species to coexist within urban environments with a similar dynamic to rural coyotes and red foxes, but on a smaller scale with potentially less competitive interactions".........."Habitat patch size—especially of NATURAL AREAS—may also be important to home range size and composition"............. "In our study area, coyotes within the largest natural area (UW Arboretum) rarely ventured into surrounding developed areas, whereas coyotes near smaller natural areas (Owen Park) frequently used adjacent neighborhoods".............. "The size of natural areas may influence resource availability and therefore affect the way wildlife uses these areas"............. "Additional research should be conducted using fine-scale tracking techniques and GPS technology on sympatric canids to investigate the potential for interactions between these two species to adequately determine if coyotes are displacing red foxes or if red foxes are simply self-selecting for more developed areas of urban landscapes"

›
Madison Wisconsin Study of how Coyotes and Red Foxes interact https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190971 watch a video of a North Ca...
Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Even though Snowy Owls do not regularly prey on mammals the size of a Red Fox, one particularly bold Owl decided to have some "fun" "dive bombing" and "buzzing" one particular Fox in Cobourg, Ontario during the evening hours of January 4............Apparently, not an isolated incident as some of the pictures below reveal........"Both critters certainly seemed keen on engaging with one another, but whether it was out of playfulness, boredom or long-shot predatory assessment, one cannot say"..........."It's worth noting that red foxes and owls do fall on one another's menus from time to time"............. "A study from Belarus showed red foxes preyed on Ural, tawny and Tengmalm's (or boreal) owls, and in turn were sometimes taken out by Eurasian eagle-owls, among the biggest and most formidable of all owls"........... "The North American representative of the eagle-owl clan, the similarly hardcore great horned owl, probably occasionally snacks on fox kits; meanwhile, in one unusual case from Wisconsin, a red fox apparently killed an adult horned owl it chanced upon on the ground"........Click on the link below to watch the entire "dance" of the Owl and Fox take place............No winners or losers from what we can tell after several rounds of "bluffing" back and forth

›
https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/the-curious-incident-of-the-owl-and-fox-in-the-night-time The curious in...
Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Life experience, along with being strong mentally, emotionally and physically gives an edge to both Wolf Packs(and I believe, human Nation States).............The "TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVE"(see Robert Ardrey book below) rules the action of all animals that live in groups(including man) as it relates to defending a given geographical region that provides enough resources(food, water, shelter) to keep the Pack(Country,Tribe, Pride, Family Unit, Band, Colony, Herd, Flock, Troop) healthy, thriving and able to persist into the indefinite future...............As Wolf packs grow in size, they often intrude on an adjacent Packs territory(likely to have access to more and better prey), with war between the Packs taking place..........In fact these "wars" are the biggest single cause of mortality of Wolves outside of human hunting and persecution...............The outcome of these "Wolf Wars" has one of the Packs taking over the territory of the defeated Pack................With the breakup and dissolution of the defeated Pack, surviving members get scattered as lone wolves in the land periphery between other established packs--Not a favorable outlook for survival upon defeat......................Interesting enough, the sheer size of the Wolf Pack, while often being a key determinant of success in these wars does not always forecast victory............."A smaller Pack with more older adults(age 6+) and large adult males, can defeat a larger Pack who has less older adults and large males"............."The most influential factor in whether or not a pack defeats an opponent is the presence of an old wolf".............. "A pack with one old wolf more than the opposition has 150% greater odds of winning, making age more important than having a numerical advantage ( But why?)"........... "Old wolves are past their physical prime, participating less and less in hunts as they age"............."What old wolves possess is experience"..........."They've encountered competitors many times, seen pack mates killed, participated in killing rivals"........... "They may avoid a conflict they figure they can't win, upping their chance of survival".............."Having an experienced wolf allows a pack to draw from past knowledge, increasing the odds that even a small pack can defeat a larger pack"..................."As death by rival pack is by far the most common cause of natural mortality, the packs that can reduce this risk by being larger than their neighbors, having more adult males, or having old adult pack members are the ones most likely to acquire and maintain productive territory".......... "Those territories include safe places to raise pups, lots of prey, and separation from humans and roads".................I think that we human animals can learn a lesson from the Wolves,,,,,,,,,,,,,If we are to optimize our society and workplaces, we should acknowledge and value those who are long experienced, as well as valuing the strong and smart among us

›
https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/26/5/1352/242442 Group composition effects on  aggressive interpack interactions  of g...