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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 1973)
11 Wolf man observes behavior By KATHLEEN BAKER Of the Emerald To the 10 wolves in the current studies at the University Bio Social Research Center (BPRC), Professor John Fentress and his assistants are friends. Fentress’ studies are basically ob servational work, looking closely at different aspects of behavior including vocalizations, posturing and the formation of social groups. The initial goal of the research was to take an animal with a reputation like the wolf’s, work with it and eventually become friends with it. The extent to which temperament is genetically determined and its flexibility are also major in terests. Fentress stresses treating the wolves as friends and placing the animals on an equal footing with the workers, by not “putting them in a psychological comer” the staff is able to become ac cepted as part of the social group. Working on a one-to-one basis, it is “quite easy to form social ties,” says Fentress. Once the bonds have been developed, the wolf will interact with the researcher as freely as with another wolf, a useful factor in studies of communication within the group. The ears, tail and stature of the wolf serve as signals of the wolf’s feelings and actions, although “no one un derstands in detail,” according to Fentress. Vocalizations include a series of squeaks and howls. Photo by Pamela Fitzsimmons These wolves are part of a pack under observation at the University’s Bio-Social Research Center. The wolf plays a critical role in maintaining the lifestyles of the animals it preys upon, says Fentress. By selecting the animals that are unable to keep up, they prevent overfeeding and the spread of disease. “An ap propriate analogy is to consider the wolf as a farmer weeding his garden,” says Fentress, “But unlike humans, who take the largest, strongest animals, the wolf takes the smaller, less healthy ones.” The wolf has captured imaginations for centuries, but according to Fentress, the images of the wolf in mythology and the wolf ih reality conflict. “They’re very docile in the wild, they don’t attack,” he points out. “One of the most striking dif ferences of many compared to the domestic dog is the wolf’s shyness.” Studies in Toronto, Canada and Minnesota discovered only two or three cases where a wolf actually at tacked a human, in each case the wolf was rabid. The studies at the BPRC are concerned with three types of wild dogs—timber or gray wolves, red wolves and coyotes. The timber wolf is a highly social animal and easy to train. The coyote is shy and travels alone rather than in a pack. It is thought that the red wolf might be the intermediate between the timber wolf and the coyote. The wolf, North America’s largest predator, is also becoming extinct. Only about 300 red wolves remain in the world and the timber wolves number in the low thousands. “Working, with the wolves is fun,” says Fentress, “they’re harder to get answers from and you can’t play tricks on them.” He explained that because wolves are sophisticated animals, they demand more sophisticated effort. His wolves are very in telligent and, according to Fentress, learn things quickly. “They’re appealing animals and sensitive to others, but you have to remember that they’re not big dogs,” he cautioned. “They’ve got shorter tempers than dogs.” Fentress said wolves will tolerate less abuse than the domestic dogs and are too highstrung for pets. Working with the wolves has increased my appreciation for one bit of nature,” Fentress says, “it’s opened up my eyes.” I ( ode RECYCLEI ode ) German AUTO SERVICE VOLKSWAGEN Mercedes, Datsun, / Toyota & Porsche. L FACTORY TRAINED EXPERTS buemer acnoener, uwner. Bus. Ph. 342-2912 “ 2045 FRANKLIN Eigtiw OREGON 97403 WHEN YOU MOYE WITH BERTSCH. . . YOU’LL HARDLY BE IMTERRUPTED. With 43 years of moving experience, Bertsch Moving and Storage will move your home or office so ef ficiently there won’t be so much as a paper clip lost. When you move... Call Bertsch at 344-6257. ml BERTSCH MOVIHG 0 STORAGE P.O. BOX 975, 309 WEST 4th EUGENE, OREGON GR€€K LII/mG AT ORCGON - - Jk J* Lms COULD B€ FOR VOU... /4k otftMtemUty fo mut fttafUt. IF INTERESTED CONTACT PANHELLENIC (SORORITIES) EXT. 3888 INTERFRATERNITY COUNCIL(FRATERNITY) EXT. 3701 3 Days. .Beginning Today! Basement Sales Area l Only! BY THE POUND 35c Paperbacks! Hard Covers! Discontinued Texts! Good reterence materials. Second time to buy supplemental books for ydur library. Subjects from A to Z included. CO-OP OVER ) 2,500 POUNDS i OF BOOKS IN THIS ^ SALE!