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pinpointing a specific location to detect the species over the course of even several months can be very
challenging. Even with reliable sightings and track and sign evidence, the past presence of a wolf in a
specific location is not a guarantee that the animal will return there any time soon, if at all.
However, the wide-ranging nature of wolves and territoriality of the species offer several opportunities
for documenting their presence. Wolves typically use lightly traveled or gated roads for travel, as well as
established human and game trails. They also carry out a variety of scent marking behaviors along these
travel routes. As such roads and trails make excellent locations for setting camera traps as well as
offering an efficient method for scouting potential locations for tracks and sign and selecting the best
location to set a camera trap.
During the spring and early summer, wolves that are part of an established pack will have slightly more
predictable travel patterns as they are tied to a den or rendezvous location for pup rearing. Winter
months are the least predictable time for anticipating wolf location and movement as young of the year
are capable of traveling long distances and the pack can wonder their home range widely. However,
snow pack and ungulate winter range will typically guide their habitat use at this time.
Wolves have excellent vision and an exceptional sense of smell. Their sense of smell and social nature
can be used by researchers to elicit curiosity and territorial responses to help attract wolves to camera
trap locations or slow them down during their travels to enable photo documentation by remote
cameras. However, wolves are notoriously skittish and can be very wary of unusual scents, especially if
they have had negative encounters with humans and traps.
Camera Trap Site Selection-General Location
CWMP uses recent sighting reports provided by the public, the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife (WDFW), and the United States Forest Service (USFS), along with models that predict high
quality wolf habitat in Washington State, to select general locations for camera trap installations.
Research from other ecologically similar landscapes, suggest that in Washington State wolves will
typically select for rolling topography and middle to low elevations rather than high elevations and
exceptionally steep habitat (WDFW 2011). This habitat selection mirrors prime habitat for their primary
prey species in the region, deer and elk.
In conjunction with the projects advisory board and the WDFW and USFS biologists working with the
project leadership team, CWMP identifies priority locations to field camera teams. The scale of these
general locations range in size from ten to several hundred square mile areas that appears promising for
the detection of wolves.
Once these general locations have been identified and a field team is assigned to the area, a specific
