In General

Wolves can live in a variety of areas from the Arctic Tundra to forests and prairie as long as
there is adequate prey for them to live on. The greater the amount of prey, the greater the
numbers will be in the area. The only place they cannot live is in tropical forests, desert floors
and the highest mountains.

Wolves, although very similar in look to an Alsatian, have a broader skull and longer ears.
They also have a bushier tail, a long nose and legs. They look lean and rugged like a coyote,
but they tend to carry their tails higher. Wolves have territories of varying size, from about
30-more than 500 square miles. They use scent markings and vocal calls, such as howling to
define their territory from other wolves. There can be a range of numbers in a pack, up to
about 30 depending on the hunting in the area.

Pack Life
Wolves are very social animals. They travel in packs. This can
range from the lone wolf up to twenty individuals in any one
pack. The Wolf packs are very family orientated. We can see
this especially when it comes to rearing young. All the members
of the pack show great care when it comes to the pups. They are
extremely tolerant, and other members of the pack will adopt the
young if the parents are unable to care for them. Other wolves in
the pack will often act as babysitters to the cubs, if the parents
are busy, and are friendly and amiable towards the pups.

There is a very strict hierarchy in place in the packs. There is an

alpha male and an alpha female who rule the pack. They are the
only ones within the pack who are allowed to mate, and although they usually mate with each
other, being alpha also means that they can choose their mate from anyone within the pack. It
was thought for a long time that it was the alpha male that ruled the packs, but it has now
been proven that the alpha female can control the pack, while the alpha male could just be the
highest ranking male there. I know of at least one pack that is ruled by the alpha female.
Below the alpha male and female, the pack all knows its place in the hierarchical structure of
the pack.

Wolves do not fight unnecessarily; in fact they go to great lengths to avoid it. Most
disagreements rarely end in serious fights. If, however, either the alpha male or female dies,
or gets killed, there can be in-fighting within the pack to gain the position.

Communication.
Wolves have a very varied and complex communication system. To us, who
are used to a more vocal language, it is hard to understand the extent of this.
Wolves communicate through postures, looks, glances, a growl, howling,
whimpers, whines, and barking. Most of the time a subtle movement of the
body, or a glance is all that is needed to get across what is needed, especially
when asserting dominance over another. They don’t often have to demonstrate
their strength and dominance, but it is usually understood that they could if it came to that.
Showing direct eye contact, which is seen to be aggressive, could show this.

You can usually tell which members of the pack are the highest ranking in the hierarchy by
how erect the tail is in the air. The higher the tail is, the higher the rank. This is why you see
the alpha male or female with tails high in the air, and the others wolves tails lower.

The howl, for which the wolves are most famous, is one of the most important
communication systems, and is used for many reasons. The howl, unlike common myth is not
to the moon, but to the others in the pack. The howl is used to call and locate members of the
pack. It is also a social expression and a greeting. It is used to define their territory, but also
because they like doing it. There is also evidence to suggest that only some members of the
pack are allowed to join in the howl sometimes, as the others attacked a lower ranking
member of this certain pack when it tried to join in. This disfavored member could have
brought this on if it had caused the leaders aggravation earlier on in the day.

Lone wolves.
Sometimes, a member of the pack who is out of favor with the pack can be the sister of the
alpha female or some other low ranking individual. The alpha female only tolerates her
through the groveling the sister does to keep in favor, but sometimes this alone is not enough,
and the individual can be driven from the pack. This wolf then becomes a lone wolf, who has
no pack. This is very dangerous for that wolf, as it is more difficult to get food without the
pack. It is also in danger from other packs that will attack it if it strays into their territory.

Lone wolves only become a member of a pack if they are fortunate enough to find a pack that
will accept them, or alternatively find a mate of its own who is in the same predicament, and
start a pack of their own. Those lone wolves that do this are better off, as if they start a pack
of their own then they are the alpha themselves.

Hunting
The pack relies heavily on
group hunting, as they are
usually quite a bit smaller than
their prey. They need co-
operation and coordination in
order to feed the pack
sufficiently. They rely on their
sense of smell heavily; which
is said to be 100 times greater
than our own, to hunt. They
can travel great distances while
hunting. They have great
stamina and strength, and can
travel far for extended periods.
Some wolves have been
clocked at traveling 24-28
miles per hour. Although they
cannot maintain great speed for any length of time, they seem to be able to trot indefinitely at
about 5mph.

In winter wolves use frozen rivers and lakes as travel routes. They also can travel between
15-25km in a single night. Usually wolves eat all that they kill, gorging themselves, as they
did not know when their next meal would be. Wolves will often go for days without food,
and then can eat up to 100lbs of meat at a time. Crows and ravens have been known to help
wolves find food. The wolves make the kill, and gorge themselves, and the ravens get the
leftovers. It is an unlikely partnership, but one that works.

Hunted
Wolves have been hunted for centuries. Their habitat has been destroyed through clearance of
the land for settlement, and fuel. They have been seen mostly as a threat to humans as they
were at the top of the food chain. They were also seen as a threat, as they preyed upon
domestic animals because of their vulnerability. They have been hunted by poison, trapping,
and shooting. Over the years, the wolf became a sought after prize. Wolf fur became a
prestige object signifying bravery and valor. There were hunting parties set up to find and kill
them, for no other reason than for sport, even when they posed no threat.

With the expansion of the human race, the wolf numbers have dwindled, until they became
extinct in many places across the world. There is now reintroduction programs being
implemented across the world, to save the wolf from complete extinction, but poaching is still
a very real problem and hazard.

I have listed a few of the larger wolf organizations here, for those of you that want to help the
plight of these hunted animals. I feel there is no reason for the hunting to persist, and it is up
to people to put a stop to it, and lend their support for this worthy cause.
 The Wolf Page

animated.gif (c) Kitty Roach 

Description

     The wolf is one of the largest members of the dog

family. The gray wolf weighs 75 to 120 pounds.
They are 5 to 6 1/2 feet long. The red wolf weighs
about 66 pounds.

    

      The fur of a wolf varies in color from pure white the Arctic plains to jet black of the sub-
arctic forest. Most wolves are gray. The gray wolf's coat varies from gray to a tawny-buff.
The red wolf's coat is cinnamon or tawny with gray and black highlights. Wolves look like a
large German shepherd dogs except they have longer legs, bigger feet, a wider head, and a
long bushy tail.

Habitat

     Wolves live in any kind of climate. They seldom are found in deserts or in the tropical
forests. Most wolves live in the northern regions such as Alaska, Minnesota, Canada, China,
and Russia. 

     Wolves live in a specific area called a territory. A territory may cover 200 square miles to
as little as 30 square miles. The size of the territory depends on the amount of food that the
wolf has to eat in his territory. Wolves mark their territory with scent.

Food
     Wolves are good hunters. They hunt day or night. They have excellent vision, a good
sense of smell, and fine hearing. A wolf can see and smell a deer more than 1 mile away.
Wolves have fangs than may grow 2 inches long.

     A wolf can eat 20 pounds at one time. Then they can go without food for 2 weeks or
longer. Wolves eat small animals such as mice and squirrels and large animals such as deer
and moose.

Young

     Wolves have babies in the spring. They may have from 1 to 11 pups in a sheltered area
called a den. The pups weigh about 1 pound. They live on their mother's milk. The pups leave
the den when they are 2 months old. In the fall the pups and the adults hunt together.