Windwolf
Crex Meadows ... Wildlife on the Meadows ... Gray Wolf
The Crex Pack
Crex Meadows has hosted Gray Wolves over the years and has what is known as the "Crex Pack" as its designated name. For many years now the sight of wolf tracks each visit to the Meadows is no longer a surprise, but an expected encounter. For most people, scat and tracks will be their only encounter with this elusive predator.
I met a man in the early 1980s who had been born and raised near the Boundry Water Canoe Area and loved to disapear into the northern forests for weeks at a time. He told me if I wanted to see a wolf to look behind me. They follow you. So far that hasnt worked yet, but I keep trying his method when I am in known wolf areas.
This scat was relatively fresh because it was attracting insects still. I estimate it was no more than 48 hours old. There are several types of flies attracted to this and the butterfly is an American Lady. There are several types of butterflies that are attracted to scat, sometimes in large numbers.
The above picture was taken May 18,2007 in Crex Meadows.
This picture of a wolf print and scat is seen often in various locations around Crex Meadows. It is common for a wolf to mark territory with scat on trails (and roads).
Note the difference in the two pictures with scat. I make no estimate on the age of this picture on the left, except that it is older than the above picture. Insects are not attracted to this example.
Crex Meadows was very dry in the spring this year (2007). The location of the scat and track on the left was open to the sun all day, and the above picture was partial shade in the morning and afternoon.
Picture taken May 18, 2007 in Crex Meadows
I continued along the tar road where the top picture was taken. My luck was about to change.
No more than 1/4 mile from where I took the butterfly scat picture (I like to call it Beauty and the Beast), I stopped at another favored place for hawks and osprey. I scanned the open area to my left, which was west of me, looking for birds on the bottoms. Normally the area of flat green is a few inches to 1 foot deep with water. But it had been a snow drought winter and had become a very dry spring. There was no standing water here this year.
Through my 10x50 binoculars I saw movement. I focused in on the spot and saw my First Crex Wolf! I grabbed the camera I had and snapped a picture as fast as I could get the camera turned on and ready.
The wolf was not visible in the shot. It was there, but the wolf was hidden by distance and camera limitations
I took a second shot and had the same results. I scanned again with my binoculars to ensure the wolf was still there and had not moved. He was still there!
I zoomed the camera to the maximum position. It warns you that pictures taken at such a setting may not print out correctly. It was my only option. Holding the camera out the window and above my head, I pointed it in the general direction and clicked.
This was the result:
I barely caught the wolf in this picture. If you cannot see it, look on the far left, middle of the picture. The wolf is facing north in this picture, which would be facing right on your screen. I never got another chance to get a better shot as the wolf rose and began walking towards the south (opposite way it is facing in the picture), and within seconds he/she had disapeared behind some of the dead grasses you can see in the foreground of the first attempted photograph.
This is my only sighting of a wolf on Crex Meadows as of this day (October 9, 2007). Picture taken May 18, 2007.
The image to the right is a print taken June 1, 2007 on Phantom Lake Road. The wolf was headed north along a very wet road leaving a pretty good set of prints. It appeared to be moving at a steady trot. Some tracks had been driven over by traffic but where tracks were visable, the movement was steady.
There was also a set of older tracks that had been washed out by rains. It may have been the same wolf headed south earlier in the night and returning to its lair north of this point when the rains were nearly finished.
I used a quarter for a size comparison in this picture. A quarter is 7/8 of an inch across. Using the quarter as a base, the large track is 4+ inches tall. I now carry a ruler with me for better sizing.
Picture taken June 1, 2007
Gray Wolf Taxonomy
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | Canis lupus |
Wolf Pups
Days spent on Crex Meadows reveals more of the pack