7 Reasons Why Wild Wolves Are So Amazing

Dec 17, 2018

Known as the most far-reaching land animals of prey, gray wolves have thrived across many landscapes because of several advantages of the breed. Wolves in the wild maintain a strong and innate connection to their heritage and their nutritional needs are varied and flexible. Combined with their sense of pragmatism, gray wolves thrive in almost any climate around the world.

Gray wolves are also considered the wild ancestors of today's domestic dog, the Canis lupus familiaris. They are beautiful creatures and that makes them so captivating to so many people. Here are 7 wild gray wolf facts that make them such lovable creatures. 

When an alpha male and beta female mate, the union is for life, making their packs rather comparable to the nuclear family of humans. In fact, their family bonds are more loyal as most relationships of humans. A normal pack of wolves is much like humans - they're comprised of the father, mother, and children, or the alpha male, beta female, and their pups. The oldest pup helps taking care for their younger siblings. From time to time, however, the pack may allow and welcome in a lone wolf. Depending on the supply of food in the area, a wolf pack may have as many as 20 or as few as three or four members.

In addition to barking and howling, wolves also use their facial expressions to communicate with their pack. They also communicate with their ears and lips. Much like a dog pulls its ears back and shows its teeth to communicate, as a dog's ancestors, wolves use the same techniques when interacting with the pack or when meeting other wolves outside of their pack. Wolves are immensely intelligent creatures and their means of communication are wide and varied. For instance, when a dominant wolf and a submissive wolf meet, you may see different postures and gestures. However, their main form of communicating is by sound. Low growls, soft whimpers, and whines, shrill squeaks, excited shrieks, loud barks, and pants are the more familiar sounds of the wolf. Nevertheless, the most intense and famous is the wolf's howling.

Yes, wolves do howl at the moon, especially a full moon. However, they also howl despite what phase the moon is in. And they howl in the daytime, nighttime and any time.

Even if the pups aren't their own offspring, the whole pack takes care of the little ones once they're old enough to venture outside the den. All of the older pack members show the pups love and attention and help train them as they grow. Wolves love and care for their families. Unlike human families with two working parents, the mother wolf only leaves the den when other pack wolves leave food outside for her. The mother wolf is always found with her pups.

A newborn wolf pup weights about one pound and its eyes stay shut four about 10 to 13 days. Born with blue eyes, the pup's eye color will change to yellow-gold at about 8 to 16 weeks. The pup is able to hear at about three weeks and will venture outside the den at about four weeks. Wolf pups eat what the adult wolves have already eaten. After they've hunted and eaten, adult wolves return to the den. The pups lick the mouths of the adult wolves, which incites them to regurgitate the meat, and the pups will eat it within a few seconds. The wolf pups are about 8 to 10 weeks old when the entire pack relocates to some distance away from the den to a "rendezvous site" which is about a 1,200 square yards area. When they're about three months old, the pups start to join the older wolves on the hunts and start hunting on their own at about 7 to 8 months.

Average dogs are less intelligent than are their wolf counterparts. Dogs generally have 20% smaller heads and 30% smaller brains than wolves are much smarter than the average dog. Wolves actually have a cognitive understanding of cause and effect whereas dogs do not and it may have something to do with the process of domestication. 

A study conducted at Oregon State University found that although domesticated dogs are recognized for aptitude skills in human-guided tasks, they seem to have lost some of their abilities at problem-solving resulting from a long history of human contact. The research study demonstrated that domesticated dogs gaze at humans for help when faced with a difficult task, while wolves are more persistent and successful at completely the same tasks. The wolves average an 80% success rate compared to the dogs' average 5% success rate.

If you watch dogs play, you see them bump into each other, put their paws around the others' necks and other silly, playful things that dogs do. Just like dogs, wolves simply love to play. Wolves do too! And they play in much the same way as their dog counterparts. Playing for wolves is critical in developing their strength and skills for hunting. A favorite pastime of wolves, especially the adults, is to ambush an unsuspecting member of the pack. They also chase each other, jump on each other and stage mock fights, all while wagging their tails and smiling. The mock fights often start with by one wolf dropping down into a crouch position, like daring the other wolf to play.

Wolves are known to be the key source of revitalization and restoration of some ecosystems, restoring health and balance. Wolves are said to have saved Yellowstone National Park when they were reintroduced as a "Keystone Species" to the area in the 1990s. When wolves kill their prey, it affects the food chain of almost every creature in that area. Each sub-predator is provided a food source from that initial kill which increases the population of other species. An overabundance of elk herds was redistributed when the wolves were brought in, which allowed for an improvement of the wild habitats.

Starting with an increased wolf population, improvements and restoration of vegetation were seen along the streams and rivers resulting from the decreased elk herds. Beavers were provided with more food from aspens and willows as they grew. Wolves have an effect on the population, habits, and behaviors of their prey animals, which affects all of the other plant and animal life in the area.

It is believed that even before humans started settling, they were already using wolves to hunt. Some people say that wolves were tamed by humans and bred for their usefulness, while others believe that wolves domesticated themselves by getting familiar and friendly with humans and eating their leftovers, just as our dogs do today. However it happened, if it weren't for the wolves, we wouldn't have our domesticated man's best friend today.

If you have a love of wolves or know someone else who does, leave a comment and let us know what you love about them! Encourage your other wolf lovers to stop by too!