Fat Cat's Wolf Knowledge
PACK STRUCTURE OF WOLVES
Wolves live in family groups called packs.
A pack is usually made up of a male parent, a female parent, their pups and a few other adult wolves who are the older brothers and sisters.
The pack works together to hunt for food and to take care of the pups.
Some members stay with the pack for life.
Wolves can run up to 40 miles an hour and can easily cover 50 miles a day.
It is highly likely that at one time or another the land your home is on was once the home of a wolf pack, the greatest natural range of any mammal except humans.
LIFE SPAN OF WOLVES
In the wild it can be up to 13 years or more, in a protected wolf park or a controlled area of land, a wolf can live to be up to 16 years old.
But most wolves usually live to be to around 8 years of age.
The record wolf lifespan is about 20 years of age.
life in the wild is difficult for the wolf, with human population taking up more and more wolf habitat and with those who would kill the wolf, a long lifespan is unlikely.
In a controlled enviroment they can live longer because they are safe from the outside dangers of traps, snares,enemies and poisons.
SENSES OF A WOLF
SCENT
Scent plays a very important role in the life of the wolf, by smell alone wolves can locate prey, other pack members or enemies.
It can tell them if other wolves were in the territory, if they were male or female, and how recently they visited.
The wolf has several specialized glands, one around the anus and another on its back about 3 inches (7.6 centimetres) in the front of the base of its tail.
The scent from these glands is as individualistic as are out fingerprints and is used by that particular wolf as its personal calling card.
These Glands are used as to mark boundaries and also to mark trails.
These "Scent Stations" are often 100 yards (91 metres) apart.
The sense of smell in the wolf is highly developed, as would be expected in an animal possessing numerous scent glands.
The distance at which any scent can be detected is governed by atmospheric conditions but, even under the most favorable conditions , 1.75 miles denotes a particularly keen sense of smell.
The wolves usually travel until they encounter the scent of some prey species ahead of them.
They then move directly toward their prey in an effort to capture it.
HEARING
Next to smell, the sense of hearing is the most acute of the wolf sense.
Wolves can hear as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles in the open.
Wolves can hear well up to a frequency of 25 khz.
Some researchers believe that the actual maximum frequency detected by wolves is actually much higher, perhaps up to 80 khz, the upper auditory limits for humans is 20 khz.
Also according to some naturalist, wolves' hearing is greater than that of the dog.
SIGHT
Wolves also have keen eye sight and are quick to detect the slightest movement of anything in front of them.
Being major predators, thier eyes are on the front of there heads, and they have probably a little less than 180-degree vision, unlike their prey species, which can see over 300 degrees of a circle.
TASTE
Investigation of taste are made difficult by the fact that the influence of smell often plays a mojor role in the way a food "tastes."
It is known that canines possess taste receptors for the four taste categories:
Salty,
Bitter,
Sweet,
and Acidic.
Felines on the other hand, do not respond to sweetness.
The sweetness receptivity would be adaptive use to wolves, as sweet berries and other fruits do play a minor role in their diet.
WOLF PLAY
Wolves love to play, shouldering one another, bumping bodies together, flopping tails over each other's backs, and leaping up placing forepaws around other' necks.
Play especially in pups, develops strength and hunting skills, and aids in establishing pack communication and hierarchy.
The intention to play is often signaled by the gesture well known to dog owners of dropping the front quarters into a crouch position, with smiling face and wagging tail.
Adult wolves stage mock fights, play chase, and leap on each other.
The ambushing of unwary pack members is a favorite game.
WOLF GROOMING
Wolves have been known to wash mud from there coats in rivers and streams, wolves depend on thier thick coats in winter, so it is not surprising that they spend part of thier leisure time in grooming behavior.
It is also likely that the grooming of other pack members helps reinforce the social bonds the tie the pack together.
Two wolves will lick each others coats, nibbling gently with thier teeth to remove foreign matter.
Reciprocal grooming is especially common during courtship.
Injured wolves are intensely groomed by other pack members, providing both physical and mental well being.
WOLF SWIMMING
The wolf is very comfortable in the water, and does not hesitate to wade through icy streams or swim across short stretches of lake.
In summer, wolves often bathe in streams to keep cool, and they will readily follow prey into water.
FOOT STRUCTURE
AND THE SPEED OF THE WOLF
Humans are plantigrade, walking upon our entire flat foot, sole to heel.
All members of the canine family, and the feline family too, are digitigrade, walking upon just their toe tips.
Unless a wolf is lying down, the heel of each foot does not come in contact with the ground.
The front feet of a wolf are exceptionally large.
This is of great advantage to the wolf when it runs upon snow, as it allows greater weight distribution and more support to prevent the animal from sinking in as deeply when the snow is soft.
The wolf has five toes on each forefoot, but only four are actually needed.
The fifth toe, corresponding to our thumb, has regressed.
It is found up on the middle of the foot and is known as the dew claw.
There are just four toes on each of the hind feet.
Each toe pad is surrounded by stiff, bristly hairs, which act as insulation and also provides a better grip on slippery ice surfaces.
The claws are strong and blunt because the tips are worn off by constant contact with the ground.
These are used for digging and in gripping the earth while running, not for seizing prey.
Wolves walk, trot, lope, or gallop.
Their legs are long, and they walk at about 4 miles, 6.4 kilometres, per hour.
Their usual mode of travel is to trot, which they do at various speeds, generally between 8 to 10 miles, 12.8 to 16 kiometres, per hour.
Wolves do not run at full speed until they get close to their prey as possible.
At that point, they make a high-speed chase to test the animal.
Wolves can keep up this pace for hours on end and have been known to cover 60 miles, 96 kilometres, in a single night.
They have been clocked at speeds of over 40 miles, 64 kilometres, per hour for a distance of several miles.
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