A History of Attitudes Toward Wolves

Biology of the Wolf

Physical Characteristics.-Wolves are carnivores. They hunt in packs and lead highly social lives. In stark rebuttal to many of the myths and common beliefs held about wolves, they are not uncaring, vicious killers. They do not hunt down small children to gobble them whole. Wolves are actually shy, restrained creatures that avoid human confrontations. One of the most widespread predators, at one time wolves colonized virtually every available habitat. Their range originally included nearly the entire world, with the exception of tropical rain forests and arid deserts.

They were found throughout Europe, from the Zezere River of Portugal north to Finland and south to the Mediterranean. They roamed Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Near and Middle East south into Arabia. They were found in Afghanistan and Northern India, throughout Russia north into Siberia, south again as far as China and east into the islands of Japan. In North America, the wolf reached a southern limit north of Mexico City and ranged north as far as Cape Morris Jessup, Greenland, less than 400 miles from the North Pole (Lopez 1978:12-3).

Wolves are the largest members of the wild dog family. The average wolf weighs between 80 and 100 pounds. Although the largest wolf ever caught was weighed at 172 pounds with a full stomach, adult males rarely exceed 120 pounds, and females rarely exceed 100 (Mech 1978). Wolves are usually just slightly shorter in length than people are tall. Lengths measured from nose to tail tip range from 4.5 feet for a small female to 6.5 feet for a large male (Mech 1978). Most wolves reach a height of 26-32 inches at the shoulder (Mech 1978).

Wolves’ coloration is highly varied and does not seem to have an adaptive function. They can range in color from completely black to almost all white. However, the most common color is a middle gray (hence the common name gray wolf), often with a creamy buff underside. Although they appear gray, their fur is not a uniform color. Intermixed are hairs of a great variety: red, black, white, gray, and brown. Wolves characteristically have dark facial hair surrounding their eyes and mouths, which apparently helps to emphasize their facial communication with other members of the pack (Mech 1978).

Wolves have very long legs and are excellent runners. They are agile in the forest, on mountains, and even on tricky areas such as rocks and logs. Although the limits of the wolf’s speed are still debated, they have been clocked at almost 40 miles per hour in a top speed chase (Mech 1978). Wolves are capable of running steadily for as long as 20 minutes during a hunt chase (Mech 1978). However, they do not often run at top speed. During a hunt chase, they will usually save their speed until a critical moment of acceleration. When bounding along at top speed, their strides can measure up to 16 feet (Mech 1978).

Wolves are almost strictly meat eaters. Since wolves often seek prey that are quite a bit larger than themselves, they have evolved massive jaws with incredible power. L. David Mech, a prominent wolf biologist, attests to the wolves’ intense strength in biting. "I have watched wolves on the run leap at the rump of an adult moose and rip it open even through this meant tearing through 4 inches of finely packed hair and a thick hide" (Mech 1978:14). Wolves have especially efficient teeth to aid them in hunting. The canine teeth, or "fangs", are the largest teeth on the wolf, measuring up to 2 1/4 inches in total length (Mech 1978). Wolves also have carnassials, used as knives and grinders, and huge molars that help to crush bone (Mech 1978).

Wolves have a very sensitive olfactory sense. Although there is little research on wolves’ smelling ability, it is assumed that they can detect scents at least as well as dogs. In dogs, the olfactory area is approximately 14 times as large as that in humans (Mech 1978). Scientists estimate that dogs’ and wolves’ ability to detect scents is as much as 100 times as acute as humans' (Mech 1978). For example, "under most circumstances, wolves can detect an animal when within 300 yards downwind of it" (Mech 1978:15). L. David Mech has observed wolves recognizing the scent of animals as much as 1.5 miles away. When "the [wolves] would catch the scent, [they] would assemble, nose-to-nose, wag tails for 10-15 seconds, and veer straight upwind toward the moose. Once they did this when 1.5 miles downwind of a cow moose and twin calves, showing that under some conditions they can detect scent for that great a distance" (Mech [1978] 15).

Wolves also possess excellent hearing. It is estimated that wolves can hear and respond to other wolves’ howls located more than 4 miles distant. Again, research of wolves’ auditory capacity is limited. Research shows that wolves have auditory acuity sensitive enough to differentiate between actual howls and a wolf howl that has been previously recorded and is played back (Mech 1978).

Hunting Habits.-Wolves are carnivorous predators that hunt cooperatively in groups called packs. It is extremely rare to actually see wolves capture their prey. Despite Farley Mowat’s claim that wolves survive on mice, they prefer to hunt large ungulates such as moose, deer, elk, and caribou (10). They sometimes do eat mice, grasshoppers, rabbits, beavers, and a variety of other mammals. They also occasionally kill and consume a cow, steer, or sheep. However, these domestic animals do not normally comprise a large part of their feeding repertoire.

Once they make a catch, wolves remain in the vicinity of the kill until they consume nearly everything that is edible. Usually they will eat the entire carcass, excepting hooves, very large bones and occasionally some hair. In some situations, perhaps when food is scarce, wolves will eat every last bit of a carcass, including blood-soaked snow and dirt.

Unless wolves recently made a kill and are still feeding, they are hunting. The hunt begins as soon as the pack leaves the remains of the old carcass. Wolves do not appear to have any special hunting grounds or behavior; instead they hunt whenever they are traveling (Mech 1978). Wolves locate their prey by direct scenting, chance encounter or tracking. Direct scenting appears to be the most common method. As mentioned before, wolves’ highly acute sense of smell allows then to locate prey that are still relatively long distances away. Once the pack has caught a scent, they usually group together and head off directly toward the animals. "As they close the gap between themselves and their prey, the wolves become excited, but remain restrained" (Mech [1978] 199). This phase of the hunt is referred to as the stalk. Eventually, the wolves enter into direct contact with the prey animals. When wolves approach prey, they test the animals’ fitness. Many animals stand their ground when approached by wolves. Usually only strong, fit animals stay to face the wolves. If the prey animal does not flee, often the wolves just leave it alone.

Animals that run are almost always chased. It is often posited that wolves kill only the weak, young or old members of the prey population. Although occasionally wolves are able to catch a healthy animal in its prime, Mech estimates that 82-94% of animals caught by wolves are either very young, old, sick, or weakened in some way (Mech 1978). Simply stated, wolves chase and capture the prey that is easiest to catch.

If the animal approached by the wolves flees or continues to run, the wolves will chase it (11). This part of the hunt, the rush, is most critical to the wolves’ hunting success. During this stage, if they are unable to gain on the animal within a short distance, they usually give up the hunt altogether (Mech 1978). Wolves seem to have a good sense of when they will be able to capture an animal without expending too much energy. The wolves must precisely time their rush and attack because if they fail to close in on the prey during the rush stage, the wolves may never become close enough to launch a full attack. However, if the wolves quickly close the gap between themselves and the prey animals, they may have enough time to attack (Mech 1978).

Many claims are made that wolves will "hamstring" or bite through the Achilles tendon of their prey in order to incapacitate it. Although this may sound realistic and even advantageous, numerous researchers have found that wolves do not hamstring their prey. In fact, Mech’s research indicates that when capturing wild prey, wolves make every attempt to stay away from the rear hooves of ungulates (Mech 1978). One hit from the hoof of a moose or caribou, and a wolf may suffer serious injuries including skull fractures, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. Mech quotes seven different wolf researchers, none of whom ever saw a case of wolves hamstringing wild prey (Mech 1978).

Despite the wolves’ image as a frighteningly successful killer, they actually have relatively low success rates. The wolves’ digestive tract is especially suited to a feast or famine feeding system. Wolves can consume upwards of 20 pounds of meat at one feeding; by the same token, they can go days without eating anything. This fact of biology lends credence to the results that Mech and others have accumulated regarding hunting success rates for wolves. In a study of 131 moose detected by wolves, 96 were chased, 53 were caught but not attacked, 7 were attacked, and 6 were killed. This makes the wolves’ success rate or "predation efficiency" for this study approximately 7.8%. In other words, on average, wolves kill one out of thirteen moose they chase (Mech 1978).

Part of the reason that wolves are able to take prey animals that are so much larger than themselves is that they hunt in cooperative family groups. Wolves not hunting cooperatively will either look for smaller prey or will have a significantly lower hunting success rate. However, except for dispersing young adults, wolves rarely live outside of a pack. Therefore, the social aspect of wolf existence forms a rich and varied part of their lives.

Pack Interactions and the Social Complex.-Communication is a very important part of the life of the wolf. Wolves are highly social creatures that typically, though not always, live in packs made up of extended family groups of 2-30 animals. Although the size of an average pack is 5-8 wolves, packs can range in size from 2-20 individuals. Reports of packs containing more than 25 wolves are extremely rare. However, the largest authenticated report is of a pack of 36 in Alaska (Lopez 1978) . Usually the pack will consist of an "alpha" or breeding pair and the young from the previous 1 to 3 years. Depending on the time of year, the newest litter of pups will also be an active part of the pack.

Much is said about the social position of the alpha pair. They are considered to be the dominant individuals in the pack. However, instead of conceiving of them as "rulers" or "dictators" of the pack activities, they are more accurately thought of as parents. Usually the other members of the pack are the offspring of the alpha pair, and so the precedence of the alpha pair in decision-making and dominance is closely related to their parental roles. The alpha pair mates for life. Typically, they will also remain faithful to each other. It is interesting to note that during mating, the male and the female are joined in a copulatory tie that cannot be broken for up to a half hour. The mating tie is caused by the swelling of the base of the male’s penis and the contraction of the female’s vaginal muscles around it (Mech 1978). L. David Mech explains the first time he witnessed wolves in a copulatory bond, "I first observed this phenomenon from the air, and directed my pilot to dive lower for a closer examination. As the air craft bore down upon the coupled wolves, both animals stood and tried desperately to break apart and flee, but they could not" (Mech 1978:114).

The alpha pair will usually be the only pair within any given pack to have pups in a single year. Pups are born to the alpha pair in the early spring. They spend their first few months of life inside a den that the alpha female prepared for their birth. The number of pups born normally ranges from 4-7 (Mech 1978). Other female wolves often serve as baby-sitters, or as dry nurses while the birth mother is away from the den. All of the other wolves play with and help feed and raise the pups. This helps to bond the new pups to the other members of the pack. Occasionally, however, another pack female may also raise pups.

By the end of the summer the pups appear full grown and begin to function as hunting members of the pack. The pups will not reach their full size and weight for approximately another year. They are usually ready to find mates somewhere between the ages of 3-5. If they cannot accept a position as subordinate to the alpha pair, the young animals may disperse to find a mate and start a pack of their own.

The bonds between pack members are strong family bonds that form while the wolves are still pups. All members of the pack participate actively in raising the pups. Wolves have a window of time within which they are capable of forming close bonds with other wolves. Once they exit this stage, at about six months, they become extremely frightened and agitated by other wolves and humans (12). Mech has suggested that this may be due in part to an evolutionary adaptation that serves to keep pack relations tight so that the integrity of the pack does not falter. As the pack is the most important factor in successful hunting, it is easy to understand the need for strong inter-pack ties, and weak (or non-existent) ties to members of other packs.

Wolf and Communication.-Communication both within a pack and between packs forms a rich aspect of wolves’ existence. Perhaps the most memorable wolf communication is the howl. Described in different historical contexts as "haunting," "chilling," "blood-curdling," "beautiful," "majestic," and "free," the howl defines the wolf for humans. Wolves howl for a variety of reasons, including territory establishment, hunting, and group bonding. Wolves are capable of a wide range of other sounds as well. Besides howling, they can bark, squeak, growl, and whimper (Burbank 1990). Communication goes far beyond auditory signals. Wolves also communicate through body language and scent marking. Tail positions, facial expressions, and body postures all contribute messages communicated to other wolves and members of other species.

Scent marking serves as a way to define territory boundaries and to create a trail that other wolves can follow (in the case of dispersing wolves) or avoid (in the case of territory infringement). In the case of dispersing, it is thought that wolves may follow scent trails left by wolves who went before them in order to locate a mate. Scent making also signals to other wolves that they may want to choose another route through an area. If wolves recognize the scent marks as fresh and of a foreign pack, they will often deliberately choose a different course of travel to avoid conflict with another pack. Wolves rarely kill each other. Members within a pack may fight over social positions, but these squabbles seldom escalate into deathly duels. When a pack meets another pack, it is not unusual for them to attack. However, here again, the wolves are usually able to solve the challenge without resulting in the death of a wolf, although in pack-pack confrontations, death as a result of fighting is much more likely than in intra-pack conflicts. Wolves will often defecate on objects they find that are inappropriate for other wolves to use. Wolves tend to defecate on human litter and traps. It is suggested that this is a way for wolves to warn others that they need not inspect this object any further, as it is worthless or even harmful to wolf society.

We have seen that wolves are in fact carnivorous hunters. They are not vicious and ruthless hunters that take the lives of other animals just for the sheer fun of it, nor are they the cute and cuddly beasts that much recent literature and propaganda portrays. Wolves kill other animals to survive. Their social structure attests to their highly developed intelligence and relational skills. It is important to see the wolf for what it is. The modern mythology that has inspired people to believe that wolves survive on mice is just as much mythology as the tales of the evil, thieving wolf.