National Geographic: White Wolf Page #4

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stomach it's really exciting

to watch the pups mob it,

Particularly licking around

their mouths.

And this triggers the adult to

regurgitate to them.

Several weeks of watching it at a

distance was quite frustrating.

I had always hoped to be at

close hand while that happened

because it was a very important

part of behavior to film.

The 24-hour watch gave an opportunity

to see this happen close at hand.

The Alpha Female brought back a

nice meal for the puppies.

She for some reason chose not to do

it to my back this time.

She unloaded her precious cargo right

in front of the camera.

And the pups quickly gobbled it up.

Remaining alert throughout the

But the plan's success

makes it worthwhile.

Brandenburg can finally rest,

but his dream of photographing

a musk ox hunt is not forgotten.

During Mech's turn on watch,

the wolves grow curious.

From the start,

Mom was the friendliest

and most tolerant of the group.

This visit from her is a

sign of the increasing trust

and rapport between wolf and man.

Curiosity satisfied for the time being

she sets off across the valley,

Leaving behind two very

contented observers.

Before this visit to Elsmere,

the closest Dave Mech

had managed to come to a

wild wolf was 15 feet.

Now a wolf has come to him,

and these 24 hours have been

the most productive in his career.

As the wolves bed down and

the team's vigil finally ends,

Mech decides on his next move to take

advantage of this rare situation.

I really wanted to see just how close

I could get to the pups.

If I could get close enough

I could identify each one

individually perhaps.

Or at least find a way of

marking them so that I could.

And that would allow me then to see

if there's any particular

individual who was more aggressive

than the others,

or got more food, or perhaps was

more exploratory.

But all this would require

that I get close to them.

I also wanted to see just how Mom

would regard me

when I was that close to her pups.

It's three a.m. on a sunny

but chilly night.

For whatever reason, Mom began to

howl and the pups joined in.

I would have loved to have

joined them as well,

But being so close to the den I

thought perhaps my howl

would have upset the entire pack.

Nevertheless, I couldn't resist at

least going through the motions.

When he first arrived on Ellesmere,

Mech could not be sure

that the would ever get this close

to the arctic wolves.

But the short summer season

is almost over.

The men still dream of following the

pack on a major hunt

before the arrival of winter.

Time was running out,

and I knew this hunt

sequence was crucial to the

success of the film.

In some ways the longer I waited

the better the chances got.

As the pups get older they require

more and more food.

And the pack becomes more and more

intent upon finding that food.

The weather was right,

we were well rested,

the wolves were very intent,

so this particular day all the

signals were right.

I had my own reason for wanting to

watch a kill up close.

In the past I've seen several

from aircraft.

But each time it was only a swarm of

wolves massing around the prey animal.

With the Ellesmere pack I may well be

able to tell the role of

each particular wolf in the entire

hunting and killing process.

Catching a musk ox is not an easy job

and the wolves must be careful

and still avoid their

hooves and their horns.

But when he wolves get close,

the musk oxen must stop,

group together, and face them.

They continue to harass the musk oxen

until one begins to run.

When a herd panics it gives the

wolves a chance to attack

without so much fear of being injured.

Both predator and prey have to

rest frequently

and skirmishes like this may

go on for hours.

If the herd is healthy a few such

skirmished will tell the wolves

that it's time to give up

and go on to others.

The pack rested for 45 minutes

and then took off

for another five-mile jaunt.

We knew right away that the next

encounter would be an interesting one.

This herd had at least three calves.

And it is the calves that the wolves

seek out during the summer.

I could see that it was the Alpha pair

that led the charge down to the herd.

One of the more interesting aspects

was to see the different

personalities of the wolves.

How I got to know them back at the

den was one group of wolves,

and what I saw in front of me seemed

to be a different group of wolves.

They truly became killing machines.

The wolves separated out

a calf from the herd

and the calf's mother decided to

go on in the safety of the group.

It's hard to know where to look

cause the rest of the pack tried

to separate out a second calf.

Meanwhile back with the first calf

the Alpha Male clings to a hind leg.

Even with the whole pack on its head

it took about five minutes

for the calf to go down.

For three tense hours

on the tundra plain,

Dave and Jim witness a scene

older than mankind.

The Alpha pair takes

possession of the carcass,

even though the whole pack

was in on the kill.

The wolf depends on meat

for its survival.

Its ability to catch,

kill and rapidly digest

its prey has been honed over

millions of years.

But this behavior after the kill

was new to the photographer

and even to the biologist,

Who had seen it elsewhere but was

still surprised by its intensity.

What seems to be going on is that

these subordinate animals

are food begging just as

they did as pups.

Although this was a

strong scene to watch,

I was jubilant to have seen

it close up.

And to have been able to confirm the

dominant role of the Alpha animals.

The wolves consume

as much as they can

but the calf is large,

and there's meat left over.

Chunks are carried off to be buried

in the icy ground,

a natural form of cold storage.

The wolves may return for the food

when hunting is poor

and the pups are hungry.

Their stomachs full of food

to be regurgitated for the pups,

the wolves are ready to begin the

trek back to the den.

They've suffered some injuries,

but all five are strong

enough to make the journey.

By September the pups

have grown considerably,

thanks to successful hunting

during the summer.

They'll need stamina and strength to

make it through the coming season.

Already the sunshine is weakening

into the twilight

that precedes the long darkness

of polar winter.

The arctic wolves coats are now long

and thick enough to protect

them from temperatures that will

plunge far below zero.

Shrouded in snow

and continual darkness,

The adults must still hunt and

scavenge for their pups.

But no one knows

what they do in winter;

That remains an Arctic mystery,

a five-month gap in a story

that can only be continued

when the men return next year.

It is the following spring.

Mech and Brandenburg have returned to

Ellesmere to resume their work.

When I returned once again in the

spring the pack had changed.

Three members were missing

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