Welcome
to Realm of the White Wolf!!!!!
Welcome
to my page that has little
known facts about wolves,
over the years I have bought
many calendars of wolves,
so this is where most of
this information comes from.
Displaying dominance and
submission, chasing, sparring,
wrestling, reassuring-all
are
part of the daily
dynamics of a wolf pack.
From time to time the
pack gathers together
in a "rally". Although
the reasons for these
meetings are not known,
they appear
to be a celebration
of solidarity. A pack
rally can be a difficult
time for the omega,
the
lowest ranking wolf in
the pack. As the other
pack members work themselves
into a frenzy,
they may
try to demonstrate their
prowess by directing aggression
toward the omega.
Wolves howl for a variety
of reasons: to rally the
pack together, to respond
to far off sounds,
or
to defend territory. They
also seem to howl to demonstrate
a sense of solidarity
and a
sense of belonging
to the group; a communal
howl helps to reaffirm
their bond.
Wolves also
howl for reasons that
only they know.
Wolves have long existed
in the human mind as creatures
of our dreams and nightmares.
European settlers brought
their dislike of the wolf
with them to the New World.
In striking contrast,
many of the continent's
original inhabitants revered
the wolf for its
hunting
prowess and devotion to
its pack. In recent years,
the wolf has made a small
recovery
in the western
United States. Despite
what has been learned
about wolves, however,
age-old myths endure.
A pack may consist of
anywhere from two to 30
or so wolves. Pack size
depends on
many variables,
including habitat, pressures
from neighboring packs,
and available prey.
A
pack that relies on moose
for food typically needs
more hunting members than
a pack
that subsists on
white-tailed deer. The
larger the prey, the larger
the pack.
Displays of dominance
and submission take place
frequently, reaffirming
the social balance
and
reminding each wolf of
its proper place in the
pack. A wolf pack is generally
made
up of a breeding
pair known as the alphas,
their offspring, and sometimes
a few other
related adults.
Wolves achieve and maintain
their position in pack
rankings through posturing,
stares, and physical interaction.
Although it has been hunted
to near extinction in
much of its former range,
the wolf is still the
world's most widely distributed
mammal, other than humans.
There are two recognized
species of
wolf: Canis
lupus, the gray wolf and
Canis rufus, the red wolf.
The gray wolf has more
than 30
subspecies, many
of which are now extinct.
The largest populations
of gray wolves are in
the northern wilderness
regions of North America
and Asia. The red wolf
is a severely
endangered
species found only in
the southeastern United
States.
Young wolves are naturally
curious, bold, and aggressive,
which is important as
they start
to explore
their world and form relationships
within the pack. Puppies
develop and maintain
their
own "pup hierarchy" for
the first few years of
life, and their ranks
are established early.
Although adult wolves
compete with each other
while feeding, they allow
pups to eat without
confrontation
until the pups reach adolescence.
From then on the younger
wolves must
compete as
well, eventually finding
their place in the adult
pack hierarchy.
A wolf pack, or family,
is a cooperative social
unit. Its social structure
and operation grow out
of
the need to hunt efficiently
and safely, giving the
wolves the best chance
of success.
Although wolves
hunt mice, voles, and
other small game on their
own, they generally hunt
in groups when taking
down larger prey such
as deer, elk, and moose.
A lone wolf is usually
an animal that no longer
has a place in the pack
where it was born.
Such
wolves disperse to find
a mate and start their
own pack, but a solitary
life is hard for
any wolf
to maintain for long.
They may easily catch
small prey like mice and
squirrels,
but hunting
larger game like deer
or moose is dangerous
without the teamwork of
a pack.
Smell is an important
avenue of communication
for wolves, but one that
is little understood
by
humans. Wolves have a
much keener sense of smell
than humans, and larger
olfactory lobes
in their
brains for processing
scent information. They
have scent glands on their
faces,
along their sides,
at the base of their tails,
and even between their
toes.
Wolves have double layer
coats that make them perfectly
suited for hunting in
winter conditions.
The
majority of wolves in
North America exist in
the wilderness regions
of Canada and Alaska.
Northern wolves tend to
hunt large hooved animals
such as deer, moose, elk,
caribou, and
muskoxen.
In order to access an
adequate supply of large
game a wolf pack may require
a range
of as much as
400 square miles. When
large prey is scarce,
wolves will also hunt
beavers, foxes, hares,
squirrels, or domestic
animals.
As the alpha howls, the
beta wolf shows his respect.
Paying respect to the
dominant alpha
is part
of life for a mid-ranking
wolf. But there is more
to this exchange than
simple
dominance and submission;
it also reinforces the
bond between these two
wolves.
Information by National Geographic and Jim and Jamie Dutcher.
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