Such action can disrupt the hunting schedule of the pack or, worse, delay or prevent the delivery of food to hungry pups. Last year only two pups emerged from the Druid Peak pack's den. While many explanations are possible, the pattern of interrupted food deliveries by pack members to the den is considered a possible one. In this way, the wolves' popularity has sometimes become an obstacle to their recovery. This zone, strategically placed on the observed travel route of the pack, can give the wolves the breathing room they need to cross the road.
Conversation stops abruptly as word of the first wolf sighting passes among the watchers.
One of those frantically rushing back to their viewing stations, I manage to focus my binoculars on the meadows east of the pullout. A black wolf is poking around in the tall sedges in a wet depression. It walks slowly through the vegetation, stopping occasionally with its head cocked to the side. While using its ears to pinpoint the target, the wolf rolls its weight back on its hind legs and waits like a loaded spring. A hush settles over the crowd, followed by a collective gasp when the wolf launches into the air and comes down nose-first into the grass.