Christina - 25 February

This week saw a continuation of the wolf skull cleaning. I removed all the teeth, scraped them down to remove any remaining tissue, and whitened them in hydrogen peroxide. It’s interesting to see the variation in shape and size of the teeth, as well as the amount of tooth that is buried in the jawbone. The condition of the teeth, and the length and width of the testes can be used to estimate the age of the wolf. Using these measurements/observations, I estimated the age to be about 4-5 years old, although this is not an exact science by any stretch of the imagination.

I spent a large part of this week pulling together a powerpoint presentation which I will be giving to hunters in Red Bay, Labrador. This meant more reading up on eider ducks, lead, steel and nesting shelters. I was able to speak with a Master’s student who has done some eider duck research in Labrador. It was great to hear about his first hand experience with these animals, and it will be nice to have information to provide that is specifically from this area.

Trish and I have been trying to locate a key for identifying the hair of mammals in Canada, which has proven more difficult than anticipated. Many phone calls have led us nowhere, and although we have found the name of a key, we cannot seem to actually find the key itself. The key will be used to examine hairs obtained from the wolf’s stomach – we’re hoping this will allow us to determine what our wolf was eating before he died. I have also continued my fruitless search for information about the wolves on the Lower North Shore. I have yet to actually speak to someone who can provide me with detailed information about the population. It seems like the Lower North Shore is a bit of a black hole when it comes to information about many of the species here.

Next week: out to Red Bay!