‘Amazing footage’ shows elusive predator’s unique hunting strategy, MN researchers say

A trail camera in the northern Minnesota wilderness captured “amazing footage” of an elusive predator’s unique hunting strategy, researchers say.

The video, taken at Voyageurs National Park, shows a female wolf waiting in ambush on an island in the middle of a river, her ears “constantly flickering and twitching,” listening for something in the darkness.

Suddenly, she lunges into the water, clamps down on a fish and drags it to shore, video shared May 22 by the Voyageurs Wolf Project shows. After killing her freshly caught prey, she slinks off into the woods and not for privacy, but because she has mouths to feed, according to researchers.

“Some amazing footage of the breeding female of the Windsong Pack hunting fish over the past few days,” researchers said. “All this wolf has done over the past few weeks is fish and spend time with her pups, who are starting their young lives as pescatarians it seems!”

When it comes to wolf feeding habits, most people likely picture a pack sprinting in loose formation behind a deer or elk, running down the unlucky beast as the rest of its herd scatters in fear. But the video captures a different side of the ferocious hunter — that of a patient angler.

“As she waits, her ears are constantly flickering and twitching as she tries to detect fish breaking the surface of the water,” researchers said. “Cueing in on the sound of fish splashing in water appears to be one of the primary ways wolves hunt fish in our area.”

Persistence is key, as the mother wolf can be seen trying and failing, and failing again, to snag prey from the stream. But she keeps at it, as she has pups relying on her.

Upon success, researchers say her GPS collar shows her trotting back to a den, “presumably” to share the catch with her offspring.

Voyageurs researchers have learned the wolf’s lesser-known fishing technique isn’t as uncommon as some might suspect, and may not be exclusive to the packs of northern Minnesota.

“This is now the 7th year we have documented this behavior and every year we document more individuals from different social groups fishing…all of which indicates fishing is a widespread behavior of wolves in northern Minnesota and likely similar boreal ecosystems!” the group said.

The Voyageurs Wolf Project team studies and documents the behavior of wolf populations residing in Voyageurs National Park. The park spans more than 218,000 acres and is an “adventure wonderland all year long full of exposed rock ridges, cliffs, wetlands, forests, streams and lakes,” according to the National Park Service.

This story was originally published May 22, 2024 at 12:07 PM with the headline "‘Amazing footage’ shows elusive predator’s unique hunting strategy, MN researchers say."