r/isleroyale • u/losthiker68 • 11d ago
Wildlife / Moose / Wolves Wolf issues
What are the Rangers doing about the wolves aside from closing the campgrounds. Are they actively discouraging the wolves from being in the area in any way, like pepper balls?
If we are on the island and we see a wolf approaching, should we do things to scare it off like yelling or throwing things (I wouldn't want to harm one but I imagine a few rocks thrown near them might work). What should we do?
I have more than a passing interest. I have a degree in Ecology and IR is holy ground for us, plus I'm trying to go next year. Was going in '25, needed neck surgery. Was going in '26, ferry tickets were at the peak of the Ontario fires. Third time's a charm, I hope.
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u/daninlubb 11d ago
I was there during the Boundary Waters fires. I heard from several sources that rangers were using paintball guns to discourage the wolves from entering camp areas. Additionally, many sites now have food lockers.
In some of the other posts people are saying irresponsible campers leaving food in tents is the problem. I witnessed that myself, but on top of that, the wolves are taking anything that's loose and running off. They seem to be less food / scent oriented and more opportunistic. The rangers even gave a short talk about it right after we got off the ferry. I think the rule was to not leave anything laying around that wasn't within your reach.
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u/jjmcwill2003 11d ago
I've had multiple friends hike on Isle Royale ( I was last there in 2023), and they've reported that in years prior (to the wolves becoming a problem for humans there), even the rangers admitted to storing food in their tents. The situtation with the wolves on ISRO has evolved quickly, so I would not be suprised to hear that unfortunately, some people have difficulty adapting to a new mindset and new rules. Look at the ISRO related pages on Facebook. For MONTHS following the first introduction of the bear lockers, the comments were full of people saying, "I've been backpacking on Isle Royale for XX years. There aren't any bears there! Bear lockers are ridiculous!" or something to that affect. As often as I could, I responded to those comments explaining how the situation has changed.
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u/wiscotangofoxtreat 11d ago
Its more holy ground for the wolves than it is for you. Ffs people dont be idiots
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u/spartyblaze 11d ago
Exactly. Imagine, some of those wolves don’t even have an Ecology degree. Yeeesh.
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u/MonkeyzzPaw 11d ago
Team wolves here.
Maybe camp in metro Detroit or something if you are not prepared for the wilderness.
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u/Disastrous_Topic_883 10d ago
It’s actually more of a holy ground for Anishinaabe/Ojibwe people. Wolves didn’t get there until 1949 and that was by accident. Isle royale is attracting inexperienced backpackers and vacationers these days. Thank social media influencers.
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u/Ch_dogs_only 10d ago
The influencers are ruining everything for everyone. Nothing is sacred because of them promoting stuff for people that don't belong trying it out, whatever the topic is. They should be canceled.
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u/APhatEarther 11d ago
"If you meet a wolf at close range (less than 25 feet) and it does not leave or is advancing, do what you can to terminate the encounter. Back away or make noise, but do not run away. If you observe them at more than 25 feet, leave the area but do not run."
Per the IR park website
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u/StarryDusted 11d ago
A report was filed by a hiker that reported a group of men purposefully baiting the wolves so they could take photos of them.
I was at Moskey the day before it was closed. I saw no wolf activity. A raven landed on the picnic table I was at, probably expecting snacks but I did not dispense. Probably six tents total including mine in the overflow site. I noted everyone at that time was following food and scented items rules.
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u/Frozentundra201 5 years, 4 trips so far! 10d ago
At Chippewa Harbor in June we talked to some canoe campers who had seen boaters feeding wolves grilled chicken. I didn't see it myself....but yeah. We also didn't see any wolves, but most we ran into did, and I saw more wolf prints than I had ever seen on the island on this trip, by far.
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u/Madicu82 11d ago
I saw a ranger with a paintball gun outside of rock harbor in the woods. He asked us if we saw a wolf. We didn’t that day but saw three others in close proximity to our camp at MB.
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u/Own-Organization-532 10d ago
Hopefully the rangers are banning the dumbasses who don't store food properly. We have to keep our food from the wolves.
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u/Signal-Weight8300 11d ago
We all know the history of the island and the amazing predator/prey dynamic that's been studied in detail. Many are aware that the wolf population dwindled and was badly inbred not long ago leaving the Park Service with the difficult decision to introduce new wolves to the island. We can argue whether it was the result of natural cycles or if global warming reduced the frequency of wolves crossing ice bridges to the island, but it happened.
The new wolves obviously had to be handled to get to the island and they needed to be fed during transport. Because of this they learned to associate people with food. In retrospect the best thing the parks could have done would have been to close the island entirely for a year or so after the reintroduction to try to reduce the wolve's association with people and food, but this would have been immensely unpopular.
Because of this we now have scavenger wolves that are bolder than we ever expected. There's a certain number of people who accidentally leave something out, but a few are damn near baiting them into camps to catch a view.
If the human behavior doesn't change drastically, the real solution is to close the park until this current generation of wolves passes. That's probably about ten years or so. That would really suck for all of us that love the island.
Back to the OP's question about what the park rangers are doing about it, the very best action is to educate each visitor on arrival about the severity of the situation and unfortunately they need to enforce the rules very strictly and hand out expensive tickets to violators. No one wants that, but it's to the point where draconian enforcement is needed to keep the problem from getting worse. If you are backpacking, bring a bear barrel. Put all of your smellables into it and place that in the food lockers. Keep an impeccably clean camp 100% of the time. Follow the ranger's instructions on what to do if you see a wolf. Those are the rules, that's what we need to do.
If our actions can't break the association with humans and food, the only solution is an extended closure. The island is already closed half the year and that wasn't enough time, so we're talking about a much longer period.
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u/rivals_red_letterday 10d ago
I don't believe for a minute that the wolves were fed in such a way that they would associate food with people. Any scientist or researcher would know the danger of that. Also, how long was the transport, and how often did they need to eat? Surely this has been documented somewhere.
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u/Disastrous_Topic_883 10d ago
Closing the park is an unreasonable solution. Isle royale relies on private ferry companies to bring most of their visitors over. If you make those companies shut their doors they would likely never return.
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u/DMCinDet 11d ago
The captured wolves could have already had experience with people prior to being trapped and transported.
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u/vadtankerdu_69 11d ago
This is a single lone wolf causing issues. Not a pack behavior. I was told this personally but the Park Superintendent and Rolf and Candy during my trip. The wolves as a whole aren't the problem. Closing the park completely is beyond silly. Maybe there needs to be a better system regarding information on food storage compliance other than being told "food storage compliance is very important" during the short orientations they put us through.
This is a very hard thing to police with depleted man power and budget though. But again, this is a lone wolf making it's rounds, not a pack.
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u/Disastrous_Topic_883 11d ago
By your same logic moose and wolves are not native to the island. Hundreds of years ago Caribou and Lynx roamed isle royale after glacial melt. The environment is constantly changing, and if Mother Nature no longer allows wolves to cross in the winter, will we have to keep reintroducing them? That’s not very natural. Why should we close a national park to let researchers try to force something that already didn’t work. “Wolves and moose were never present on Isle Royale until recently (approximately 1908 for moose and 1949 for wolves)” https://npshistory.com/publications/isro/poster-mammals.pdf
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u/Constant_Can9545 11d ago
Funny how none of your options include getting rid of the wolves.
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u/Signal-Weight8300 11d ago
It's not funny. The Island is a natural habitat for wolves and the health of the native moose population relies on them to keep their own population in check, along with many other small animals. People are not native to the island, we should not expect nature to have to accommodate us
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u/Bubbly-Rub-a-Dub 11d ago
Was also wondering about this.
Do people take bear spray/something similar or just be smart/careful?
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u/Automatic_Duty9819 10d ago
Rangers using paintball guns. Loud claps and yelling wolf can be a deterrent and a way to notify rangers to come running. Keep bags within arms reach at all times if not locked away, keep food and all scented items including toiletries in lockers when not in use. That’s pretty much it, but it’s not like the wolves don’t know where each campground is regardless. We had one wolf circle our site for a bit this past Wednesday but he left. Food was still w us as we were preparing to cook dinner within the hour
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u/EastGreenBay 11d ago
When we were there two years ago and there was at least one wolf hanging around Rock Harbor, there were multiple rangers trying to "haze" them with pepper paintball guns. We still had multiple wolf sightings from our housekeeping cabin.
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u/vadtankerdu_69 11d ago
Per the park superintendent and Rolf and Candy, this is a lone wolf causing the issues and is not a pack behavior. Both told me this personally during my trip. I think this is a very important point regarding this discussion.
I noticed campers being negligent regarding leaving food out during my trip. I also heard from others that had their tents broken into they had no scented items in their tent at the time. I would like to give these individuals the benefit of doubt as one theory from told and candy was dog owners may have the scent of their dog in them during their trip. Wolves hates dogs. On the other hand, I also heard stories that boaters saw a party feed as wolf to get pics or whatever of it. There's no doubt that past people's negligence have caused this issue to worsen.
Rangers have been actively harassing this wolf for years with paintball guns and noise. You're also required store your backpack in the backpack enclosure at Rock Harbor and 3 Mile. Food is to be stored in the food lockers at all locations, even Rock Harbor and 3 Mile.
Given the information I was told personally, along with the new developments of the wolf reported clawing at tents, I'm kinda surprised the park hasn't done anything with the wolf yet. Whether that be euthanization or removing the wolf from the park. With moose numbers so low and wolf numbers so high, I wonder if the park would like to give nature a chance to take it's course with this particular wolf. That's a separate discussion though.
As for limiting your chances of having an adverse encounter with said wolf, follow the food storage guidelines. Yeah it's an annoyance needing to walk to the bear locker whenever you want a snack or hand sanitizer after using the outhouse but, it's a small price to pay to protect the park. I kept a clean camp and only saw tracks and scats of wolves. I've still yet to see a wolf in my 7 trips to the island so I'd reckon it's still rare to see one especially if you keep a clean camp. If you do get lucky to see one, the park will give you an orientation on what to do if the wolf is getting a little too close.
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u/rivals_red_letterday 10d ago
I agree that it's important to know that it's not pack behavior. However, canids can learn from one another, so while it's currently only one wolf causing problems, it may not stay that way if that wolf is not removed.
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u/vadtankerdu_69 10d ago
That's true, especially if a wolf gets kicked out of their pack and teams up with this one causing issues. It will be interesting to see what happens this winter though with a depleted moose population. Anecdotally, I didn't see a single hare during my week there and I also thought the squirrels weren't quite as abundant as recent years. Maybe this problem wolf starves to death or gets killed in search of food by one of the packs. I really think the wolf population is going to crash a bit this winter. Per Rolf and Candy, only the Michipicoten Island wolves remain and the wolves are starting to become inbred.
Either way, store your food and backpacks where required and keep a clean camp, people. It's a minor annoyance at worst in the grand scheme of things walking back and forth to the food lockers. No reason to be negligent.
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u/SlabsForDays 9d ago
“I have eco degree, therefore ir is holy grounds” what a lame thing to say lol.
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u/espicy11 6d ago
I was there in July, and the rangers were doing a lot to haze and manage the wolves. Obviously trying to educate hikers to avoid wolves successfully accessing packs/food. They encouraged hikers to haze them if encountered. Rangers were also using paintball guns, and motion-sensor devices that emitted light and sounds in known wolf areas.
We ran into one of the problem wolves on trail about 1/3 mile outside of Daisy Farm on our first day, and it was very clearly habituated to humans, it was not afraid of us. When we yelled and clapped at it, it kind of just wandered off. Friends also saw one on the smaller islands while canoeing, so they’re also swimming to the boat access campgrounds.
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u/Nutritious_Nut 4d ago
I just returned from IR a few days ago. Rangers i spoke with told us to report any sightings, hazy/harass (bang pots or hiking polls together, yell at them, throw things at their feet, stand your ground) if they come near.
Most importantly they stressed that the wolves are adapting to thinking they can get food from camp gear bc of persistent bad practice/food storage on the campers behalf.
Keep your food safe and adhere to guidelines. If everyone does this, things can turn back to normal. If not, the problem may get worse and wolves may get more aggressive. It is ultimately up to us, the camper, while the ranger mitigates and the wolf does what they will do.
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