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Wolf Facts

The actual wolf facts are typed regularly, and our additions are typed in italics. Most of these were copied and pasted from a site called Lion Crusher’s Domain

Wolves are of the order carnivore and the family Canidae--the wild canines. They are the largest of their family and have rounded ears and a broad muzzle. Wolves are an extremely social animal. They exist as a social unit called a pack.Cayona Telvethar would be an extremely large pack. It is made up of all the wolves that are created on this site. Most packs in the real world have seven or less members, a fact ignored by the writer of this handbook.

Wolves hunt, travel, and rest together. While a single wolf can bring down prey larger than itself, it's more reliable and safer to hunt in a pack. They usually separate a weak animal from its herd and bring its down through an elaborate system. Wolves eat in order of rank. That means that the breeding pair will eat first, followed by the Betas, and so on. Wolves in Cayona Telvethar may or may not go on pack hunts. The Alphas may select a few hunters to bring down food for the pack.

Wolves use body language and facial expressions to communicate with each other. Dominant wolves will freely look other animals directly in the eye, this declares and reinforces their superior rank. A subordinate wolf will cringe towards the leader with tail low and bent legs, ears back and down, in a submissive nature. At other times, active submission involves a group of subordinate wolves surrounding the dominant wolf with their noses up against it. Sometimes the pack will howl.

In Cayona Telvethar, except the Agemo will not be allowed to have a mate. The rest of the wolves may choose a mate and have pups, contrary to the real world. It is very common to have pups in a pack. The mating season is February to March. Females give birth in 60-63 days.

Various facial muscles, eyes, ears and the nose are extremely important when wolves are expressing their feelings. Bared teeth, an open mouth, ears erect and pointed forward indicate a threat by a dominant wolf. Wolves are also very territorial animals and do not readily share it with wolves who are not members of their pack. Wolves communicate and mark their territories by scent. They often do this by urinating near the edges of their territory, and on stumps, rocks and logs that are within their territory. Most of this is done by the dominant wolves, usually the Alpha Male.

Wolves bark, woof, whine, whimper, yelp, growl, snarl and moan more often than they howl. However, in Cayona Telvethar, it is common for wolves to announce their presence through a howl. Alphas can pick up a lot about a wolf through a howl, and wolves may even communicate specific messages through howls. When a wolf howls, not only can its packmates hear it, but so can any other wolf within range. These other wolves may be members of hostile adjacent packs that are competitors for territory and prey.

Howl too close to these strangers, and they may seek you out, chase you, and kill you. So howling has its costs (running into the opposition) as well as its benefits (getting back with the pack). Consequently, wolves are careful about where and when they howl, and to whom they howl.

For example, a wolf that is separated from its pack may return to an abandoned summer rendezvous site and howl for hours, even in response to a stranger nearby. It was accustomed to howling at that site and probably feels relatively confident and secure there. But that same wolf, away from the old home site, will be much more reserved, and if a stranger howls nearby, it may silently and quickly retreat.

Younger wolves, however, act differently. Pups, especially those under four months of age, love to howl and will usually reply to any howling they hear, even that of total strangers. This is understandable, since pups haven't yet learned how to identify their older packmates.

Wolves can be from 24-36 inches (60-90 cm) tall at the shoulders, and 60-72 inches (150-180 cm) long from head to tail tip. They weigh from 60-120 lb (27-60 kg) (Averages are from the smallest for females to the largest for males). Wolves in the northern most parts of their range are larger than wolves farther south. Arctic wolves can be up to 175 lb. as compared to the Mexican wolves which are usually no more than 75 lb. Arabian wolves can be as small as 25 lb.

Wolves have a double layer coat; the top layer is comprised of thick, oily guard hair that repels water, and the second layer consists of soft undercoat fur, which keeps them warm. Almost no heat is lost through a wolf's coat; not even snow will melt on a wolf's fur. The wolf uses its bushy tail to cover its nose in the winter, so that its warm breath is reflected back into its face to keep its nose warm. Wolves shed their undercoat during the summer months to keep cool.

Wolves can be any color, from pure white to jet black. The many colors that can make up their coat are: white, black, many shades of gray, cinnamon, cream, brown, silver and gold. Usually, wolves are one or more of these colors combined. The coloration of wolves' coat is on their guard hairs. Their hairs are not a solid color, but each individual hair is banded with many colors, ranging from pure white to black.

This banding is called "agouti", so named after the South American rodent whose coat sports this pattern. This banding pattern is caused by a chemical known as eumelanin, which during the growth of the hair is turned off and on, creating this banding pattern. The banding is less or more extensive over different areas of the wolf's body. In areas where the eumelanin was more active there are more bands of color, and these areas are where the wolf is darkest.

The majority of wolves have a darker greyish color on the dorsal areas of their body: around the top of their head and ears, in circles around the eyes (also known as a "mask"), on the front of the top of their legs, along their backs and top of the tail. Wolves are lighter on the ventral areas of their body: the lower jaw, underside of their upper jaw, the cheeks, directly around the eyes, on the insides of the ears, on the underside of the neck and chest, the back of the legs, the entire foot, the insides of the legs, and the underside of the tail. There is also a lighter band of color that extends from the elbow to the shoulder. These were areas where eumelanin was suppressed and little banding if any is present. Many wolves have a cinnamon color around their ears and along their muzzle.

Most wolves, especially the black wolves, have a gene that codes for their color to fade. A wolf that is black one year soon develops a little white around its face and muzzle the next year, and that white moves further along its body each year. There have been cases where all-black wolves have actually turned pure white by the time they are eight to nine years old. Wolves also change color somewhat between seasons.

They are their truest boldest colors in the wintertime. In the summer, when they shed, their coat becomes more greyish; so a white wolf becomes a little darker, and a black wolf becomes a little lighter. Even wolves that do not have the gene for coat fading still do change color as they mature to adulthood.

Arctic wolf cubs are a medium brown or beige, and as they mature their coat bleaches to white. Timber wolf cubs are also born a brownish color with slightly darker timber markings, but they usually loose their brownish coloring and gain more of a grey and white contrast to their coat.

In addition to fur color patterns, wolves also have fur length patterns. The most noticeable is the three "capes" that layer the wolf's coat along it's back. These capes, one from the back of the neck, one on the mid-back, and one that runs to the base of the tail, serve to help disperse water as it runs along the wolf's back.

The length of the hairs vary on the wolf's body as well. Wolves in cooler climates have longer and thicker hair covering their body, whereas wolves in the tropics or deserts have about the same length of hair all over, with slightly longer hair on the mane. Wolves, like other mammals, are able to erect the hair on their nape and along their spine, called "raising the hackles", which makes them appear more intimidating. On all wolves, the hair on the mane is longest and thickest, being around 1 1/2 to 4 inches long, followed by the hair on the back and tail. The hair on the muzzle is shortest of all, being maybe 1/16th of an inch long. The hair on the body graduates slowly from 4 inches to 1/16th of an inch.

Wolves are shaped for running. Most of the canids hunt by stalking their prey, then running them down with blinding speed. Such adaptations that help them do this are their deep, narrow chest and their long, narrow legs that hold tight together, almost pressed into their chest. They leave a single line of tracks when they walk. In addition, wolves can run up to 40 mph for short distances, and can travel 40-70 miles in one day.

Wolves are digitigrade, which means that they walk on their toes rather than their entire foot, which makes their legs longer and makes them more agile. They also have non-retractable claws, which can clearly be seen in their tracks. These claws are thick and blunt, due to being in constant contact with the ground. Wolves, like most dog species, have five toes on the front paws and four toes on the back paws. The fifth toe, commonly called the dewclaw, is nearly vestigial, but does provide the wolf with some grip when it runs and tackles prey. Wolves' tracks are generally 3.5"-4" wide and 4.5"-5" long.

Wolves have a long, narrow skull with a prominent saggital crest (the bone on the base of their skull). The saggital crest is where the jaw muscles attach to in order to provide enough leverage for their powerful downward bite. The eye sockets are large, and near the front of the skull, like all carnivores.

Wolves hunt as a unit, each one performing a specific task to help accomplish the kill. Wolves are opportunistic feeders, and will eat just about anything they can catch within their territory. Wolves will eat moose, deer, caribou, beavers, elk, bighorn sheep, oxen, rabbits, squirrels, waterfowl, mice, mountain goats, and fruit and vegetation. Vegetation is important to all wolves diets as they add important nutrients and roughage to their systems. They usually get enough vegetation from eating the stomach contents of its prey, but sometimes it is necessary to supplement this with grass, fruits, berries, or leaves. They usually the sick, weak, and old ungulates (hoofed mammals), as they are easier to catch, so they are an essential part of the ecosystem, as they cull the weak and allow the strong to survive. Wolves can and do take healthy prey, but they normally only take weak animals.

Wolves often have a rally before the hunt, where they play and howl and get really exited. This seems to wake them up and get them mentally ready for the hunt. Wolves detect their prey by scent, sound and sight. They often watch a herd and look for weak, old, sick, or young animals. They also can detect them by scent, smelling for their prey's urine or feces. If an animal is injured, the wolves can smell the signs of infection on the animal, and know that it is easy prey. Once the desired prey is located, they split up into smaller subgroups and surround their prey. They stalk from a distance, and when they get within a certain distance, depending on cover, they will sprint at speeds of up to 35 mph over short distances. If their desired prey is very large, like a moose, they will test it to determine if they can kill the animal successfully. They attack large prey by surrounding the animal and attacking the rump. The animal may not be so easy to kill. It will try to defend itself by kicking and digging its horns at the wolves. The wolves' best hope is if they can get the animal to flee.

Sometimes during a chase, they get lucky and their desired quarry breaks a leg, making it easier for them to kill it. If it does not outrun the wolves or prove otherwise that it is unfit to kill, it will eventually tire out after a long time. If the animal is already sick, this won't be too long. It may collapse from exhaustion, be taken down by the wolves, die from blood loss, or even die from shock. The alpha pair will eat first. The best parts, the liver and other entrails, are eaten first, as these have the most nutrients. After a pack is done eating, little is left of the carcass except the hooves, horns, and a few large bones. Everything is eaten. if there is anything left over, the wolves will return later to finish eating what is left. But usually, foxes, coyotes, vultures and insects finish up the carcass. Wolves are usually not successful; only one in twenty hunting attempts end up successfully. Smaller prey, such as rabbits, mice, and voles, is taken individually, and are killed by severing the backbone.

Wolves need three to ten pounds of meat and one to three quarts of water (either drank or derived from their food) a day to survive. They may not always get food everyday however. Wolves are used to a feast and famine existence, and so can go without eating for a long time, then binge when food is available. They can eat up to 20 lb of meat in a single sitting. During the fall and winter, wolves tend to eat a lot more food, because food tends to be scarce in the depth of wintertime. Wolves sometimes hunt in different areas of their territory, to allow the prey populations to recover. Wolves have a large territory and regularly move about within it.

Wolves have an average life span of 7-10 years in the wild. After the gestation period of 63 days, the mother wolf gives birth to three to 14 cubs, usually in a den dug before birth. The cubs weigh no more than a pound (450 grams). They are born with their eyes and ears closed, and are totally helpless. When they open their eyes, usually eleven to fifteen days after birth, their eyes are a bright blue, and gradually change to amber or green over the course of three months. The mother stays close to the young for about 2 months. She feeds them primarily by milk for the first four weeks.

Other females in the pack go through what is known as a pseudo-pregnancy, where they lactate (produce milk), and go through what appears to be a pregnancy, but don't produce any pups. This is helpful because these other females help to nurse the alpha female's cubs, and in the event of her death, one will take over as mother, and nurse all the cubs. They start getting their first set of teeth in the third week. By four weeks, the pups have begun to leave the den, and are fed regurgitated meat by the adults. The mother often moves her cubs to an area called a rendezvous site, where the cubs are safe and can interact with other members of the pack. When the mother is off hunting, a baby-sitter is left in charge of the cubs. This can be an aunt, uncle, or older brother or sister.

Young wolf pups constantly have dominance "battles" to establish a hierarchy among themselves early on. The ranks established are not permanent, and their place in the pack will change many times before maturity. Often, what is determined by these battles is who will feed first and where (the back nipples have the most milk, so they will fight for rites for those nipples), and for warmth and mother's attention. By eight weeks, the pups are fully weaned and start to eat regurgitated meat. It is also at this time that the young wolves get their first try at hunting. By the time they are 6 months old, they get in their adult teeth, and can hunt for themselves. Approximately 50% of the pups do not survive their first year due to injury, disease, and starvation.

Play is a very important part of wolf life. It helps to strengthen bonds between pack members, helps to relieve tension in the pack, and helps to develop skills that young wolves need to hunt. Both adult and pups participate in play. The invitation to play is signaled by the wolf putting its front legs flat on the ground, with its rear end raised in the air, its tail held midway in the air, and making a quick sharp woof. Wolves play by chasing, pinning, wrestling, shoving, leaping over one another, and playing tug of war. Wolves will also play by themselves with objects such as a feather, bone or piece of hide.

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