Imagine the following scene. You step as quietly as you can from your vehicle in the forest, where it’s so dark, that you cannot see your hand in front of your face. You walk several feet to the front of your vehicle, and meet with the rest of the wolf howl survey group. Everyone waits patiently for the sound of the vehicle’s engines to quiet down. Then, you hear the first of several low human made howls, and you listen for the response from wild gray wolves. Finally you hear them respond! The howling is music to your ears. It’s the sound of a wild gray wolf pack. You listen to every wolf howl, coming from the entire wolf pack, pups included, and it’s an intrinsically magical sound; filling up your spirit with pure delight! The sound of wild wolves howling is an ancient sound that has been missing in the forest until recently. Join me on a howl survey. There’s no charge. You’ll need to drive to the northwoods and meet with us. You can contact me through email wolvesdouglasco@gmail.com Kids welcome so bring the whole family.
The howling survey continues to be a valuable citizen science program.
Adrian P. Wydeven
Timber Wolf Alliance Council, Chair
Certified Wildlife Biologist (TWS)
Timber Wolf Alliance (TWA) and Timber Wolf Information Network (TWIN) picked up the coordination of the howl survey in summer 2020. For more information on how you can learn more about volunteering Contact TWA here.
I’ve been conducting summer wolf howl surveys since the year 2000.
Rachel Tilseth, citizen science program volunteer