WOLF FACTS AND BEHAVIOR

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Wolf Facts and Behavior

HOWLING

Wolves seem to howl for many reasons. They often howl before they go on a hunt, possibly to rally the pack together, and they often begin to howl after a successful hunt. That suggests that howling serves to assemble a pack together, as wolves often become separated from each other during a hunt. They do not, however, howl while they are hunting, as that would alert potential prey items to the wolves' presence, giving them more time to escape. In addition, a wolf may howl alone if it is having troubles locating its pack, as pack members seem to recognize each others voices, since individual wolves often have their own characteristic way of howling. Wolves will also howl in apparent grief after the death of their mates, and lonely wolf pups often howl in distress. And, as R. D. Lawrence has written in his book, Trail of the Wolf, "somewhat like humans, they [wolves] enjoy a singsong."

Wolf packs may also howl to communicate with other packs, as two different wolf packs will sometimes answer each others howls. Wolves will also often answer the calls of humans mimicking wolf howls. L. D. Mech (1970) notes that wolves often remain silent for 20-30 minutes after a howling session. He suggests that such a silent period would allow each pack to listen for other wolf packs. If different packs repeated their howling right away, it would be difficult for any one pack to determine how many other packs were in the area.

Wolves howl less frequently during May and June than they do during the rest of the year, likely because that is the time that packs are most likely to have young pups present. It is possible that wolf packs who have young pups present often keep silent so they do not attract attention to their whereabouts, since pups are vulnerable to predators like bears and cougars.

OTHER VOCAL COMMUNICATIONS

In addition to howls, wolves can also produce whimpers, growls, barks and squeaks (Mech, 1970). Whimpering tends to serve as either a submissive or friendly greeting sound, since young wolf pups and wolves attempting to appear submissive often whimper. Wolves growl when they are attempting to threaten another wolf or are behaving aggressively. Wolves rarely bark, but may do so as an alarm call or during play. Captive wolves who have been exposed to domestic dogs may bark more often than wild wolves or captive wolves who have not been exposed to domestic dogs.

PLAY

Wolves also use different gestures to ask each other to play. When a wolf wants to play, it will approach another wolf and it will bow down with its front feet on the ground and its rear in the air with the tail wagging. It may also wipe its paw against its face. If the other wolf wants to play, it will approach the initiator, who may then stay in the crouched position or who may then bound away. The two will play fight or chase each other until they are tired. While wolves play, they may growl at each other playfully, let out loud, high-pitched dog-like barks, or gently bite and nip each other. Wolf pups are very playful, and adult wolves occasionally will play. During such relaxed situations, exceptions to the normal pack hierarchy often occur. For instance, during play, a dominant wolf may behave as though it were subservient to a lower-ranking wolf, and a subservient wolf may appear to be dominating a higher-ranking wolf.

THE WOLF'S DIET

Wolves are carnivores, meaning they live almost exclusively off of meat. When hunting in a pack, wolves often try to capture and kill deer, moose, caribou, bison, wild sheep, wild goats or musk oxen, and these large ungulates (hoofed animals) make up most of a wolf's diet. Although wolves hunting in packs tend to capture such large prey items, lone wolves will on occasion bring down a large hoofed animal or one of its calves. During spring, wolves often prey upon juvenile ungulates. Wolves will also eat smaller animals like beavers, rabbits, hares, voles, fish, muskrats, lemmings, raccoons, shrews, marmots, woodchucks, shellfish, ground squirrels, mice and birds. Wolves will also eat animal carcasses they have found but did not kill themselves. Wolves will also eat insects, earthworms, or garbage and, when especially hungry, vegetable matter, such as berries or nuts, though none of these items make up a significant part of a wolf's diet. They will also eat grass as a purgative. Wolves will sometimes turn to eating domestic livestock as well.

HUNTING BEHAVIOR

Wolves use a variety of strategies to capture their prey. Arctic wolves may try to provoke a stampede of musk oxen by staring at them, giving them false charges or by nipping at them. A stampede will expose the weak, vulnerable calves which will be attacked by the entire pack. Sometimes, one or two wolves will chase their prey right into another group of wolves. Wolves will also try to run their prey into exhaustion, or they may surround a herd and drive it into the open to expose the weakest animal.

If the wolves do get the chance to attack an animal, they will surround it and bite its neck, rear, head and sides to bring it down. Wolves rarely (if ever) hamstring a prey animal. The cause of death of the prey animal is usually massive blood loss, shock or both, although wolves may snap the neck of a smaller animal. The wolves will immediately start to devour the animal. The rump or hindquarters of the prey animal, as well as the internal organs, are usually the first parts of the prey animal eaten, and the muscle and flesh are usually the last parts eaten. Adult wolves are capable of eating about 14 kilograms (20 pounds) of meat at once, because wolves often go for long periods of time without eating, so once they do get food, they eat as much as they possibly can. If they cannot eat the entire carcass at once, they will often return to it later, if it has not been taken over by bears or other animals. Wolves snarl and snap at each other while they eat, although it is a myth that wolves often kill each other while they feed on a prey animal.

REPRODUCTION

The breeding season for wolves is usually from February to March. However, some wolves mate as early as January, and in Northern Canada or Alaska, wolves may mate as late as April. Mating season occurs after winter so the wolf pups will have time to grow and develop before the next winter comes. Female wolves usually become sexually active at age two, although a female wolf may breed as early as age one. However, many female wolves don't mate until they are four or five years old.

The alpha female in a wolf pack is usually the mother of the pups. In almost all cases, the alpha male is the father of the pups, but in some instances the wolf who ranks just under the alpha wolf in the pack's hierarchy (the Beta wolf) will take over the alpha's role as father if the alpha wolf shows no interest in mating with the alpha female or any other pack member. Just before the breeding season, the male wolves (particularly the alpha male) in the pack will sniff, harass and pursue the alpha female. If needed, the alpha wolves may use physical force to prevent the other pack members from mating.

While most wolf packs produce only one litter of pups each year, biologists have observed packs that have had more than one litter, one of which was from a subservient female. Multiple litters often occur when the food supply is very adequate after a severe winter. Subservient females may also breed when the pack hierarchy is disturbed.

PUP LIFE

The female wolf will usually give birth (alone) to a litter of 5 or 6 pups, although some litters are as small as two or as large as 11. The female will not allow the male into the den while she is giving birth. The mother wolf will stay with her pups almost all of the time at this stage but will leave the den to eat the food the other pack members will leave outside for her.

At the end of two weeks the pups will have opened their eyes and will start to develop their milk teeth. They will also be able to walk on all four of their legs and will weigh about 3.2 kilograms (7 pounds). When the pups are three weeks old they will be able to see and hear and the mother will start to regurgitate solid food for them to eat. Wolf pups are born with blue eyes, which usually change to a yellow-gold or orange colour by the time the pups are 8-16 weeks old. When the pups are about one month old they will leave the den. When they leave the den they will be greeted by the other members of their pack very enthusiastically.

When they are able to leave the den, the pups become the responsibility of the whole pack. Each wolf in the pack will protect the pups, and will watch out for possible predators (such as eagles or bears) that may attack the pups. Members of the pack besides the mother will start to regurgitate food for the pups. The pups spend much of their time playing by chasing and wrestling with each other. They will constantly try the patience of the older wolves by nipping at their ears and tails and by pouncing on them. Adult wolves are very patient with the pups and will only reprimand them by bearing their teeth if the play becomes too rough. The pups are treated with a great deal of affection by all members of the pack, and since each pack will typically have only one litter (there are rare exceptions to this), they are viewed as "communal babies".

While the pups are out of the den, but are still too young to hunt, they will stay at a "rendezvous" site with a pupsitter (one of the subordinate wolves). As the pups mature, they will be introduced to potential prey, different scents and trails, and hunting strategies. Wolf pups start to accompany adults on hunting trips when they are 12 weeks old. The pups will start to explore their surroundings on their own, and at age 7-8 months, they will start to actively hunt with the pack. Some pups will eventually leave their pack and will become lone wolves. Lone wolves are often at great risk of being attacked or killed by other wolves whose territory they have intruded on. If a lone wolf finds a mate and establishes a territory, it will be the founder of a new pack. Some wolves will stay with their pack and will wait for an opportunity to move up in its hierarchy when the alpha wolf dies or becomes sick and old. About half of the wolf pups born each year will die before their first year. Disease, hunting accidents, attacks by bears, fights or inexperience are often to blame.

THE TERRITORY

Wolves use many methods to define their territories. In territories that are well defined, the most important method wolves use to mark out their territory is scent marking . Wolves use urine to mark out their territory, and wolves can differentiate the odor of their pack mate's urine from a foreign wolf's urine. Wolves have excellent senses of smell, and when a pack ventures onto a territory that has been marked by other wolves, the pack will either leave or risk a fight. Wolves are rarely tolerant of foreign wolves, although R.D. Lawrence, in his book, Trail of the Wolf, does describe a few instances of friendly relations between two different wolf packs.

High ranking wolves will leave urine marks about every 350 meters when they are marking out their territory. Wolves will also mark the same scent post over and over again. It is sometimes claimed that wolves scent mark to mark out the boundaries of their territories, although some authors (see Lawrence, 1997) claim that wolves do not scent mark to mark out territory boundaries, since the boundaries of a wolf pack are rarely clear and rigid. Instead, wolves may scent mark simply to alert other packs that there are already wolves in the area. The scent marks are like "No Trespassing!" signs for wolves.

Wolves will often place scent marks on spots where other wolves, coyotes, foxes, skunks, raccoons, moose, deer and other animals have left marks of urine. Domestic dogs often do that as well. It seems that the scent of any animal on a spot stimulates a wolf to add its own mark to the spot.

A wolf may also rub its lips and neck on a tree or against the ground to mark its territory, and wolves often scrape their paw pads on the ground (usually after they urinate) to mark a territory. This releases odours from the glands in the wolf's paws. Wolves also howl to warn other wolf packs that they have entered foreign territory. Wolves will often answer the howls of another wolf pack. However, wolves will remain quiet if there are pups present so they don't attract attention to the pup's whereabouts. Wolf pups are vulnerable to attacks from large predators, such as bears or mountain lions.

RESOURCE
Wolf Behavior

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