Free Flash Slideshow by cu3ox.com v1.1

Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature:  Gray Wolf


Wolves are wild carnivore members of the dog family (Canidae). They are believed to be ancestors of the domestic dog, which evolved separately more than 20,000 years ago. Wolves are making a comeback in the Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Southwestern United States.

There are an estimated 7,000 to 11,200 wolves in Alaska and more than 5,000 in the lower 48 states. Wolves were once common throughout all of North America but were killed in most areas of the United States by the mid 1930s. Today their range has been reduced to Canada and the following portions of the United States: Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Mexican wolves are found in New Mexico and Arizona. Thanks to the reintroduction of wolves in 1995, Yellowstone National Park is one of the most favored places to see and hear wolves in the native habitat.

The most common cause of death for wolves is conflict with people over livestock losses. Another serious threat is human encroachment into wolf territory, which leads to habitat loss for wolves and their prey species. Overall, the greatest threat to wolves is people's fear and misunderstanding about the species. Many fairy tales and myths tend to misrepresent wolves as villainous, dangerous creatures.
The gray wolf is often accused of hunting livestock Wolf sizes vary with geographic locality. They range in size from 26" to 38" shoulder height, 39" to 80" in length (tip of nose to end of tail), and vary in weight from 57 to 130 pounds. Gray Wolf coats may vary in color from grey to brown, from white to jet black. Females are slightly smaller than males, and Mexican Wolves tend to be smaller than their northern cousins. Coat colors vary from white to grizzled gray to brown or black.

Gray wolves live  in packs which can vary in size from 2 to over 15, but are usually from 4 to 7 wolves. The leader of the pack is normally the strongest male, who often determines when and where the pack will hunt, as well as other activities of the pack.

Wolfpacks are formed primarily of family members and relatives. They may travel more often, and greater distances than any other terrestrial animal. The leader of the pack is the alpha.

Their territories may cover from 100 to 260 square miles, depending on the abundance of food and water. Territories may also overlap, although wolfpacks very seldom confront one another. Some wolves leave their packs to become lone wolves. Loners may start their own packs if a mate and a vacant area can be found.
Gray wolves, like maned and red wolves, mate for life. Usually only the alpha pair breeds. Pairs mate in the winter and about 9 weeks later 2 to 14 pups are born. Though often only the highest ranking male and female in a pack will breed, all members of the pack are involved in raising the young.

At birth, wolf pups cannot see or hear and weigh about one pound. The pups are weaned at about six weeks. Other females in the pack help take care of newborn pups. Adult pack members swallow meat and bring it back to the den for their pups. After the adults regurgitate the food, the pups have a hearty meal.

Breeding season can vary from January in low latitudes to April in high latitudes. A wolfpack will alternate between a stationary phase from spring through summer and a nomadic phase in autumn and winter. The stationary phase involves caring for pups at a den or home site. Within 3 to 5 months the young pups are able to travel with the pack.

During summer, most movements are toward or away from the pups, and adults often travel and hunt alone. By autumn, pups are capable of traveling extensively with the adults, so until the next whelping season the pack usually roams as a unit throughout its territory in search of prey.
The gray wolf once lived in California nature When the young adults reach the age of three, they can either join the pack or leave to find their own territory.  The new territory can be close by if there is a lot of prey. In some areas, young adults travel hundreds of miles to find a new territory.

Wolves communicate through body language, scent marking, barking, growling and howling. Much of their communication is about reinforcing the social hierarchy of the pack. When a wolf wants to show that it is submissive to another wolf, it will crouch, whimper, tuck in its tail, lick the other wolf's mouth or roll over on its back.

When a wolf wants to challenge another wolf, it will growl or lay its ears back on its head. A playful wolf dances and bows.

Wolves bark as a warning. Howling is for long-distance communication to pull a pack back together and to keep strangers away.

In the wild, gray wolves live 8-13 years, sometimes more. In captivity, they live upwards of 15 years.
Once, the wolf was widespread across most of North America, but it was hunted ruthlessly and extirpated over most of its range. Today, the wolf is making a successful comeback in some of its former habitat due to strong conservation efforts. The gray wolf plays a vital role in the health and proper functioning of ecosystems.

Today, gray wolves have populations in Alaska, northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, western Montana, northern Idaho, northeast Oregon and the Yellowstone area of Wyoming. Mexican wolves, a subspecies of the gray wolf, were reintroduced to protected parkland in eastern Arizona and southwest New Mexico. The historic range of the gray wolf covered over two-thirds of the United States.
Bats    Bears    Bison    Bobcat    Chipmunks & Squirrels    Deer & Elk    Feral Horses    Foxes    Gophers    Gray Wolf    Jaguar Mice & Rats    Mountain Lion    Porcupine    Rabbits & Hares    Raccoons    River Otter    Sheep     Shrews, Moles, & Opossum Skunks      Weasels & Minks     Wolverine and Badger
 
 
Website Created by Website Creations

About us      Privacy Disclaimer      Advertisers     Contact Us     Bookstore    Sitemap     Search    Floridian Nature