There are two species of wolf in North America: the gray wolf and the red wolf. This site focuses primarily on the gray wolf; however, the red wolf deserves mention as well.

The gray wolf is the wolf that is generally envisioned when one thinks of wolves. There are several subspecies of the gray wolf, including the timber wolf, the Rocky Mountain wolf, the Arctic wolf, and the Mexican wolf. The gray wolf is primarily gray, but can range in color from white to black, with many shades in between, including rust and cream. The male gray wolf is on average 5 to 6 1/2 feet long and weigh between 70 and 120 pounds. The female is generally about 20% smaller.

The red wolf is considerably smaller than the gray wolf, with an average length around 4 feet. The wolf generally weighs between 50 and 70 pounds. The red wolf resembles a coyote-wolf hybrid, and it is often debated whether the red wolf is truly a wolf. The red wolf has short fur, compared to the gray wolf's long fur. Additionally, the red wolf has flecks of red in its fur, thus giving it its name. Other differences from the gray wolf include larger ears and a narrower snout. The red wolf is being saved from extinction through reintroduction programs in Tennessee and North Carolina.

Wolves are very social animals, and live in a family type unit called a pack. Packs can range anywhere from two wolves to over twenty wolves. Most packs in the continental United States have six to eight wolves, while packs in Alaska and Canada have between ten and twenty wolves.

The pack is generally made up of an adult male and female who have mated and produced offspring. Generally the pack is made up entirely from wolves who are related to each other, although a non-related wolf may become a member of a pack.

The pack follows a strict hierarchy to help maintain order within the pack. The main rankings in the hierarchy are alpha wolf, beta wolf, and omega wolf. The alpha wolf is the lead wolf and is the dominate wolf of the pack. The next in line is the beta wolf. The beta wolf often acts the caretaker of the pups, as well as the discipliner to reinforce the alpha's decisions. The omega wolf is the lowest ranking member of the pack. The omega wolf is subordinate to all other wolves in the pack and must often feed on prey when the rest of the pack is done. The rankings often go in pairs, so that there is a male and female of each rank, but this not always the case. Most often there is an alpha male and alpha female, but there may not be pairings for the rest of the rankings. The other wolves fall between the beta wolf and the omega wolf.

The alpha wolf often displays very confident characteristics. The alpha wolf has a very confident stride, generally has the tail raised, and ears forward. The video shows the alpha male of the Sawtooth Pack displaying some of these characteristics. Often even a look or glare from the alpha wolf is enough to cause another wolf in the pack to display subordinate behavior, such as tucking the tail or lower the body and crawl to the alpha wolf.

The pack is a very tightly knit, highly organized group. For survival a pack will travel, hunt, protect territory and raise pups together. Many believe that the pack is one of the tightest social organizations known to man.

Wolf pups are born after a gestation period of 9 weeks. They are born in litters of between 2 and 10 pups. When first born, wolf pups can't see or hear, and they need to stay close to their mother for warmth. They only weigh about one pound. They stay in the den for the first few weeks of their lives, spending most of their time eating and sleeping.

After the first two weeks, their eyes open. After three weeks, they can hear and walk, and they start eating solid food. When the wolf pups are about a month old, they finally get to meet the rest of the pack.

Once the pups leave the den, they are looked after by the entire pack. The pups bond with the other wolves in the pack. (If a wolf is raised by people instead of wolves, it will bond to people at this point.) The older pack members help by bringing food back for the young pups and watching for preadors like eagles and hawks who might try to take the pups. After the wolf pups are nine weeks old, the pack moves from the den area to a site where the pups can safely play while the rest of the pack hunts.

Through playing, the pups practice skills that will be important later in their lives, like pouncing, fighting and chasing. They even attack the older wolves, who put up with all their energy pretty well. Playing helps the pups establish a social order among themselves.

Wolf pups do not begin to hunt until they are at least a year old. Wolves mate at the end of winter, generally between January and April, so that the wolf pups are developed enough by the arrival of the next winter to grow strong and perhaps even help with hunting. Wolves do not usually become sexually mature enough to mate until they are at least three years old.

Wolves are carnivores, or meat eaters. They are also hunters, and eat their own kill. Their main prey are the large hooved mammals of North America. These are moose, deer, caribou, elk and sheep. In order for the wolf to catch and kill these prey, which are sometimes as much as ten times larger than it, hunting is a collaborative effort. The wolves hunt in groups, thereby increasing their strength and their ability to catch their prey. If the wolf hunted alone, it would have to depend on prey its size or smaller, which would not provide sustenance.

The identifying, pursuing, and capture of the prey is a multi step process. It is also a process which can have several different outcomes.

The first scenario is the successful hunt. A wolf pack will pick up the scent of the prey. This is done either by following tracks on the ground, or by picking up the airborne scent. After picking up the scent, the wolves move as a unit towards their quarry. This must be done quietly, so as not to alert their prey. Once the quarry is found, the wolves will surround the animal, biting it around the backside, sides, neck and head. Once the wolves have successfully attacked, death comes very quickly.

However, in most cases, the hunt is not successful. Either the intended prey will pick up the scent of the wolves and run, or in the case of the much larger prey such as the moose, the prey will try to fight the wolves off. If the prey is fleet of foot, or if the prey fights well, the wolves will leave in search of easier game. The wolves seem to know when to give up and search for something new.

Wolves often have to go for long periods of time without eating. They can go without food for as long as two weeks. When food is available and plentiful, the wolves will eat more to make up for the weeks without food. An adult wolf can eat as much as 20 pounds at one killing.

Another factor in the wolves hunting and eating schedule is the seasons. In the spring and summer, the wolves have an abundance of baby mammals who do not have the ability to take flight or fight to eat. In the leaner months of the fall and winter, the wolves must rely on the old and sick. These prey are easier to catch, and it also aids the natural order, since only the strong survive.

The hunt is also affected by the wolves offspring. In the spring and summer months, the wolves' actions are dictated by the litters in the pack. Hunting is usually done at night and the pups are attended to by a "pupsitter", a member of the pack assigned to keep watch over the next generation.

One of the most beautiful and haunting forms of communication found in our world is the howl of a wolf pack. Wolves use many forms of vocalization to communicate; however, their howl is the most distinguishing. Wolves also growl, whimper, whine, bark, and squeal, with each of these carrying different meanings. The whimpering or whining heard from wolves is often a display of friendliness. Wolves use growls to threaten or inforce pack hierarchy, while barks are used to signal alarm.

The howl of a wolf provokes either pleasure or fear in humans. Howls are used by a pack to bring a pack together, for celebration, or to protect their territory. The howl represents yet another sign of pack unity and the strength of that unity. Listen to the audio clips below to hear the richness and beauty of howling wolves. The first clip shows how even pups will join in a howl--listen carefully as they join in the end of the howl!

Each wolf carries a unique note when howling, much like each wolf has a unique voice. Generally, a human can determine when only one wolf is howling; however, when two or more join in chorus, it is often difficult to determine how many wolves are in the howl.

Although wolves fear humans, they will readily respond to human howls. Next time you are near wolves, feel free to start a conversation with them!

Wolves rely not only on howls to communicate, but their body language as well. Wolves use their entire body to communciate--their stances, their facial expressions, their stares, and even their tails. Dominance can be shown by a wolf standing on its hind legs, while submissive wolves may roll over on their back and expose their underside to a dominant male, as in the image to the left.

One of the most telling forms of body languages that wolves utilize is the tail. The position of the tail can indicate dominance, submission, aggression, fear, and other communications.Wolves also use their eyes and their scent to communicate. The penetrating stare of a dominant wolf is yet another form of communication used to maintain order within the pack. Scent markings are used to mark a pack's territory and this scent communicates to other wolf packs that the territory is occupied.

The wolf today is an endangered species. This creature, which once roamed freely over most of the North American continent is now only found in isolated patches. The major reason for this endangerment is that wolves do not mix with humans. Like many other forms of wildlife, the wolves habitat has dwindled because of human development. When wolves cannot find their prey in the wild, they have been known to kill domesticated animals, from cattle to a family's pet. As a result, the wolf has been one of the wild enemies of mankind, to be demonized in children's fairytales.

Public sentiment is now swaying in favor of the wolves. Yet there are still many issues to consider about trying to build the wolf population back up and off the endangered list. The same public who are now wolf advocates may feel differently when a wolf makes lunch out of a treasured pet. Wolves need unsettled land to roam, breed, kill and survive. More and more humans want to live amongst the wildlife. These well-intentioned people are also posing a threat to the wolves future. A balance must be achieved so wolves can flourish with minimal harm, financial or otherwise, to the humans that share their habitat.

Research provided by WERC