Wolf Friends

WOLF FRIENDS

This page is dedicated to all wolf lovers, but especially two that are dear to my heart ~ Emily and Pohaku.

Please click on images to view larger image.

Howl

Howl

Please refresh page to restart music when you are done listening to HOWLS

There is no documented account of a healthy wolf ever attacking a human.
It is highly likely that at one time or another the land your home is on was once the home of a wolf pack (greatest natural range of any mammal except humans).
Pups are born completely blind and deaf, depending on the their mother and other members of the pack. The whole pack takes care and raises the pups (non-breeding females produce milk and males compete to baby sit).
Dominant males can stare down other wolves in the pack to prevent a fight and dominate female do the same to prevent females from mating with her mate (fights are very rare).
Some members stay with the pack for life.
Each pack has a leading, dominate pair (male and female) called the Alpha
Wolves can run up to 40 miles an hour and can easily cover 50 miles a day
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.
Less than one percent of sheep and cattle are killed each year by wolves. Loss of cattle to poisonous plants, diseases and poor husbandry account for more deaths. A few years ago 11 people were gored by bison in Yellowstone but the bison weren't given a bad rap.
Wolves howl to communicate, advertise their existence, warn off intruders, greet other wolves, mark their territory, gather the pack or enjoyment. Wolves never howl at full moons (but call the pack together because visibility is good for hunting). Wolves also communicate by the position of the tails, lips, nose and ears.

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.

An average adult female wolf in Minnesota weighs 60 to 80 pounds. Males usually weigh 80 to 100 pounds. Pups weigh about one pound when they are born (in the spring) but grow quickly. They reach adult size by nine months of age and will run with the pack their first winter.

Wolves are predators. That means they kill and eat other animals for food. Depending on where they live, wolves live mainly on the meat from such animals as deer, moose, elk or bison. They also eat beavers, rabbits and even mice. They do not eat humans. In fact, wolves are very shy around people and try to avoid them in the wild. Because they usually hunt for large animals, the wolves work together to catch their prey. They usually catch animals that are sick, injured, very old or very young, because they are easier to catch. Wolves will eat a healthy, strong animal if they can catch it. Wolves need an average of three to ten pounds of meat each day. Hunting is not always successful, so their bodies are designed to feast (eat a lot) or famine (eat nothing). Wolves can eat as much as 22 pounds of meat at a time and then may not eat again for many days.

Wolves used to live throughout most of the United States. Now they only live in a few places. Alaska has 5,000 to 7,000 wolves. In northern Minnesota, where the International Wolf Center is, there are close to 2,000. There are also about 180 in Wisconsin and Michigan and about 100 in the western United States. In most states, wolves are on the Endangered Species list. This means that our government is working to protect them, because they are in danger of becoming extinct in some areas. (Extinct means there are none left.) Almost everyone agrees that we don't want any more animals to become extinct.

Why have wolves become endangered? There are many reasons for this. Most people used to be afraid of wolves and thought they were dangerous to humans. For a long time, people tried to kill all the wolves. They would get money for bringing in a dead wolf. This is called bounty hunting. They also worried that wolves would eat all their livestock - cows, sheep, pigs - so they poisoned wolves whenever they could. Poisoning is probably the main reason there are so few wolves left today. Another reason has to do with the growing human population. People need land in order to live and raise their families. Wolves need lots of land, away from humans, to live and raise their families. As our population has grown, the amount of wilderness where wolves can live has gotten smaller. To help protect the wolf, we will need to help protect the wilderness that is left.

Baby wolves are called pups. Usually four to six pups are born together. This is called a litter, and the pups in a litter are called litter mates. Pups are born inside a den. A den is sometimes a small cave or a hole dug out of the ground. The den must be big enough for the mother and her pups. It shelters them from the weather and protects the pups from other animals that may want to hurt them. Packs sometimes use the same den year after year. At other times, they make or find a new den each year.

Pups grow inside their mother for about 63 days before being born. At birth they weigh only one pound, and their eyes are closed. Pups grow quickly. About 12 to 15 days after they are born, they open their eyes. By two weeks of age, the pups can walk, and about a week after that, they may come out of the den for the first time. At first, they live only on milk from their mother. In a few weeks, they start eating more and more meat. This is brought to them in the stomachs of the adult wolves. The pups lick around the mouth of the adult, and the food comes back up into the adult's mouth. This sounds terrible to us, but wolf pups love it! When pups are six months old, they look almost like adult wolves. Around this time, they start hunting with the rest of the pack.

All the wolves in a pack help take care of the pups. When the pups are very small, other pack members bring food to the mother so she does not have to leave the den. When the pups are a little bigger, pack members "take turns" bringing them food, playing with them and even "babysitting." Once the pups are about eight weeks old, they leave the den and start using "rendezvous sites." These are meeting places where the wolves gather to sleep, play and just "hang out." Until the pups are old enough to go with the adults, they stay at the rendezvous site. Often, one of the adult wolves stays with the pups to watch over them.

Wolf pups love to play. They chase each other and roll around the way dog puppies do. Many of their games appear to be a sort of practice for the things they will do as adult wolves. Pups have been observed playing with "toys" like bones, feathers or the skins of dead animals. They "kill" the toys over and over again and carry them around as "trophies." As they get bigger, they begin to hunt small animals, like rabbits. This is all good practice for the day they join the pack for their first real hunt for large animals.

(From Steven Today's Wolf Page && the International Wolf Center)

Please click on images to view larger image.

Howl

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What good are wolves?

Like bald eagles, osprey, peregrine falcons, moose, fishers, martens, and trumpeter swans, wolves play an important role in the ecosystem.

2. Do wolves present any danger to people?

There is no evidence of healthy wolves ever attacking humans in North America. Each year, people occupy the same territories as wolves in northern Minnesota, Alaska, Canada, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, including Isle Royale, and rarely see wolves, even in ranges with relatively large wolf numbers.

3. How much do wolves weigh?

Adult female wolves in northeastern Minnesota weigh between 50 and 85 pounds, and adult males between 70 and 110 pounds. The record for Minnesota is about 135 pounds. The record for the world is about 170 pounds for an animal in Alaska, and there are informal records of wolves weighing more than 200 pounds.

4. How many wolves are there in Minnesota?

Published figures indicate 1,550 to 1,750 for 1989, but they have continued to increase. Current unpublished estimates indicate about 2,000 to 2,200 animals.

5. How many wolves are there in Alaska?

Between 5,227 and 8,060 according to 1995 estimates.

6. How many wolves are there on Isle Royale?

As of the winter of 1995/1996, there are believed to be 15 adults and 7 pups.

7. What states have wolves?

Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and possibly Washington. Within the last few years, several wolves have been killed in North and South Dakota apparently having dispersed from Minnesota, but no known breeding populations reside there. The red wolf, which is a different species from the gray but similar to it, has been reintroduced into North Carolina and into Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

8. Does the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) plan to release wolves in Michigan?

No! The wolves present in Michigan are most likely from packs in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Ontario. The DNR has no plans to release wolves. Wolf recovery will occur from wolves reproducing in the wild. We are, however, interested in protecting and managing wolves in the state.

9. As wolves become established in Michigan, will state land be managed differently from normal multiple use management?

No. Wolves do not require wilderness. They do require a healthy prey base, enough suitable forest land to roam, and most importantly, a measure of tolerance by people who will allow them to survive. Timber cutting, wildlife habitat management, and other practices that promote a diverse and productive forest are good management practices for the wolf.

10. What is the main prey of wolves?

Wolves prey primarily on large, hoofed mammals. In Minnesota, the white-tailed deer is the wolf's primary prey, with moose, beaver and snowshoe hare also being taken. Elsewhere, wolves prey on caribou, musk oxen, bison, Dall sheep, elk, mountain goats, etc.

11. How many deer do wolves kill per year?

It would be about 18 deer per wolf per year if wolves only ate deer. However, since they also eat moose and beaver, on the average the actual number of deer killed is about 15 adult-size deer per wolf per year. On October 1, 1994, the estimated deer population in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan exceeded 65,000 animals. Although wolves will take some deer, they will not have a significant impact, compared to other known losses. For instance, 1994 data for the Upper Peninsula:

Animal Deer Killed By Cars: 7,391
Hunter Kill: 78,670
Over Winter Loss: 27,669

12. What about the compensation program for wolf-killed livestock?

The State of Minnesota Department of Agriculture pays compensation up to $400 per animal for livestock for which there is sufficient evidence that they were killed by wolves. Before any payment is made, the incident must be investigated and verified by the U. S. Department of Agriculture Animal Damage Control. The compensation program for the Yellowstone National Park and Idaho Wilderness reintroduction efforts is paid by the Defenders of Wildlife.

13. How much food do wolves require?

They can get along on about 2 1/2 pounds of food per wolf per day, but they require about 5 pounds per wolf per day to reproduce successfully. If given enough food, they will eat over 10 pounds per wolf per day. The record of food a wolf can eat in one sitting is about 22.5 pounds.

14. How many pups do wolves have?

Average litter size is five to six.

15. What is a pack of wolves?

A pack is an extended family unit usually composed of an alpha (dominant) male and female, young of the year, and a few others that may or may not be genetically related to the alpha pair. Normally, only the alpha male and female breed. A new pack may develop when a lone wolf leaves an established pack. This wolf will tend to hunt and feed alone, and if it finds a mate and available territory, may form a new pack.

16. How large an area does a wolf pack cover?

In Minnesota, territories range from about 25 square miles per pack to 150 square miles per pack, but in Alaska and Canada, territory sizes range from 200 to 1,000 square miles each. Typically, a family of wolves will cover at least 100 square miles, about three geographical townships. Wolves can travel great distances in a short time and can maintain a dog-trot for 20 hours without stopping. The average travel of a wolf is 10 to 15 miles per day, but some travel over 30 miles in a day. Their usual travel speed is about 5 miles per hour. Some wolves have dispersed from Minnesota into Canada over 500 miles.

17. How big are wolf packs?

Generally six or eight wolves per pack, but in Alaska and northwestern Canada some packs have included over 30 members. Pack sizes vary considerably, depending on number of wolves present and available prey base. Michigan and Wisconsin wolf packs are normally small and may contain as few as two animals. We would expect the typical pack in Michigan to have six animals.

18. What is the social structure within a wolf pack?

Wolves have a dominant/ subordinate social structure consisting of an alpha male and female. The alpha pair usually breed in February and pups are born in April. The litter is tended in an excavated den by the alpha female. Other pack members hunt and return with food for her while she is nursing the pups. It is common for the alpha female to move the whole family to a new den site when the pups are five of six weeks old. This behavior is thought to have come about as a way to avoid discovery of the den site. The social ranking in the pack has served the wolf well through the years and helps perfect the hunting strategy of the pack that the wolf is able to use successfully.

19. How long do wolves live?

In captivity, about 16 years. In the wild, it's difficult to tell but some have lived up to 13 years and possibly longer. Nevertheless, most die before they reach 8 years of age.

20. What are the causes of death of wolves?

The natural causes of wolf death are primarily starvation which takes mostly pups, and death from other wolves in territorial disputes. In most wolf populations, disease is not a problem. Injuries from prey cause some deaths but not a very high percentage. Mange and canine parvovirus may be a problem in Wisconsin and Michigan's recovering population.

21. What enemies do wolves have?

Aside from a few germs and parasites, bears are sometimes enemies of wolves. Even today, humans have the greatest potential for decimating the wolf populations.

22. What happened to the wolves in Yellowstone?

They were exterminated deliberately by a government control program in the late 1920's. If there were any wolves left there, they would just be loners passing through.

23. Can wolves be killed in Minnesota?

Only by the government if the wolves are involved in livestock depredations. In 1995, 78 wolves were killed this way all across northern Minnesota but primarily in north central and northwestern Minnesota.

24. What is the legal status of the wolf in Minnesota?

The wolf in Minnesota is on the federal list of endangered species but is considered threatened in Minnesota rather than endangered. Elsewhere in the 48 states, the wolf is considered endangered. Endangered means in danger of going extinct; threatened means in the foreseeable future could become endangered. The wolves in Alaska and Canada are not on the endangered species list.

25. What is the status of Michigan wolves?

The gray wolf is listed as an endangered species in Michigan under both the state and federal endangered species acts. The Upper Peninsula has at least 116 wolves scattered throughout the Peninsula. The territories of several of these animals include parts of nearby Wisconsin and the province of Ontario. A 1995 winter survey found 16 wolves on Isle Royale. At least 12 packs have formed and successful breeding has occurred on the mainland UP since 1991.

26. What is the penalty for killing a wolf in Michigan?

Under the Michigan Endangered Species Act, it is illegal to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, collect or attempt to engage in such conduct. Penalties for a violation under the state act may include a $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail. A person convicted of illegally killing, possessing, purchasing, or selling a gray wolf must also reimburse the state for the $1,500 assessed value of the animal. The federal act also prohibits the taking of gray wolves. Maximum penalties are $100,000 per individual or $250,000 for corporations or organizations, with up to one year imprisonment.