A wolf is an animal that knows no limits or boundaries to its
desires, dreams, inner dwelving; nor its hardships and struggles.
He will travel many miles at a time; going great distances not
only when needed to survive but also to follow his inner callings.
The Wolf is a magnificent creature that in my opinion has earned
the right to be respected. He is so powerful; yet has an ability
to be gentle, loving, faithful and caring. A union of all these
great powers- physical, mental, and inner is how I percieve the
wolf as a whole. This is a gift that we as humans have yet to
truely accomplish- the union of ourselves as a whole.
Perhaps man fears the wolf for he represents the inner feelings
and thoughts within himself that he has yet to understand. I feel that there is much to be learned from this magnificent creature-
the wolf.
There has been no other animal so misunderstood, feared, hated, and persecuted thought-out
time as the wolf. The gray wolf, also called the timber wolf, is the
largest of about 41 wild species within the dog family, Canidae, of
the order Camivora. With the exception of the red wolf of
southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana, all living wolves are
considered a single species, Canis lupus. The red wolf, Canis rufus,
is similar to but smaller than the gray wolf and is intermediate in
many characteristics between wolves and coyotes; it has been
suggested that the red wolf is a fertile cross between gray wolves
and coyotes.
Wolves vary in size depending on their geographic location. The gray wolf size is about 5 to
6.5 feet from nose to tip of tail and they can weigh 40 to 175 pounds. Their coat colors can vary
from pure white, which is most common in the far north, to mottled gray to brown or black. The red
wolf is often a reddish tan color.
Wolves can live in a variety of habitats, ranging from arctic tundra to forest and prairie. They
are absent from deserts and the highest mountains. At one time the wolf ranged throughout most of
the northern hemisphere, north Africa, and south Asia. In the Old World wolves still roam
throughout many regions of Asia, eastern Europe and, in very small numbers, western Europe and
Scandinavia. Most New World wolf populations are in Canada and Alaska, where they are
relatively stable; a small population exists in Mexico. Of the 48 contiguous states only Minnesota has
a wolf population large enough to maintain itself. Wolves have been reported at scattered locations
around the United States, including Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, and in Michigan, Montana,
Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Government plans to reintroduce wolves into what was once their native
habitat have met with opposition from ranchers and hunters.
The den, or lair, of the wolf may be a cave, a hollow tree trunk, a thicket, or a hole in the
ground dug by the wolf.
The basic social unit of wolf populations is the pack, which usually consists of a mature male
and female plus offspring one or more years of age. Pack size can reach 36, but usually two to eight
individuals are present. Each pack ranges over its own area of land, or territory--which may vary
from 50 to 5,000 sc mil and will defend all or much of this area against intruders. Members form
strong social bonds that promote internal cohesion. Order is maintained by a dominance hierarchy.
The pack leader, usually a male, is referred to by behaviorists as the alpha male. The top-ranking
(alpha) female usually is subordinate to the alpha male but dominant over all other pack members.
When two wolves meet, each shows its relationship to the other by indicating dominance or
submission through facial expression and posture. Additional modes of wolf
communication are howling and other vocalizations and scent marking. One
function of howling is to communicate position or assemble the pack;
advertisement of territory to neighbors is probably another. Scent marking
involves deposition of urine or feces on conspicuous objects along travel routes,
usually by dominant wolves. This behavior appears to function in territory
maintenance and in intrapack communication.
During the course of each year wolf packs alternate
between a stationary phase from spring through summer and
a nomadic phase in autumn and winter. Activities during the
stationary phase involve caring for pups at a den or homesite.
During summer most movements are toward or away from
the pups, and adults often travel and hunt alone.
By autumn pups are capable of traveling extensively with the adults, so until the next whelping
season the pack usually hunts as a unit throughout its territory. In tundra areas wolf packs follow
herds of caribou in their annual migrations.
Usually only the highest ranking male and female in a pack will breed. The breeding season can
vary from January in low latitudes to April in high latitudes. Pups are born about 63 days after
breeding; an average litter is six pups. The mother wolf stays close to her young for the first two
months while other pack members bring food. Pups are weaned at about the fifth week. The pups
approach adult size by autumn or early winter. Sexual maturity usually is attained at two years.
The major prey for the wolves are large hoofed mammals, including deer, moose, elk, caribou,
bison, musk-oxen, and mountain sheep. Beaver is eaten when
available. In summer a variety of smaller foods, such as small
rodents and berries, supplement the diet. Animals killed are usually
young, old, or otherwise weaker members of their populations
because they are easiest to capture. Healthy wolves rarely, if ever,
attack humans. Mortality factors affecting wolves include
persecution by humans, killing by other wolves, diseases,
parasites, starvation, and injuries by prey.
Probably few wolves live more than ten years in the wild.
