Wolves Hunt Their Prey by Using Ambush Tactics

Wolves

Wolves used specialized techniques and use specialized strategies to attack unsuspecting rodents. The species uses multiple skillsets to bring down their prey which means the technique they use depends on the prey they’re hunting. There are scenarios when wolves wander than they usually run after large animals like elk and deer until their prey is weakened. According to the report published in the Journal Behavioral Ecology, all lonely wolves sometimes game on smaller animals like beavers and they use specialized strategies to attack unsuspecting rodents.

Wolf

Researchers and Scientists in northern Minnesota observed that the predators at different locations where they were known to stake out beavers. Because of poor eyesight, the wolves took advantage of it by waiting for a few meters to the spots where the animals patronized and obstructing their more sophisticated sense of smell by laying low. One of the biologists, Thomas Gable says “It shows a lot of flexibility in their hunting strategies, A lot of large predators have particular ways they hunt and kill their prey; for example, cougars are ambushing predators for the most part.” But by contrast, wolves look to adapt their tactics to the kind of prey they’re hunting.

Wolves

Generally, beavers are not easy meals for a hungry wolf. Amid their short journey onto land, beavers stick very close to the water so that if a predator shows up, they can quickly run off to safety. Gable made it known that beavers are these sometimes 50-to-60-pound hunks of muscle shaped like a football. They also have incredible bite strength with really sharp teeth that could do some serious damage.

In the surrounding lands and forests of Voyageurs, wolves feed on large portions of beavers during the warm months, but in the summertime, prey like deer and moose are well-fed making it harder for wolves to feed on the beavers. So, wolves usually go after smaller prey on their own.

Beavers are somehow predictable as they return repeatedly to an obvious pathway to cut down vegetation for their dams and lodges. “Wolves can always go to a beaver pond that’s active and beavers will be coming on land.

To have a better understanding of how wolves choose where to lie in anticipation for the beavers, Gable and his colleagues fitted GPS collars on 32 wolves to track their movement. They went to sites where the wolves had spent time and searched for signs of beaver activity. Flattened Vegetation and scattered hair gave the team signs of where the wolves had waited.

Source: Nature World News