There are 56 timber wolves, 14 tundra wolves, 4 lobos (desert) and 4 arctic wolves in North America. They are all large fun loving pack predators that bear witness as the Teacher Totem of North America. They are the world's top pack predator (next to sharks). This fur is from McKenzie Valley Arctic Timber Wolves originally from the McKenzie Mountain Range, the northern most area of the Rocky Mountains. They live in the timberline and into the Arctic Circle. Queen Victoria established the 1st national park there ~ The McKenzie National Park in one of the most severe and extreme mountain area on Earth. The pack's great grand parents were rescued from the park (foot trap damaged). McKenzie's have a large range and often maintain a 500 mile perimeter around there lair. These factors could have helped them develop their near 200 pound body mass (some) and their very deep pack notes. Species from more mountainous areas have the deeper pack notes where the flatlanders have the higher ones. Tundra wolves have some of the highest, McKenzie's some of the deepest, fullest and most beautiful songs on Earth (my opinion). Canus Lupi McKenius and Canus Lupis Occenditalus are the McKenzie wolves. Canus Lupi McKenius is white and stays white while Occidentalus is chameleon-like in that they changes colors even turning white in winter. This fur is from both. Only the long guard hairs of Occenditalus show color/change, all the rest of their fur is white with the fur next to the skin being a soft down layer. This down layer is what gets thicker with cold weather stimulation and feels so soft.
Wolves are lazy and mine prefer the wood stove to winter. However, they love nothing more than a nice long mountain run on a very cold very very dark night. They are wolves!!!!!!!! I take very good care of their hair all year then save their Spring shedding. These are given to a professional spinner for cleaning/carding/spinning. The fur is returned as yarn and used for our crocheting/looming pleasure. The different wolf's fur is processed separately so each piece is from a specific wolf with a separate wolf story. Pieces still have wolf lanolin/smell and feel much softer and warmer than lambs wool. Custom orders available!
McKenzie's weight about a pound at birth in litters of about 8, grow to near 80 pounds at 6 months and 120 pounds at 10 months (when they are around 25 to 27 inches at the shoulder). Shewolves are smaller. They do a pack howl at dusk and dawn to gather the pack ~ each pack having it's own note. We are A flat. Singing is usually done in the early evenings. One sings a melody then another repeats it exactly then changes the ending. They sort of bat around a melody like a volleyball. They love human participation but one must respect their rules. Perfect pitch helps, See K.D. Lang in the movie, Salmon Berries. Hearing a pack all howling the same note from a variety of locations makes it impossible (resonance) to pinpoint one wolf or have any idea how many their are. It is a sound that plays with echo resonance, as well. Some say they howl from the bowls of the Earth. I know them to be blues singers to the ultimate max!! They reveal their heart/soul in one long note of passion and total expression. I have heard them copy bird songs and Maria Carrie music often (owls esp.). They are smart, crafty, stealthy and up for competitive games always. "Hide and go seek", ambush/control and singing are their favorite childhood past times. They never grow up! Our pack note is A flat and anytime or anywhere it goes off ~ they go off. Window rattling loud! Mom howls over the babes while they are 1 to 3 days old, until they have it. This is their pack note for life. Whine is a language, also, small short whines giving their location or intent in a very expressive way. Wouldn't it seems that music would have had to evolved as some type of selection advantage. Dolphins and whales sing similar songs and are musical, as well. Maybe it all started with honest communication of emotion for bonding in our packs/pods/prides? We sure still need our teachers?
Wolves are carnivores preying namely on live rodents, fowl, fish, and the debilitated. They love nuts/berries and some fruits/vegetables. Some kill the sick, injured and weak and are called "mercy killers" in many languages. Many have eating habits that can be defined as "Feast or Famine". A wolf may go hungry for several days then after a buffalo/elk kill consume as much as 20 lbs of meat. Then stagger away ~ meat drunk ~ to sleep and digest the meal. All wolves are territorial ~ establishing hunting territories which they constantly scent-mark to keep intruders away and demarcate their territorial boundaries. Native Americans adopted most wolf boundaries and trails ~ we still use most today.
Females are the alpha and are the Huntress. Wolves rule the Northern Hemisphere, cats the South. Both have fast growth rates that requires maximum quality and maximum quantity food. They must have a meat based diet throughout their lives. Raw meat makes for a nice treat and is a necessary dietary supplement. Mine love raw frozen chicken or chicken Popsicles on hot daze! An interesting way to give them herbal supplements is to place the dosages you want in each of an ice trays cube slots and fill it with chicken broth, freeze, store in baggies for later. McKenzie's have some of the hugest and most beautiful teeth in the wolf world along with some of the heaviest bones so a high balanced calcium level is very important. They eat primarily mice and small rodents in the wild or consume a large of amount of bone, cartilage and high calcium meats. One of the first symptoms of protein deficiencies is permanent vision damage and blindness. Wolves are sweet, goofy, gentle, incredibly fun fiercely successful pack predator. They are smart, crafty, stealthy and up for captive games. "Hide and go seek", ambush/control and singing are their favorite childhood past times. They never grow up! Our pack note is A flat and anytime or anywhere it goes off ~ they go off. Window rattling loud! Mom howls over them while they are 1 to 3 days old, until they have then they have their pack note for life.
I save their naturally shed baby teeth and mount them in metals as jewelry and wearable art. Wolves are carnivores preying namely on live on rodents, fowl, fish and other smaller prey. They have been known to consume berries and other vegetable matter on occasion too. They kill the sick, injured and weak and called "mercy killers" in many languages. Some plains and tundra wolves eating habits can be defined as "Feast or Famine". A wolf may go hungry for several days, and after a kill consume as much as 20 lbs of meat after which the wolf will stagger away ~ meat drunk ~ to sleep and digest the meal. Roaming Wolves are territorial ~ establishing hunting territories which they constantly scent mark to keep intruders away and demarcate their territorial boundaries. Their keen sense of smell makes them scent-oriented animals and will use urine and feces to mark leave marks territory which tell other wolves about another's presence. Wolves can also tell the type of diet, the sex, and the health of the wolf based on these olfactory messages. To enhance this 'calling card' wolves also have scent glands located along the sides of the muzzle, at the base of the tail, and on bottom of their paws. Arctic Wolf Canis lupus arcticus is not really a separate species, but rather a subspecies of gray wolves - they share many of the characteristics of grays except for their uniformly white coloration and smaller ears to prevent heat loss. Because of little exposure to man, they appear more tame and approachable than grays. It stands approximately 31 to 38" at the shoulder - weighing approximately 75 to 140 lbs. Diet is similar to that of gray wolves How do wolves select which prey to kill? Begin with a classic case the took place in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada, in 1951. Two buffalo bulls (males) and two cows (female buffalo) are lying in the grass. Three of them are in good health; one cow is lame (in bad health). The wolves approach and withdraw a number of times...At each approach, the lame cow becomes agitated and begins to look around. The three other buffalo ignore the wolves. When one wolf comes within 25 feet, the lame cow gets up on shaky legs to face it alone. It seems clear that prey selection is something both animals play a role it.
The story above is classic of wolf prey interaction. Maybe from this we can start to see why wolves kill so few of the animals they actually go after. It seems wolves test animals to see if they are ready to die. Wolves almost always kill animals that are weak, old, or very young. Wolves usually do not kill animals in prime condition. Wolf Clan When Ma'una created this world he made four wolves: Blue Wolf (Hîtcoga), Black Wolf, White Wolf, and Gray Wolf. The names of Blue Wolf and Black Wolf refer to the day and night skies respectively. They were the ancestors of the present Wolf Clan. Originally, all four of these wolves lived on the surface of the earth (some say in a lodge in the middle of the ocean). Each was married, and one of them had ten children, and the youngest of these and his wife crossed over to the land. When they arrived, they saw a footprint of a bear, and they said, "Our friend has passed by." It is because they met there that the Wolf and Bear Clans love one another. They observed how the humans lived, and when they returned to their home in the middle of the ocean, they asked if they might not go and live with the humans. This they were granted, and they started out a second time, swimming to the shore, and as they left they generated two waves in front of them. As they swam to the shore, they came singing. Because of the nature of these wolves, whenever the tribe comes to a stream and the wind is blowing hard, they call upon a Wolf clansmen to still the wind. Water is sacred to the Wolf clansmen. They are in control of water stuff. Later all except Gray Wolf went to live below ground, and now are only seen on rare occasions. The offspring of the four wolves lived as animals, ignorant of both clothing and fire, but gradually they evolved into human beings. It is traditional in the Wolf Clan to name the first four sons after the first four wolves created by Earthmaker.
Blessings