The Wolf.....God's Original Dog
"To Look Into The Eyes Of A Wolf Is To See Your Soul ~ Just Be Sure Something You Want To View Is There . . . "
Wolves are considered large, powerful, graceful wild canines living in remote wilderness. The power and prestige of the wolf has been awed by the Native Americans and Eskimos, but feared tremendously by the European settlers. "Big bad wolf stories" originated with European settlers in an attempt to control the behavior of children. By carrying those tales from generation to generation, the fear of wolves grew greater and more people killed the wolves until they were placed on the endangered species list. Reproduction programs, such as Yellowstone National Park, have replenished the wolf population and by 2002, they predict the wolf will be living on its own and will no longer be considered a threatened species.
There are two species of wolves in North America:
The Red Wolf, also known as Rufus Canis
and
The Grey Wolf, also known as Canis Lupus
The red wolf is the smaller of the two breeds and was once prevalent in the southeastern United States. By the 1960's their population had diminished to the point of not being able to find mates with which to breed. At that point they began interbreeding with coyotes. The US Fish & Game Wildlife Service began capturing the pure red wolves and breeding them amongst each other. After their population numbers increased, the red wolves were reintroduced to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast and in the Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.
The larger grey wolf may range in color from almost pure black to completely white and, at times, be golden brown. There are 32 subspecies of grey wolves in the world. The combined head and body length ranges from 40 to 60 inches. An adult grey wolf may weigh between 50 and 140 pounds. The various names of the grey wolf are derived from their location of habitat. In the eastern woodland it is known as the "Timber Wolf"; in the arctic as the "Arctic Wolf"; and in the tundra as the "Tundra Wolf." The rainforest and true desert environments are the only two terrains to which the grey wolf is unable to adapt.
Packs are made up of 2 parents, their offspring, and a few non-breeding adults. In order for the wolves to live peacefully within their pack, there is a rank order existent. Each pack has a top male, an Alpha male, who bows to no one and other males defer to him. There is an Alpha female to whom all females must submit. Next in rank of order are the Beta male and Beta female. Each wolf has a rank in stature where they must submit to anyone higher than them, but can dominate the wolves lower than them in rank. The Omega male and Omega female fall into the lowest order of rank. Sometimes they are harassed to the point where they leave the pack and begin to form their own pack.
Often misled by false stories, people believe wolves are dangerous to people. In actuality wolves are shy animals and are afraid of people thus avoiding them whenever possible. There are not any documented cases of a wolf severely maiming or killing anyone in the world.
One of the ways wolves communicate is to howl. They are able to be heard at any time of day, but mostly at night when the pack is most active. They may howl to find other pack members, to allow "outside" wolves to know where their territory is located, or to excite the pack in preparation to hunt. Wolves bark to warn other pack members of danger or to pose a challenge to an enemy. Often heard growling, the wolf may participate in a dominance dispute. A squeaking noise is made to call the pups and the mother of the pups will whimper to calm them. Please click on the bar below to hear a wolf howl.
Just Be Sure Something You Want To View Is There . . . "
Wolves are considered large, powerful, graceful wild canines living in remote wilderness. The power and prestige of the wolf has been awed by the Native Americans and Eskimos, but feared tremendously by the European settlers. "Big bad wolf stories" originated with European settlers in an attempt to control the behavior of children. By carrying those tales from generation to generation, the fear of wolves grew greater and more people killed the wolves until they were placed on the endangered species list. Reproduction programs, such as Yellowstone National Park, have replenished the wolf population and by 2002, they predict the wolf will be living on its own and will no longer be considered a threatened species.
There are two species of wolves in North America:
The Red Wolf, also known as Rufus Canis
and
The Grey Wolf, also known as Canis Lupus
The red wolf is the smaller of the two breeds and was once prevalent in the southeastern United States. By the 1960's their population had diminished to the point of not being able to find mates with which to breed. At that point they began interbreeding with coyotes. The US Fish & Game Wildlife Service began capturing the pure red wolves and breeding them amongst each other. After their population numbers increased, the red wolves were reintroduced to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast and in the Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.
The larger grey wolf may range in color from almost pure black to completely white and, at times, be golden brown. There are 32 subspecies of grey wolves in the world. The combined head and body length ranges from 40 to 60 inches. An adult grey wolf may weigh between 50 and 140 pounds. The various names of the grey wolf are derived from their location of habitat. In the eastern woodland it is known as the "Timber Wolf"; in the arctic as the "Arctic Wolf"; and in the tundra as the "Tundra Wolf." The rainforest and true desert environments are the only two terrains to which the grey wolf is unable to adapt.
Packs are made up of 2 parents, their offspring, and a few non-breeding adults. In order for the wolves to live peacefully within their pack, there is a rank order existent. Each pack has a top male, an Alpha male, who bows to no one and other males defer to him. There is an Alpha female to whom all females must submit. Next in rank of order are the Beta male and Beta female. Each wolf has a rank in stature where they must submit to anyone higher than them, but can dominate the wolves lower than them in rank. The Omega male and Omega female fall into the lowest order of rank. Sometimes they are harassed to the point where they leave the pack and begin to form their own pack.
Often misled by false stories, people believe wolves are dangerous to people. In actuality wolves are shy animals and are afraid of people thus avoiding them whenever possible. There are not any documented cases of a wolf severely maiming or killing anyone in the world.
One of the ways wolves communicate is to howl. They are able to be heard at any time of day, but mostly at night when the pack is most active. They may howl to find other pack members, to allow "outside" wolves to know where their territory is located, or to excite the pack in preparation to hunt. Wolves bark to warn other pack members of danger or to pose a challenge to an enemy. Often heard growling, the wolf may participate in a dominance dispute. A squeaking noise is made to call the pups and the mother of the pups will whimper to calm them. Please click on the bar below to hear a wolf howl.
There are two species of wolves in North America:
The red wolf is the smaller of the two breeds and was once prevalent in the southeastern United States. By the 1960's their population had diminished to the point of not being able to find mates with which to breed. At that point they began interbreeding with coyotes. The US Fish & Game Wildlife Service began capturing the pure red wolves and breeding them amongst each other. After their population numbers increased, the red wolves were reintroduced to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast and in the Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.
The larger grey wolf may range in color from almost pure black to completely white and, at times, be golden brown. There are 32 subspecies of grey wolves in the world. The combined head and body length ranges from 40 to 60 inches. An adult grey wolf may weigh between 50 and 140 pounds. The various names of the grey wolf are derived from their location of habitat. In the eastern woodland it is known as the "Timber Wolf"; in the arctic as the "Arctic Wolf"; and in the tundra as the "Tundra Wolf." The rainforest and true desert environments are the only two terrains to which the grey wolf is unable to adapt.
One of the ways wolves communicate is to howl. They are able to be heard at any time of day, but mostly at night when the pack is most active. They may howl to find other pack members, to allow "outside" wolves to know where their territory is located, or to excite the pack in preparation to hunt. Wolves bark to warn other pack members of danger or to pose a challenge to an enemy. Often heard growling, the wolf may participate in a dominance dispute. A squeaking noise is made to call the pups and the mother of the pups will whimper to calm them. Please click on the bar below to hear a wolf howl.