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Ecologist and author Dr. Rolf Peterson shared his unique findings collected during the longest predator-prey relationship study in the world on Tuesday night at the Nicolet Theater.

Peterson has been spending his summers on an isolated island off Michigan's Upper Peninsula studying wolf and moose behavior for the last 34 years, and presented the capacity crowd an intriguing chronology including live footage, graphic photos and stimulating stories.

Tuesday night marked the culmination of a two-year effort by the area technical college to schedule the wildlife researcher's visit.

The hour-and-a-half presentation began with a narration of how wolves have been perceived over time by humans. Peterson detailed the various beliefs that provoked ancient legends of wolves representing sin, along with negative references in early fables, and how wolves and man can ultimately coincide together.

"Wolves really don't consider humans to be prey," said Peterson, also a professor at Michigan Tech University.

The evening continued with a slide show of scenic views from the location of Peterson's firsthand research - Isle Royale National Park. The island setting is ideal for the study of wolves because population changes all occur within its boundaries. The wolf and moose population of Isle Royale are directly related to each other, as Peterson explained.

"As the wolf numbers increase, obviously the moose population will decline," stated Peterson. "However, there are many other factors that can cause a drastic change in either population such as disease, extreme weather, and the stage in an animal's life.

"Wolves will target moose calves, as well as moose that show a weakness. If a moose stands their ground, the wolves will not attack."

The ecologist noted an average moose lives from 15-20 years and wolves can sense a potential moose target growing old and weak; or slowed by bone or lung disease, ticks, arthritis, or starvation. A moose becomes an easier target for a wolf attack after reaching ten years old, and they can weigh in excess of 400 pounds.

"After a wolf attack is made on a moose," continued Peterson, "wolves will devour the carcass as quickly as possible and pack up to twenty pounds of meat into their stomachs all at once. If the wolves didn't eat all that food right away, scavengers such as Ravens would move in and eat it for them. There may be dozens of Ravens surrounding a single kill. They track the attack by watching the wolf packs, usually moving in to scavenge on a dead moose after about thirty seconds."

Peterson also revealed how Earthwatch volunteers help to locate and collect moose bones for testing each summer on Isle Royale. Pictures of piled up moose bones graphically showed the remnants of many years of research.

One of the evening's highlights - and the biggest reaction from the people in attendance - was when Peterson shared his rare footage of a moose feeding on aquatic vegetation while completely underwater that was obtained from a small, submarine-type remote camera.

"We just set the camera on the bottom of the lake and got extremely lucky," said Peterson. "Moose keep their eyes open while underwater and can actually close their nostrils."

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