Appreciation: These B.C. wolves figured out how to pull up crab traps to get food

Junglekeeper · Nov 18, 2025

These B.C. wolves figured out how to pull up crab traps to get food

The traps...were in deeper water submerged at all times, leading researchers to believe the damage that started in 2023 was caused by marine mammals.
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Michael F · Nov 19, 2025

Fascinating!

As for how the behaviour started, Artelle said researchers can only speculate.

"We ultimately don't know, but the two most likely explanations in our minds, one would be that the wolves started doing this with traps that were exposed at a low tide because that's really easy," Artelle said.

"There might've been this incremental learning that started with the trap fully onshore to traps partly submerged, to then associating the line with the trap and then the buoy with the line … It would make a lot of sense, and that's often how we learn."

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Seems to me, they've missed the obvious answer: the wolves were watching the people using the traps, to find out how to do it...

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Appreciation: These B.C. wolves figured out how to pull up crab traps to get food

Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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