WOLF HOMESITE SELECTION AND DEN CHARACTERISTICS IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA

• Main Author: Beck, Lucas K
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: NMU Commons 2024
• Subjects: Wolf; Den; Rendezvous Site; Reproductive Ecology; Den Selection; Social Carnivore; Biology; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/851; https://commons.nmu.edu/context/theses/article/1907/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf; https://commons.nmu.edu/context/theses/article/1907/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Bruggink_OutsideAgency2020.pdf; https://commons.nmu.edu/context/theses/article/1907/filename/1/type/additional/viewcontent/Photo_Release_Form.pdf

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) are social carnivores that rear their offspring cooperatively at locations called homesites. To assess homesite selection patterns in each month, I fitted a mixed-effects logistic regression model for each month in the pup-rearing season using data from 285 homesites documented from 2015 to 2021. Wolf homesite selection in northern Minnesota was a dynamic process. Wolves selected different characteristics for homesites in each month of the pup-rearing season, demonstrating for the first time that wolf homesite selection varies throughout the pup-rearing season (April-August). In August, wolves likely selected homesites that facilitate blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) foraging opportunities, especially for pups. Wolves avoided locating homesites near neighboring pack home ranges in all months of the pup-rearing season, likely to mitigate the risk of infanticide by neighboring packs. Wolves likely made decisions about where to locate homesites in response to seasonal environmental changes and the changing needs of pups as they mature. Because other social carnivores often rear their offspring under similarly variable conditions, it is likely that homesite selection behaviors among other social carnivores are also dynamic. I have summarized the characteristics of wolf den structures in northern Minnesota more rigorously than previous studies. Wolves chose to den in a wide variety of structures and dimensions of dens varied substantially. These results highlight an additional facet of the behavioral flexibility that has allowed wolves to inhabit a wide range of ecosystems across their Holarctic distribution.