More on the death of 375F. Mollie's Pack? Reappears

2-14-2005

Additional info 2-18

I talked with Dr. Doug Smith today about 375F's mortality. He said the Druids had killed an elk in Soda Butte Creek, and while they were feeding, it seems they were attacked by the bigger Slough Creek Pack and 375F was injured badly. She made it some distance, leaving a trail of blood, but finally laid down and died.

Slough Creek then took over the kill and the Druids remained high on the ridge huddled together. Smith said it is like Slough Creek is hunting down the Druids. He said "like," not that they specifically were hunting them.  The Slough Creek Pack was founded by a brawny Mollie's Pack wolf 261M and one of the fleetest of Druids of several years back -- 217F.

Mollie's pack was always a bunch of big and tough, bison-eating wolves. They gave the Druid's grief on several occasions when they came to the Lamar, and in fact probably killed 42F, the long time Druid alpha female. The irony is that Mollie's Pack was derived from the Crystal Creek Pack, which was killed, or injured, and chased out of the Lamar Valley by the new Druids way back in 1996. They were renamed Mollie's when the last of the original Crystal Creek pack disappeared -- old former alpha 5F.

The 13-15 members of the Slough Creek Pack are very big, especially the alpha male 490M. A friend who recently saw him emailed me. He wrote, "490M is EVERYTHING they say he is - Boss!!!!! Obviously, MUCH bigger than all the others ---AND HE KNOWS IT!!!

And what about Mollie's Pack itself which seems to have disappeared from the Park? Well they are back, at least there wolves in the area. Smith's observation recently was of 6 wolves in the traditional Mollie's territory, the deep snow Pelican Valley area, and they were killing, as is so common for them this time of year, a bison.  However, the only identifiable wolf was radio collared 378M, who has been about half time a Slough Creek wolf and half a Mollie's wolf and a nemesis of the Druids. See Two Mollies Pack Wolves attack Druids at Rendezvous Site. 10/28/04.

The rest of the wolves were the wrong color, and no collars -- 3 grays and 3 black. Three of them are pups. It is possible this is a new pack. 378M might have found recruits, and 378 took them to the territory he knew -- the Pelican.

Update 2-17-2005. Tonya Matthews emailed me saying 375F "was mobbed" by the Slough Creek wolves while she was on the elk carcass. This may explain why she, perhaps the fastest of the Druids, failed to get away.

Thanks to Cathy Wise for this fine recent photo of the late Druid 375F