Wolves in the Adirondack Mountains
Essay Preview: Wolves in the Adirondack Mountains
Report this essay
Wolves once occupied the Adirondacks Mountains until humans came along and pushed them into extinction. The wolf was an inhabitant of the Adirondack Mountains and occupied much of the area many years ago. The wolves were hunted to the point that they were killed off until there wasnt one wolf left alive. There had been wolves in the Adirondack area for thousands of years and people started to populate the area. The people became afraid of wolves and put high bounties on the skins of wolves, which in turn decreased the population of wolves. If it wasnt for humans, the wolves would more than likely still inhabit the Adirondack region. I think people should help reintroduce the wolves into the mountains. The wolves should be brought into the Adirondack Mountains area since we eliminated them, we should bring them back so they can be part of the habitat as they once were. There are many ways to make it possible for the wolf to be reintroduced to the Mountains and some important things that must be done. These things are no where near impossible so there shouldnt be a big problem with the wolf living in its home which they lived in many years ago.
The Adirondack region is a very unique place where the wolves thrived. The Adirondack Park is 5.8 million acres of total land. Being that there is so much land it can definitely support an ecosystem with wolves that occupy the area. There is certainly enough land for the wolf to move freely among the people. There are many mountains in the Adirondacks were over “43 peaks rise over 4000 feet above sea level” which often creates a habitat for animals where humans are less likely to inhabit due to the rocky and jagged terrain. (Adirondack Forest Guide) The region has many mountains that are filled with nice thick pine forest and are home to many other animals. The Adirondack region wasnt an early place for the humans to settle because the region was so rugged. The Adirondack Mountains were formed when “A hot spot under the Adirondack region causing the earths crust to expand upward into a massive dome.”(Adirondack Forest and Preserve Map) This massive dome is known as the Adirondack Mountains. Glaciers were here millions of years ago and had melted to form the lakes and ponds that are located all throughout the Adirondacks. These lakes and ponds are the main source of water for all the mammals. Having no humans around the Adirondacks made it a great place for the wolves to exist. The wolves like to avoid humans, and without humans around it was easy for the wolves to settle down and form strong packs.
The wolf was the biggest predator in the Adirondacks when it was occupying the mountains and it would still be the biggest predator when it comes back. The wolf had a purpose to be there. They regulated the deer population along with many other species and did it with its shear hunting skills. The wolf can deliver quite a blow with its shape of its mouth. “Whereas felids often kill prey with a single penetrating bite to the head or neck, candids usually dispatch prey with numerous, shallower bites, delivered more tunistically.” (Wolves as a carnivore, 112) The wolf has more features like its muscles in the jaw to take down its prey and kill it. “Muscle and skin from prey can be effectively reduced by shearing and compression actions of sharp, bladelike teeth, but bone cracking is best done by stout, cone shaped teeth.” This ability to do the work with its mouth made the wolf rise to the top of the food chain in the mountains. (Wolves as a Carnivore, 112) The wolf has many other attributes which make him an awesome predator but the main thing which finishes the hunt is when the wolf bites down on its prey with its canine teeth striking at the neck and throat
The wolf is a predator and isnt often considered prey by any animals. The wolf may not be that large but they can pack a lot of punch with their bite. An average wolf weighs up to 60 lbs, that isnt that large for a predator but can still provide that deadly kill they are known for. A wolf may not be able to attack and kill by itself all the time so they have used their intelligent skills to kill by a pack.
A wolf pack is a group of wolves that combine to form a pack and in that pack there is a leader, called the alpha male. The alpha male is the so-called boss and is the head of the pack and is in command. He makes the initial strike on the prey. The alpha males are the only males that can mate with the alpha females. With a pack formed, the killing strength is very great and can do a lot of harm. A pack can group and ambush their prey providing a quick and fast kill that would usually be impossible for a single wolf. The wolf can eat quite a lot of meat and has been known to eat a big percentage of their body weight. The wolf kills most of its food but it sometimes does scavenging. Scavenging is when the wolf looks for already dead food to fill their stomachs. The wolf is mostly a carnivore but when food is scarce they will fill their stomach by scavenging.
The wolfs main source of food in the Adirondack region was the white tailed deer. White tailed deer are full of non-fatty meat with a lot of protein. This wasnt an all-too-bad diet for the wolf and could provide enough meat for a wolf or two with only one deer kill. Deer are the primary species of diet for the wolf. Moose is the wolfs secondary food source. “The wolves would feed on the white tailed deer for most of the year but during the winter season they would tend to attack more of the moose.” (Ecological relationship, 1-8)
The mountains do have enough food to support the wolves diet. The white tailed deer will supply most of the majority of the meat for the wolf. From statistics there would have to be 1.9 to 2.9 deer per kilometer for the wolves to live and eat maintaining a good diet. But even if deer arent around then the wolf will eat many other animals considering “the moose, elk snowshoe rabbit and also beavers”. (Wolf reintroduction, 24-27)
There is an abundance of beavers in the Adirondacks and it could help to have the beaver population was thinned out. The beavers dam up the river and when they dam up rivers, the rivers will flood and create large ponds behind the dam. When the water backs up, the ponds that were formed from the dams would flood other homes of animals. The beaver may be growing in population but it is still a problem because it kills off other species. Since the wolf eats beaver and if there is abundance of beavers, it would benefit the entire Adirondack region and the ecosystem if the wolves came in and thinned off some of the beaver, the other species would be able to live the way they did before.
The wolves would usually kill animals which were easy to kill. That means the wolf