Wolf packs are very diverse in species and intricate in behavior. Those things are what makes them interesting enough to create a research paper on them. This research paper will also be mentioning these wonderful creatures’ lifestyle, behavior, and how they mature. Wolves are some of the most territorial canines in the animal kingdom, so imagine how they’d act within a pack!
Wolves can live in moderately small packs to relatively large packs, but some wolves live alone as loners. In a wolf pack, there are different ranks. Such as Alphas, Betas, Deltas, and Omegas. Alpha is the highest rank in the pack. It’s the leader of the pack and is usually male, but the male Alpha can have a female counterpart. The Beta is the second highest ranking
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These rankings can tell how much respect a wolf gets or how much it doesn’t get. “Rank order is established and maintained through a series of ritualized fights and posturing best described as ritual bluffing.”(Wolf Country,1) The order of each ranking also shows how much respect the wolf receives, or doesn’t receive. Wolves also have to defend themselves from certain animals such as coyotes, grizzly bears, cougars, foxes, ravens, and dogs. Body posture is also a big deal in wolf behavior. It’s a way of communication. “Wolves communicate not only by sound (such as yipping, growling, and howling), but also by body language. This ranges from subtle signals-such as a slight shift in weight-to the obvious, like rolling on the back as a sign of submission.”(Wolf Country) Another form of communication is scent. “Wolves mark their territory with urine and feces. This is called scent marking. When "outside" wolves smell this, they know that an area is already occupied.”(Wolf …show more content…
These wolves could bond with each other no matter what rank they are. They don’t look at status. Wolves look at their pack members with the love of what they are,not who they are. They show their affection through body language. For example, when a wolf wags it’s tail and it’s tongue lollies out:that’s happiness,and when a wolf holds its tail high and wags it while ‘frolicing’ or ‘dacing’, that means it’s playful. Wolves tend to be more playful towards their mate, or relative, than just any wolf. They also mate for life, their bond is eternal. A mother wolf will defend her pups even at the cost of her own life because they are her whole world,even if it is for about eight months. After the pups begin to hunt and travel with the pack, they will begin to teach the next generation of pups. Then, the cycle will continue to the next set of pups and will go on until the end of time. In conclusion, wolf packs have inseparable bonds that cause them to be so close, mating bonds that last a lifetime, and two strong alpha wolves to lead the pack away from any danger that comes to
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft. Fear drives mankind to hate what he cannot comprehend. With this irrational fear mankind is controlled and set on a path of destruction and chaos. In the autobiography Never Cry Wolf written by Farley Mowat, the main character (Farley Mowat), journeys to the Canadian tundra to study the much-feared wolf. There he discovers the fear brought upon by men, and how it can result horribly for the wolves. The human race was so frightened by the unknown species that they began to blame the wolves for cold slaughters, portrayed them as vicious killers, and because of the fear of the unknown tried to exterminate wolves all together.
This makes them seem less menacing and scary like the first article makes them look. Sharon Levy says in part "It is only in the two decades that biologists have started to build a clearer picture of wolf ecology….Instead of seeing rogue man-eaters and savage packs, we now understand that wolves have evolved to live in extended family groups.." (ll 19-22) This article also explains the positive overall effects of the wolves moving back to Yellowstone. Not only did the wolves have a new home filled with beautiful elk for prey they were also protected from hunters. This changed the attitude of the wolves as well as their population, of course their population grew and stayed more
Isle Royal is an island surrounded by the cool Lake Superior. Wolf and Moose are the two largest species on the island, and the wolf and moose interaction is the longest running large mammal predator-prey study on earth (USNPS, 2014). The two populations were once said to exhibit some kind of “balance of nature,” now that is not believed to be the case (Vucetich, 2012).
betas are subordinate wolves that help the alpha in decisionmaking or other pack activities. The beta wolf can be either
There are two factors that play a role in making a dog a pack leader. Those two factors are the hormones and the level of energy. A pack leader is usually male because of the hormones. A strong pack leader must have a good level of energy because they must be able to hunt for food and look for water. Caesar goes further on in his article to talk about how “a dog is born to be a follower.”
the wolves were capable of. In his group he finds a monogamous pair who are
A wolf pack is, at its foundation, simply a family, with the parents (alphas) guiding the activities of the group. Hence, it is easy to believe that dogs are able to bond with human families, especially when the alphas are already parents. The parents view the dog as one of their children, one who remains dependent and will never leave or criticize them (Rogers 1), and in the same manner, the dog views the human parents as if they were his actual parents and as a result, loves and trusts them with his life gladly following them, not once questioning their decisions or actions. For these reasons, humans have found release in the company of dogs because dogs do not judge. By way of example, Sigmund Freud was notably a bad singer and as a result, never sang in public, however he often hummed an aria while petting his dog (Rogers 2). In the presence of dogs, our need to self-censor our words and actions vanishes (Rogers 2). Ultimately, dogs and human beings are able to form such strong emotional bonds through love and
Wolves used to thrive in the western United States. There was ample game to hunt and plenty of places to live and wander. Until people moved in, wolves were settled. As European settlement expanded to the west, it began to take its toll on the wolves and their habitat. Clearing of the forests came first, which was then accompanied by significant over-hunting in this area (Noceker). Slowly wolves became concentrated into smaller and smaller areas in the west. Finally, they were assumed to be bothers to the ranchers and farmers and maybe a threat to those people who lived in the area.
The arrival of new people into America brought economic and cultural strains upon the natives’ way of life. The natives’ ability to adapt to fit the new needs of the country, and the United States governments willingness to work easily with the natives showed that the country was capable of standing and growing. Young Wolf was present during this time of adaptation and willingness in America as a Cherokee Indian, so through the use of his last will and testament we can see the cultural changes occurring at this time. Throughout Young Wolf’s Last Will and Testament you see the changes within tradition, innovation and European-American culture. Young Wolf showed the cultural changes present at his time and he demonstrated how the Cherokees were forced to mold into new European-American cultures while still holding true to a few of their own traditions.
One of the biggest reasons for the reintroduction of wolves back into Yellowstone was that they had originally roamed from Yellowstone all the way down to Mexico. While a lot of people were in favor of the reintroduction of the wolves, there were many who were against it. The main people who were against the reintroduction of the wolves back into the park were the ranchers who made a living in the areas surrounding the park.
Not many people know about the arctic wolf, it is the snowy white version of a wolf. They have a really big appite when it comes to eating. They most only eat one meal a day and eat up to 20 pounds in that one meal. They are mostly carnivores; they mainly eat big animals like the caribou and the musk ox so they can feed themselves and the whole pack (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). People eat up to three meals a day, but wolves can go up to days with out eating a single thing (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). When wolves are hunting they have to be able to have a plan to catch their food. Wolves would get all the pack members that are hunting to surround the animal, and pounces on them. One bit to the neck and the animal would be dead. When they are eating they will eat everything, like the meat, shin, fur and bone (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Also Arctic wolves can live up to 20 years in captivity, while they can only live 7- 15 years in the wild (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Arctic wolves are one of the most prettiest and unique types of wolf. When Arctic wolves are pups t...
Sometimes they even hunt moose. Their sense of smell is superior. Wolves hunt in packs all male to be exact. Wolf packs are mostly led by the parents of the wolves and some other wolves with the parent wolf to join their pack for hunting and killing their prey. The Gray Wolf can also run as fast as 31 - 37 MPH which makes them really good hunters. And they have been seen viciously attacking people. Unlike some animals wolves don’t hibernate so they have to hunt all year. Wolves also tend to mate in the early spring as well. Then before you know it the female wolf has babies some time during the winter, and their babies also have to eat.
However, the hunters would not keep all of the wolves that grew up from the cubs they had. Keeping a wolf that became overly aggressive towards them, or if it had little practical use, would have been both pointless and dangerous to their group. They most likely would have killed those types of wolves or left them behind to fend for themselves. The hunters would have chosen semi-tame wolves and those with the most desirable traits and abilities and bred the two together, repeating the process until what resembled a dog today. The first bones found which ...
Studies show that wolves play a significant role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, and could even help stave off some of the effects of climate change. They help keep large animal herd populations in check, which can benefit numerous other plan...
While reading “Thinking like a Mountain” by Aldo Leopold, published in 1986, and “Landscape Use and Movements of Wolves in Relation To Livestock in a Wildland-Agriculture Matrix” by Chavez and Gese which was a piece from The Journal of Wildlife Management, published in 2006, I have become interested in investigating the question of how wolves interact with livestock. In Leopold’s article he explains how humans are taking away the role of wolves. He explains how when humans hunt animals, they are taking away the wolves role within the environment. His whole article is a personification because he gives the mountain feelings, which we know they do not have feelings. Leopold wants the audience to think and feel how the environment does. In his article he also explains how the wolves interact with the cattle. I am researching how wolves affect the livestock on farms. My second article, by Chavez and Gese, is about expanding the wolf range in Minnesota. Chavez and Gese’s