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Figure 7. Overview of possible locations for remote camera traps for wolves, focusing on game trails and lightly traveled or gated roads.
Illustration by Jenn Wolfe.
Use of Imported Attractants
A variety of scent attractants can be used to draw wolves in front of your camera or get them to pause as
they travel through the field of view of the remote camera. These include scent lures such as Gusto and
other trapper's lures (see Table below). Bait, an actual food item, such as a deer carcass can also be used.
Use of imported baits has a variety of ethical issues that must be considered as well as research
permitting requirements. As such, importing of baits for remote camera traps targeting wolves for
CWMP is typically not done. However, use of existing "bait" found on site, such as a deer carcass
discovered in the area targeted for monitoring can be an excellent attractant.
The responses of wolves to attractants may vary considerably depending on the past experience of
individual wolves and on the context in which the attractant is being used, specifically the amount of
human activity in an area. Wolves are notorious for their ability to learn about and avoid potential traps
set by humans. Scent lures typically work well for wolves that have not been negatively conditioned to
the specific smell. However wolves that have been exposed to trapper's lures in conjunction with being
radio collared (or attempts at this) or an actual trapping season may actually avoid those scents in the
future rather than being drawn to them (Gabe Spence, pers. com.). Baits that have a human scent
associated with them may similarly be treated with suspicion in some instances. However, in locations
where human presence is common and typically benign, wolves may show little or no aversion to
