Wolf kill discovered on Pincushion ski trail

David Eckel of Grand Marais was skiing the Ole Hyvaa loop on the Pincushion trail system on Saturday when he came on a bloody scene and a dead wolf. He wasn’t sure how the wolf died when he came upon the scene.

Eckel contacted fellow ski and run club member Dick Swanson who lives in the area to take photos of the kill. He then had law enforcement contact Conservation Officer Mary Manning, who determined the animal was killed by other wolves. 

“There was quite a bloody scene there,” said Manning. “It appeared to be an older wolf, an older female, clearly not the healthiest wolf in the pack and the pack decided to eliminate her.” Manning added that it did appear the female was killed by other wolves and she suffered multiple wounds. “It appears there was quite a struggle, quite a fight.”

She said that for a skier not expecting to see something like that, it must have been disturbing. “There was quite a bit of blood in several locations,” she said. “There was a mess even after we removed her.”

Eckel and Manning moved the wolf off the trails where it was stored for further investigation.