Which group of animals are listed as secondary sources supplementing the gray wolf diet?
Beavers, rabbits, and mice.
When the pursuit of large ungulates becomes too risky or energetically costly, or when large game is simply scarce, gray wolves display high levels of opportunism by supplementing their diet with smaller mammals. The text specifically enumerates several examples of these smaller prey items that provide necessary calories without requiring the complex, high-energy expenditure of coordinating a large group hunt. The documented secondary sources include creatures such as beavers, rabbits, hares, mice, and marmots. While the caloric return from a single small creature is minimal compared to a portion of an elk, securing these easier targets ensures baseline energy maintenance when primary caloric density is unattainable.
