On Sun, 9 Jun 2002 06:12:55 -0700 Lynda Bryson <[log in to unmask]> writes: > The article's reference to wolves eating 65% of their > diet as fruit in the summer is consistent with their > ability to take advantage of whatever is available to > them at any given time. Summer is only 3 months of > the year -- if factored over an entire year, that > percentage would no doubt be much lower. Jan in Colorado sent: Delurking here. We lived on a ranch in S. Texas for 18 years which had many coyotes. Their feces contained large amounts of (rabbit) hair most of the year, but during the mid to late summer, they were almost exclusively made of undigested prickley pear fruit and seeds. Ardeith writes: And who was it who wrote the piece about Artic wolves that did quite well all summer on the mice they caught in the area ....and I suppose rabbits too.....while raising cubs, and awaiting the return of the caribou? I think the pack stayed in the area, when the caribou went south, because they had newborn cubs. Anyway.....The Paleo-point to this is that the author determined (somehow.....I don't remember exactly how) that the mice were bite-sized protein snacks for the wolves.....I have some vague recall that the author caught some, killed and cleaned them, and tried them himself....but that could be a "Crone-moment" kicking in. So, if a pack of wolves raised a litter of cubs and did well on a diet of mostly mice......this just proves to me that our own ancestors could, and probably did, do just as well on the small animals they caught between the hunts for larger game animals. We get hung up on the food value of the big animals....deer, moose, elk, cows, antelope, pigs, etc......and forget that there are all sorts of small animals out there.....mice, birds, snakes, snails, bugs, bird and reptile eggs, turtles, fish....and probably others that I can't think of just now. I don't want to eat mice......my snake can have those.....but I have eaten rattle- snake and aligator and turtle.....and I prefer hot, juicy, blood-running steak! But I know my ancestors were not so picky......they ate everything available! [log in to unmask] Walk The Path With Practical Feet! ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.