Graveyard shift by Kevin Honness

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A typical spring night, 25 F and snowing, on the observation point. It was my first night of den study and my task was to monitor the activities at the den, including the comings and goings of the various members of the Leopold Pack. My co-worker Tracy Brooks and I split the shift into halves, TB taking the first shift and me climbing into my tent and sleeping bag. Large crystals of snow were falling, creating a cascade of sound down the nylon sidewalls, an accompaniment to the serenade of the owl hooting off to the south. Well before it was completely dark, I was asleep.

TB's job now (and mine later) would be to stay awake for five hours, take a telemetry reading every 30 minutes for each of the four collars in the pack and record the location of these wolves in relation to the den.

Nighttime research is unique in that little has been done to document wild wolf behavior in the hours between dusk and dawn. The little we do know comes mostly from captive wolf studies where the subjects were probably unhappy, frustrated or maybe a little neurotic. This makes graduate student Linda Thurston's efforts all the more important since it may end up holding significant keys to future recovery efforts both in and out of the park. Without question, the Yellowstone wolves are the most visible wolves in North America, perhaps even the world, and researchers are able to observe wild wolf behaviors that are rarely seen elsewhere. Efforts like Thurston's study combines observation with empirical data to test popular wolf myths such as how a wolf pack raises the next generation. At the heart of these Yellowstone studies are conclusions based on wild wolf behavior. K.H.

My alarm goes off at 1:30 a.m. and simultaneously I hear the door to the telemetry shack open. This is a good sign: my co-worker was able to stay awake through her shift. Now, could I? TB tells me the three wolves missing when we began our shift at 8:00 p.m. showed up at the den around 10:00 p.m. and have stayed around since. We wish each other luck - her in getting to sleep, me in staying awake - and I pour the night's first cup of coffee.

The first reading suggests that three collars are up and moving back to the north. The alpha female's signal is very faint now as well, but still in the direction of the den. She spends roughly half of her time in the den and half out, or so it would seem from the telemetry. Small wolf pups at this stage likely want to eat every 2-3 hours with all the ferocity of their adult counterparts, only in a much smaller package. If all goes well in a year's time, these tiny pups could weigh as much as one hundred pounds, eating an elk every 3-5 days. K. H.

At 4:00 a.m. signals from the three collars were nearly four miles north of the den area and still moving steadily. Since there are members who are not radio-collared in the pack, there is no sure way to know who else might be traveling with the collared wolves. I wondered what purpose they may have for their journey. Are they hunting or are they defending their territory? As better night vision equipment becomes available the pieces to the nighttime puzzle can be fit into place giving us a more complete picture of a wolf pack's activities.

By 4:30 a.m. the signal for a young female suggested she had become separated from the other two, the alpha male and a two-year-old brother. Lagging at least a mile behind, she possibly found something of interest. Eventually, all three made a five-mile loop, including 2 road crossings, and ended up back at the den by daybreak just as I was finishing the last of my thermos. At 5:30 a.m. I was wide awake -- I had made it. Soon, the next crew would arrive to continue the 48-hour vigil and my partner and I, relieved of duty, would go home to spend the rest of the morning catching up on sleep. My first "graveyard" was officially behind me now, and the whole summer lied ahead. K.H.