Reserachers have found that wolves prey on the very young, the very old, the weak or diseased.  If one band of prey shows no sign of weak animals, the wolves travel on to chase other bands until an advantage can be seized.  Researchers have concluded that, “through predation, the weak and diseased are eliminated, so that in the long run, what seems so harmful may be beneficial to the species”.  This removal of biologically inferior animals has been termed the “sanitation effect” by modern biologists.

Once a weak animal is selected by a pack, it is brought down after a chase.  Usually the chases are short.  Prey that runs usually is chased.  Prey that stands its ground may be able to bluff off its pursuers.  Moose and elk often take to deep water and await the departure of pursuing wolves.  But more oten than not, the wolves wait until the prey shows signs of weakness.

When an attack comes, the prey is usually seized by the nose or the rump.  Rarely, if ever and contrary to belief, does a wolf hamstring a prey animal.  The actual death of the prey is usually caused by massive blood loss, shock, or both.

Wolves will begin feeding on the rump or on the internal organs.  The muscle and flesh are the last portions eaten.

Contrary to belief, most prey chased by wolves actually gets away.  The percentage of prey that is killed is called the “predation efficiency”, and in spite of the wolf’s prowess as a hunter, the majority of its prey escapes death.

Wolf pups taken after 3 to 4 weeks of age have been known to be unmanageable or untrustworthy on maturity and the chances of taming it are not as good as if they were taken before this period. In the wild, wolf pups receive a lot of attention and affection from the adult pack members. The human being must replace this.

If given the proper care and handling, a wolf pup can be tamed. However, since wolf pups become wary of strange individuals at approximately three months of age and in the wild, probably fear all strangers at the age of five months, tame wolves cannot always be expected to behave toward all humans like they do toward those that reared them. For this reason, most wolf pets are kept contained. Since wolves are naturally prey animals, the smaller pets that you might have in your own household or the neighbor’s pets could be in danger. Also, if left to wander, someone might wind up shooting the wolf.

Wolves should have access to the facilities that permit them to have lives of their own and to be wolves, not dogs. There is only one place that will allow them to do this; that is in their natural environment–the WILDERNESS.

It is only natural for one to admire such a magnificant creature and want to own it, I myself included. Many humans that have adopted wolves as pets wind up giving it up to one of the humane societies or a zoo, mainly because they did not realize the special care that must be taken when taming a wolf.

I would much rather see this beautiful creature happy and free in the environment that it was meant to be in. The Humane Society of the United States strongly recommends this.

Many wolf tales have been circulated in folklore and fairy tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Three Little Pigs,” and “Peter and the Wolf.”  Also a man who “preys on innocent females” is referred to as a “wolf”.  All of this has created ill feelings towards the wolf.  However, nothing could be more further from the truth.

In North America, no scientifically acceptable evidence is available to support the claim that healthy wild wolves are dangerous to man.  Only the rabid wolf, as with any other rabid animal, poses a danger to man.  On the contrary, wolves are quite timid when it comes to man. Biologists and wolf researchers have been known to steal wolf pups from a den while the parent wolves just barked and whined.  It has been proven that healthy wolves are shy of man and will usually try to avoid him.  L. David Mech’s book ”The Wolf” cites many other cases that substantiates this fact.

The Gray Wolf, being the largest of the canid family, stands about 26 to 28 inches high at the shoulder for an adult male; a body length of 40 to 58 inches and tail approximately 13 to 20 inches long.  The female wolf is roughly 15 to 20 percent smaller.

The weight of North American wolves varies between 40 and 175 pounds, with average weights being between 60 to 100 pounds.  Despite legends of 200-pound wolves, the heaviest wild wolf only weighed 175 pounds.

The gray wolf has a broad face and appears larger than it really is because of the ruff of fur below the ears.  The eyes are usually a golden-yellow and at night shine a greenish orange.  Its ears are approximately 2 inches long and the nose as much as 1.5 inches wide.

The wolf’s body is built for traveling and its chest is narrow, allowing it to push more easily through the deep winter snows.  The coat is thick and fluffy with long guard hairs that repel moisture and a thick wooly undercoat for insulation.  The guard hairs may grow to 4 or 5 inches in length.  The winter coats are then shed in the spring.  The legs are long with oversized feet which act like snowshoes to enable the wolf to travel more easily in the snow.

The color of wolves range from all shades of gray, tan and brown to pure white or solid black, with the Red wolves having reddish coats.  The tip of the tail is often black.  Many of Canada’s high Arctic wolves are creamy in color.  White hair shafts have more air pockets than coloration pigment and therefore provide better insulation.

The wolf has extremely strong jaws with a crushing pressure that is twice that of a German Shepherd.  The upper jaw has six incisors, two canine teeth, eight premolars and four molars.  The lower jaw has six incisors, two canines, eight premolars and six molars.  The incisors at the front of the jaw are used to cut flesh from prey.  The canines, which may reach two inches in length, pierce into flesh to hold prey.  Premolars and molars are used for slicing and grinding.

The surface sense of smell in a wolf is 14 times that of a human and the degree of sensitivity to smell is 100 times more than the sensitivity of man.  They can pick up a scent at least a mile away or more.

According to Canadian naturalists, a dog’s hearing is about sixteen times that of man.  A wolf’s hearing is even more acute than that.  A wolf can hear as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles away on the open tundra.  Wolves have been known to respond to human imitations of wolf howls from three miles away.

The wolf’s sense of sight is relatively poor compared to their smell and hearing.  Observations have shown that their sight is at least as acute as that of humans.  Naturalists believe that wolves are quite nearsighted and that they can clearly see details up to about 75 feet.  However, the wolf’s peripheral vision and ability to detect motion is excellent.  The outer perimeter of a wolf’s retina is extremely sensitive to movement.  Their night vision is far superior to that of man’s.

Naturalists have found that wolves tend to distinguish the colors red and yellow from other colors.  The thinking is that perhaps because of red being the color of blood and yellow being that of urine.  In any case, they seem to believe that wolves become more interested in colors that have a reddish base and have a strong ability to detect red from other colors.

Because of disease, parasites, injuries and hard winters of food shortages, wolves in the wild are likely to live less than 5 years.  The true enemy of the wolf is man himself.  Legal and illegal hunting, collisions with vehicles, trapping or predator control has wiped out a good many of the wolf population.  In contrast to that, wolves in captivity can live as long as 18 years.  Wolf Haven, near Tenino, Washington, had one wolf that lived to be over the age of 18 and currently has a wolf 17 years of age.

The wolf howl is mainly an act of communication and is social by nature.  Wolves do not “howl at the moon”, but they do vocalize more when it’s lighter at night, as it is when the moon is full.  That unforgettable sound is audible to other wolves up to six miles away.  The howling wolf can be heard at anytime, but since wolves are more active during the evening hours, it is more prevalent at that time.

Since wolves cover a vast area when hunting for food, some members of the pack may become separated.  The wolf howl can guide the members back to the pack.  A chorus of howling wolves can be a warning to defend the pack’s territory.  It can also be a response to a neighboring wolf pack.

Other reasons for howling are:

–to notify other pack members or other packs of their whereabouts, or to reasemble a scattered pack.

–to attract a mate

–to stimulate and rally the pack before a hunt

–to startle prey and cause it to come out of hiding

–when disturbed, but not sufficiently alarmed to run away

–upon awaking

–after intense sessions of play or other social interactions

–to announce alarm at the presence of an intruder

–when stressed, lonesome wolf pups often howl their distress

There are also many different kinds of wolf howls–the happy social howl, the mourning howl, the wild deep hunting howl, the call howl.

Wolves will also howl just for the fun of it.  Just like humans, they enjoy a good song.  It is a happy social occasion and somethimes wolves will run from any distance to join the pack for a howl.  Wolves love to howl. 

It has been observed that wolves seldom stay on the same note while howling and will shift pitch to create a harmonious effect.  They avoid unison singing; they like chords.  When two packmates hit the same note, they change pitch until discord is established.

After a good howl, wolves will rest for a fifteen minute period allowing time to hear other packs howl.  Under ideal weather conditions, the wolf howl can be heard as far as ten miles.

Wolves also have other means of communication.  They have an elaborate body language of facial expressions and postures.  Their vocal repertoire includes growls, barks, whimpers, howls and other sounds with different meanings.  With combinations of postures and vocalizations, wolves convey dominance and submission and social standing within the pack.

Wolves also leave “messages” for one another via scent markings, which help define territorial boundaries and trails, warn off other wolves and guide lone wolves to unoccupied territory.

Each year thousands of wolf enthusiasts flock to the Yellowstone region and contribute more than $35,000,00 annually to the local economy just to hear the howling wolves.  Sadly, fear and misunderstanding about the wolf still threatens to silence its howl.

Enjoy this beautiful video of wolves and sounds.

Wolves are made to move.  Even deep snow does not hinder the snow wolf.  Their narrow wedge-shaped chests cut through drifts.  Their long, slender legs feature “elbows” that turn inward rather than outward, as on most dogs, centering the animal’s body mass over its large feet and minimizing stress on the shoulders. 

Wolves also have rounded feet with spreadable, webed toes that act like snowshoes to keep them from sinking in snow. 

With these advantages and the fact that prey animals like deer, elk and moose may be more vulnerable in snowy conditions, winter can be a hunting boon for wolves.

Wolves play a vital role in nature.  They keep elk, deer, moose and other prey populations healthy and vigorous by feeding on old and sick animals. 

As top predators, wolves contribute to ecosystem diversity and health.  Their presence affects a multitude of plants and animals, a phenomenon biologists call the “cascade effect.”

In  Yellowstone, wolf-wary elk now graze less in the meadows and wetlands where they once congregated.  Willow and aspen trees are growing back in these sensitive areas after decades of over-browsing,  improving habitat for native birds, fish, beaver and other animals.

The wolf is a flesh-eating mammal that belongs to the dog family.  Wolves live in North America, Europe, and Asia.  There was a time when wolves ranged through almost every part of the United States and Canada, but this is no longer true.  Timber wolves, also called gray wolves, are seldom seen today.  They still live in the Rocky Mountains and in heavy forests of Canada and the northern United States.  Coyotes, or prairie wolves, are fairly common from the western plains to the Pacific Coast.

A wolf looks like a skinny, long-legged dog.  It has a wide head, a long nose, and a pointed muzzle.  Its thick tail droops, but its ears always stand up.  Wolves have different colors in different climates. 

Gray Wolf

The northern wolves have the longer, thicker, and lighter colored coats.  A full-grown wolf is nearly 5 1/2 feet long, including the tail, which may measure nearly 1 1/2 feet.  Wolves have five toes on the front feet, and four on the hind ones. 

The wolves of Europe are close relatives of the North American timber wolves.  They are slightly smaller, and have coarse gray fur, which often has a brown or yellow tinge.

Wolves live in dens, which they build in hollow logs, openings between rocks, or holes dug in the ground.  Seven or eight cubs are born in each litter.  They start to open their eyes a week after birth, and usually have them fully open by the ninth day.  This is about the same as with dogs’ puppies.

In the summer, wolves hunt alone or in pairs.  They often hunt rabbits, hedgehogs, birds, snakes, rats, and field mice.  Sometimes they attack a herd of sheep.  In winter, they may gather in large packs.  Packs of wolves have been known to kill deer, horses, cattle, and even people.  There are more wolves in Russia than in any other country.

People in North America have little fear of an attack by wolves.  But these animals are the enemies of stock raisers, who have declared war against them.  In Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, hunters killed more than 7000 timber wolves in one year.  Wolves can be tamed and a few have been trained to hunt like dogs.

Scientific Classification.  Wolves belong to the family Canidae.  Both the American and European wolves are genus Canis, species lupus.