MooseWatch 2025

This month, I completed my 

10th MooseWatch Expedition 

on Isle Royale. 

During the week, we searched for moose bones and shed antlers, 

while collecting data on other species whose lives are interwoven with moose and wolves (like snowshoe hares and gray jays). 

Wolf print

This  is the longest-running predator/prey wildlife study in the world.
  
It has been ongoing since 1958....so this is its 67th year!

JP on antler seat

The weather this week ranged from the 30s to the 80s! We spent time cooling off in streams...something I never thought we'd do in May.

My team cooling off in a stream

A rainy morning in the field

Stacy finds a shed!

This is the first time my team found 40 sheds!!
We did 48 miles total, 21 off-trail!

Fancy lunch and antler plate

We had some warm days!

Processing a moose skeleton in the field

Karen finds her first shed!

The scientists leading the study are led by Dr. Rolf Peterson who has led the study since 1975. 
I'd love to hear him interviewed on Ologies with Alie Ward!

Dr. Rolf Peterson goes over our finds at the end of expedition

Dinner at our favorite place after expedition

Sometimes a set of shed antlers are found

For the past six years, I've been a team leader. 

My team!

This study is now supported by the Wolf Moose Foundation. 

Consider making a donation to support this amazing work.

Moosewatch 2021 PART 1

 

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile journeys exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

I just completed my SIXTH Moosewatch Expedition collecting bones on Isle Royale for the Moose/Wolf Study. This is the longest-running predator/prey study ever done (at over 60 years).

Along the way in our searching for bones, we also gather data on other wildlife and also take measurements and locations of shed moose antlers.

My team came across 22 sheds ranging from massive to tiny:

Julie shows off the range of our finds:

April shows off our tiny find:

Joceline discovered an ancient antler: 

Sometimes...antlers are still attached to a massive, buried skull:

More to follow on this amazing expedition...

In Search of Moose Bones (5th in a series about Isle Royale)

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

This year, Moosewatch Teams had GPS data from collared wolves newly introduced to the island. While not all of these data points were kill sites, when there was a moose kill it was pretty fresh.

The recent kills that our all-women team found still had some fur on the lower legs and all hooves were still present. You know how your dog loves to chew on hoof trimmings? So do wolves, and they'll be back for them.

First kill site

Hooves still present

Recent kills still have moose ticks hanging around

Skull

pelvis of yearling moose 

Second kill site

Lower moose jaw held by my excellent team (April, Joceline, and Julie)

The Importance of Balsam Fir (4th in a series about Isle Royale)

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

It's difficult to imagine how Isle Royale would look if the 2,000 moose weren't there, each munching 40 pounds of vegetation every single day. And in the winter, they primarily munch the soft needles of the balsam fir trees on the island.

There is a place where you can get a glimpse of how moose impact these trees: the exclosure at Windigo. Here, the NPS set up a fenced area to keep moose out.

Inside the exclosure, balsam fir tower above. They can reach heights of 70 feet tall if unmolested by moose.

Balsam fir tower overhead inside the exclosure

Large trunk of balsam fir in exclosure

These trees are all over the island, but most look like the ones in the photos below due to winter browsing by moose. Most of these trees are browsed off at a height of a couple of feet. 

Munched by moose

This balsam fir is denuded of needles as far up as moose can reach (walking stick is about 5-feet tall)

Gearing Up (2nd in a series about Isle Royale)

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures. 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to 

http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

Over twenty hikers traveled to Isle Royale for the first week of Moosewatch Expeditions this May (there are four weeks of expeditions each year).

Once everyone is on the island, team leaders distribute gear and food for the week in the wild.

Teams gather to gear up 

My team (L>R) Me, April Wilbur, Julie Timmer, Joceline Pasaylo

Backpacks can weigh over 40 pounds when heading out for a week in the wild.

This year was unique because over a dozen wolves released this past winter on the island wear radio collars.

The data from these collars indicate where the wolves spend their time and where they hang out for awhile, possibly at a kill site.

These data points were distributed to teams and this year we hiked to those sites.

GPS points of interest from wolf movement on island
 

Dr. Rolf Peterson (in red hat) gives team leaders their assignments

 In my next post, I'll take you into the wilds of Isle Royale in search of moose bones.

Heating water for coffee in morning

Speaking Tour 2016 Begins

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

This month I headed out on my speaking tour once again. My first engagements were in SE Michigan.

Fraser Public Library

Librarian Lawrence Marble introduces me to the audience at Clarkston Public Library

I also spoke to a nice group at the Woods Branch of Grosse Pointe's Library system.

I now have presentations for each of my adventures:

Lake Michigan Walk

Great Lakes Walk

Great Lakes Islands

The presentations correlate to my three books:

Go here for a list of my upcoming author events.
This fall I will add a fourth lecture about

ISLE ROYALE.