The timber wolf (_Canis lupus_) of northeastern Minnesota occupies an
area within the range given by Goldman (1944) for the eastern timber
wolf (_C. l. lycaon_ Schreber). However, this area is within 150 miles
of the eastern edge of the former range of the Great Plains wolf (_C.
l. nubilus_ Say), and there is some question as to whether the
Minnesota wolf is really an intergrade between these two subspecies.
Writing of _nubilus_, Goldman (1944, p. 444) stated: "Specimens from
eastern Minnesota and Michigan seem more properly referable to
_lycaon_, but relationship to _nubilus_ is shown in somewhat
intermediate characters."
In describing _lycaon_ as basically a gray wolf, Goldman made no
mention of the occurrence of black or white color phases in that
subspecies. However, in discussing _nubilus_, Goldman (1944, p. 442)
wrote the following: "Many color variations are presented. Individuals
may be nearly white at any season, except for a sprinkling of black
hairs over the back, a small, narrow, but conspicuous, black patch over
the tail gland, and a more or less distinctly black tip. Black
individuals may occur in the same litter with those normally colored."
Goldman also referred to _nubilus_ as "now probably extinct."
[Illustration: _Figure 1.--A few wolves observed in the study area were
jet black. (Photo courtesy of L. D. Mech.)_]
In the eastern part of the range of _lycaon_, color phases other than
gray appear to be rare as Rutter and Pimlott (1969, p. 188) attest:
"The uniformity of the color of timber wolves in many areas is
evidenced by the work in Algonquin Park, in Ontario. There, over the
past eight years, dozens of packs have been observed from the air.
However, we have never been able to discriminate between any of them on
the basis of the color variation of individual animals."
Thus it seems significant to report on incidences of black and white
color phases in wolves that we have observed in northeastern Minnesota
during some 480 hours of flying associated with wolf research (Mech _et
al._, p. 1). The observations took place in the Superior National
Forest, in northern Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties during the
winters of 1966-67, 1967-68, and 1968-69. A total of 309 sightings were
made of wolves that could be classified by color; of these, 11 (3.6
percent) were jet black (fig. 1) and two (0.6 percent) were creamish
white, with the cream color the most intense on the back. No doubt some
of the grays, and perhaps the blacks and whites, were repeated
observations, but the figures should provide a reasonable approximation
of the incidence of these color phases in this area. All black or white
animals except one were observed with gray wolves (table 1 and fig. 2).
A number of black wolves, and a few white wolves, have been seen by
other observers, all in the three counties listed earlier. To gain some
idea of the past incidence of these color phases in the same general
area, we asked Conservation Officers Robert Hodge, Robert Jacobsen, and
Frank Baltich of the Ely, Minnesota, area about the numbers of each
phase that they took before 1960. They reported killing an approximate
total of 580 wolves, of which four were black and three were white or
creamish white.
_Table 1.--Observations of wolves of black and white color phases_
+--------------+-------------------------+--------------------------+
| Date | Location | Color combinations |
| | | within each pack |
+--------------+-------------------------+--------------------------+
|Feb. 24, 1967 T64N-R8W-S1 Vera Lake 3 grays; 1 black; 1 white|
|Mar. 4, 1967 T63N-R9W-S27 Lake Two 3 grays; 2 blacks |
|Dec. 18, 1968 T63N-R8W-S35 Lake Insula 2 grays; 2 blacks[37] |
|Jan. 17, 1969 T65N-R8W-S27 Carp Lake 1 gray; 1 white |
|Feb. 1, 1969 T63N-R8W-S13 Lake Insula 4 blacks; 2 grays[38] |
|Feb. 5, 1969 T63N-R8W-S8 Benezie Lake 1 black |
|Feb. 6, 1969 T63N-R10W-S33 Clear Lake 3 grays; 1 black |
+--------------+-------------------------+--------------------------+
FOOTNOTES:
[37] These animals were near the shore of the lake, so others may have
been inland where they could not be seen.
[38] This group might well have been the same as that seen on Dec. 18,
1968.
[Illustration: _Figure 2.--A pack of four blacks with two grays (first
and third). (Photo courtesy of John Winship.)_]
Because black and white color phases have rarely if ever been reported
for _lycaon_, yet were well known for _nubilus_, it is not unreasonable
to conclude that the race of wolves now occupying northeastern
Minnesota does show strong _nubilus_ influence. Goldman examined the
skulls only of 10 Minnesota specimens assignable to _lycaon_ and only
one referable to _nubilus_. Because wolves in the known range of
_nubilus_ are thought to be extinct, and because the animals in
northeastern Minnesota are legally unprotected and subject to a control
program, it seems highly desirable that the question of their taxonomy
be studied intensively while specimens are still available.