All four translocated wolves were killed by humans (Table 8). The alpha
male (No. 12) was the first victim. He was found from the air in the
same location on July 6 and 10. A ground check on July 11 showed him
already decomposed. He lay about 60 feet (18.3 m) from paved highway US
141 north of Amasa (Fig. 22). The articular processes on the right side
of his fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae were broken and inverted. Part
of the process of the sixth cervical vertebra was lodged in the neural
canal between the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae and would have
exerted pressure on his spinal cord. His acrylic radio collar was also
cracked on the right side in three places. We concluded that he had been
struck and killed by an automobile. A scat found beneath the remains
contained deer hair, so apparently the animal had been feeding not long
before his death.
[Illustration: _Fig. 22.--The remains of Wolf No. 12 were found near a
highway, and broken bones indicated he had been hit by a vehicle (Photo
by Richard P. Smith)_]
Wolf No. 13 was killed next. He had been located south of Sagola in
Dickinson County on July 20, the first time he was found since June 27.
He was still there on July 27, so a ground check was made. It revealed
that the wolf had been dead for perhaps 2 or 3 weeks. His flesh had
decomposed, and only hair, bones and the transmitting collar remained
(Fig. 23). His leg bones and ribs were mostly disarticulated, his skull
was separated from the vertebral column, and his mandible had separated.
A small caliber bullet had passed through the ramus of the left mandible
and had entered the base of the cranium. The hole through the mandible
was 0.26 inch x 0.34 inch (6.6 mm. x 8.6 mm.) and that through the
cranium was 0.34 inch x 1.30 inch (8.6 mm. x 33.0 mm.). Three small lead
fragments were removed from the cranium.
[Illustration: _Fig. 23.--Wolf No. 13 had been shot, as the hole in the
jawbone indicates (Photo by Tom Weise)_]
The remains of Wolf No. 13 were sent to the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources Wildlife Research Center at Rose Lake and examined by
staff pathologists Dr. L. D. Fay and Mr. John Stuht. No fractures or
other signs were found that might indicate that he had been trapped.
However, some of the smaller foot bones were missing and a complete
examination was not possible. Notches were found in both shoulder
blades, and one rib was broken, suggesting that the animal had been shot
twice by a small caliber firearm in addition to the head shot. The hole
in the left scapula indicated a deep penetrating wound. The notch in the
right scapula indicated a bullet traveling more parallel to the body.
_Table 8. Details of Deaths of Translocated Wolves_
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wolf No. 10 11 12 13
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sex Female Female Male Male
Last date
tracked Nov. 17 Sept. 19 July 10 July 27
Date Nov. 16[14] Sept. 20 June 28 to Early
killed July 4 July[14]
Date Nov. 18 Sept. 20 July 11 July 28
found
Manner Gunshot in Gunshot in, Struck by Gunshot in
of death head and head, after automobile head and
right foreleg being trapped chest
Location Van Riper Lake Floodwood 1.9 miles (3.0 2 miles (3.2
of death 5.4 miles (8.7 Plain 3.1 km) north of km) south of
km) north of miles (5.0 Amasa (T45N- Sagola (T42N
Champion (T49N km) south of R33W-Sec 17) -R30W-Sec 5)
-R30W-Sec 36) Witch Lake
(T44N-R24W-
Sec 11)
Weight 52 lb. 56.5 lb.
(23.6 kg) (25.6 kg) Unknown[15] Unknown[15]
Condition Excellent Good Unknown[15] Unknown[15]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[14] Estimate
[15] Decomposed
Wolf No. 11 was caught the night of September 19, 1974 in a coyote trap
set by a trapper from Channing. The next morning the trapper came upon
the trapped wolf by surprise at a range of 12 feet (3.6 m). She growled
and lunged toward him, and thinking he was in danger, the trapper shot
the wolf in the head. The .22 caliber bullet entered below the right eye
and lodged in the skull. The trapper immediately took the animal to the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources office in Crystal Falls and
reported the incident.
The wolf weighed 56.5 lb. (25.6 kg), 1.5 lb. (0.68 kg) less than when
she was brought to Michigan. Her general condition was good, with some
omental fat, but no subcutaneous fat. She did harbor ten tapeworms
(_Taenia pisiformis_) about 40-50 cm long and a few hookworms
(_Uncinaria stenocephala_), as determined by Mr. John Wenstrom (personal
communication), Biology Department, Northern Michigan University. Both
are common tapeworms of wolves (Mech 1970).
Wolf No. 10 was shot by a deer hunter, probably on the morning of
November 16, the second day of firearms deer season. On November 17 her
signal was heard from near a cabin on the south shore of Van Riper Lake.
The hunters occupying the cabin later said they had removed the collar
from the wolf, which they had found dead on the afternoon of November
16. Before we had learned this, the carcass of Wolf No. 10 was
discovered without the collar by another hunter, about a half mile (0.8
km) south of Van Riper Lake. It had been shot through the right leg,
shattering the radius and ulna, and through the head, the bullet
entering the left frontal bone and exiting below the right eye. In
addition the radio collar had been shattered by a bullet and was
missing, and one ear had been cut off. We identified the wolf from the
tag in the other ear.
The wolf had gained 6 lb. (2.7 kg) since she had been brought to
Michigan, and had heavy internal and subcutaneous fat. She had light
infections of two species of tapeworms (_Echinococcus granulosus_ and
_Taenia pisiformis_), and of one species of hookworm (Uncinaria
stenocephala), as determined by John Wenstrom. _Echinococcus granulosus_
is not uncommon in wolves (Mech 1970). The other two species were
discussed above.