"Just what is a “Predator Pit”?

Wolf researchers have come to use the term when referring to an area where predators have pulled prey populations down so low that recovery of those populations is impossible, unless there is a drastic reduction in the number of predators. The situation results from how predators affect prey numbers in two different ways. One is the manner in which predators, especially wolves, kill far more adult prey animals than needed to survive, commonly referred to as “surplus killing”. The second is the destruction of the prey age class, due to the loss of newborn young of the year. And the loss of that recruitment can be either due to outright killing of fawns and calves in the spring (with excessive surplus killing), or due to the stress predators (especially wolves) place on pregnant females in winter, causing them to abort their fetuses. In the classic predator pit situation, a rising number of predators results in a constant decline in prey numbers, with the average age of surviving prey animals becoming older and older with each passing year – to the point that reproductive growth becomes impossible and the prey base begins to die off from old age.

This accurately describes the situation in much of the Northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming today.

- See more at: http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2010/06/07/are-the-northern-rockies-in-a-predator-pit/#sthash.ffYQMhTT.dpuf"

"Theoretical models show that persistence of predators and prey at relatively stable levels (or equilibria) is likely only when prey populations are resource-limited and the prey have a refuge where they are safe from predation. "


http://www.nap.edu/read/5791/chapter/6#87

There are some important differences between Isle Royale habitat and the habitat that exists in moose country in NE Minn. Wolves are primary predators in winter when they can easily traverse the frozen swampy habitat of the moose. One of the summer predators of moose calf are black bears, also overly abundant in MN. Wolves are not dependent on moose for survival in the mainland, a calf is just an easier mark.

The presence of whitetails and other smaller prey animals along with human activity on the mainland alters the equation. Wolves can decimate the moose, which have a more restricted habitat, and then move to whitetail fawns and does, which can live almost anywhere in the state. Logging and mining companies have cut roads into wilderness areas that the wolves use to access moose country. Walk any tote road and you see wolf tracks. In the winter in deep snow, you see bloody kills on the groomed snowmobile trails where they can artificially run as fast as a deer.

With human activity factored in, there is no natural balance. Wolves are not dying out with the moose, they are increasing to record numbers and also increasing pack size, and ranging farther out under the protection of the federal government to kill other prey.

True in areas of limited resources. You would enjoy a visit to Murphy City or Isabella MN in the heart of MN moose country. You would be amazed at the abundance of wild spaces and perfect habitat that a million moose couldn't degrade. This habitat extends nearly unbroken for hundreds of miles into Canada.

There have always been wolves in MN, but with new roads and trails due to recreation, logging, mining, and remote land leases by new foreign owners of legacy paper company forests, they have artificial access to moose, especially in winter. Wolves are not dying back with the moose. On the contrary, they are increasing to record numbers and killing different animals, in larger packs, over a greater range.

Wow....those Minnesota wolves need roads to get around? Who would have thought?

What do the wolves drive? Motorcycles? Or maybe Humvees?

They are pretty well fed, so it seems they scraped together enough hides to buy a pick up truck...

That's how the bobcats have outcompeted the lynx in WA and ID. They use snowmobile tracks to access habitat that in the past only the fluffy footed lynx could travel.

The wolves and cars are doing in the Mtn Caribou too. Last count there were only 4 in the US.

"The South Selkirks contained a minimum of 27 caribou in 2012, with 4 of these observed in the U.S., down from 36 in 2011 and 43 in 2010. "
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/endangered/species/woodland_caribou.pdf

We declared war on the coyote-Kong long ago. Ever since they killed grandma's kitty on the back porch. Sure is quite a sight to watch a pack of greyhounds run down a pair of coyotes out in the open stubble of eastern Washington. Up here you can hunt wolves regularly. The time to do something about maintaining a wolf population in the lower 48 was before they were exterminated. Reintroducing non-indigenous species will lead to catastrophe.

We kill all we can find.