Wolves & Cougars

[runningboard]

was just thinking about the different things I've read & heard about the wolves & their diet. Like "looking for wolves? find the elk & the wolves will be there." but Cougars are more deer hunters aren't they?
so my question for people more knowledgable than myself on this subject is, does a wolf pack moving in mean that the cougar population goes down in an area? will it affect at all?

[dreamunelk]

The short answer is maybe.  Depends on the habitat and what predator(s) hunting style it will favor.   Basically the amount of prey will dictate the population size of predators.  Like I said that is the short answer.  It is actually a very long and complicated discussion with way to many twist and turns.

[WAcoyotehunter]

Hey RJ-  There hasn't been much research on the populations of lions in wolf recovery areas, but it is known that lions will kill and eat wolves occasionally and wolves will kill a lion if they get the chance.  Wolves are also pretty likely to scavange a lions kill and force that cat to go find another, which will lead to higher lion predation on deer/elk.
Lions are likely more efficient killers in this kind of country are not going to go hungry, even despite dips in ungulate populations.  Wolves, on the other hand, would likely respond to dips in prey numbers by increasing thier range, which could cause a population decline as packs fought for territory. 

I suspect the wolverine population will increase slightly with wolf recovery too.  There are lots of reports of wolverines following wolf packs and making a good living off the leftovers.

Bart

[boneaddict]

Idabooner sat and watched the lookout pack out his front window all winter.   He saw several times where the cougar over there killed the deer, then the wolves took it from the cat.  The cat would then have to kill again.   Sometimes they ran off the cats, sometimes they treed them.    These were younger wolves with one dominant female if I remember right.   

[BOWHUNTER45]

A friend of mine in Montana tells me once the wolves move in the cougs move out ...He said the wolves have taken over his best cat hunting areas and when he sees wolf tracks he does not bother lookin for lion tracks  just what I was told and he is good at what he does  and I personally would rather have cougs roaming the hills than a damn wolf ! 

[bonkellekter]

This pic is from an interesting article out of North American Hunter Mag. Definately a good read!

[Idabooner]

Idabooner sat and watched the lookout pack out his front window all winter.   He saw several times where the cougar over there killed the deer, then the wolves took it from the cat.  The cat would then have to kill again.   Sometimes they ran off the cats, sometimes they treed them.    These were younger wolves with one dominant female if I remember right.   

Three times I watched the wolves take a deer kill from cougars and a couple times I watched wolves feeding on deer carcass that I thought probably was cougar killed.
1. Four wolves (two were younger) took a fresh kill from a mother cat with 2 full grown kittens, kept the cats treed most of the day. Mother cat fought hard but couldn't handle the pack.

2. Same pack took a fresh kill from a BIG (probably a tom) cougar, the cat hung around for a while then went hunting again. Cat fought hard but give up soon.

3. Three wolves (two younger) took a last nights kill from a middle size cougar. Not much resistance from the cat.

[boneaddict]

when he sees wolf tracks he does not bother lookin for lion tracks

Thats usually because they don't want their hounds eatin' alive.

[jackmaster]

i personally would rather have cougar around than wolves, a cougar isnt as braisin as a pack of wolves, they do put the hurtn on deer populations but not like a pack of wolves, and dont let anyone *censored* ya, cougars hunt out of fun than necessity, cats love to hunt....but woves they dont just stop at one particular critter they kill everything from house cats to coyotes to taken yor dog right off your damn porch, we were doing just fine with are predators until we got wolves back, and then losing baiting, trapping and hounds.....the poor deer and elk and sheep at the feeding stations dont have a chance 

[boneaddict]

I have the pics from Wolfbait or Charlie on Lance, can't remember who went and checked that one out while I was 200 miles away working.   DAMN that would have been a great photo shoot.