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Wolf Pack

Social Order

The leader of the pack is called the Alpha male. He’s the oldest, strongest, and most respected. He and his mate make up the Alpha pair. The Alpha leads, hunts, and makes decisions for the pack.

The next part of the wolf pack is the Beta wolf. He will eventually be the Alpha male. He will be this when the Alpha male dies or becomes unable to lead the pack.

The rest of the pack are subordinates (wolves of both sexes.) Some packs have an Outcast at the bottom of the hierarchy. This one is called the Omega. This wolf can be male or female. It will usually be the last to feed, or may not even eat when food is scarce.

Wolves depend on stability and cooperation. The cooperation is “giant”, when they’re hunting large animals, like deer, bison, and moose. When the “giant” cooperation is scarce, larger groups split up to find mice, rabbits and beaver.

Puppies
The wolf puppies are born in spring. The mother mainly prepares the den three weeks prior to giving birth. The puppies are born blind. The mother stays in the den and keeps the pups warm. The mother only has three duties; to care, protect, and feed the pups. The subordinates of the pack bring in food to the mother in her den.
At four
to five weeks old the puppies venture out of their den. They can hear quite well, and also open their eyes. They are born with blue eyes but they usually never stay. They either change to golden yellow, brown or green. When they leave the den they begin eating solid foods.

Wolf puppies play rough, it may seem like their hurting each other, but their not! Puppies role around biting. Puppies show a sign of happiness when playing. The puppies stare at each other and then start playing again.

Hunting
Wolves hunt using “herding” techniques, to corner or peel off the intended target. The wolves attack the legs or the rump, making the prey weaker. Once the victim is helpless the wolf attacks at the throat or snout.

Wolves will hunt regardless of weather conditions. Whenever a wolf is hungry it hunts. Wolves hunt going into the wind, with the wind blowing into their faces. There are two reasons for this. First, the wind carries scents. If they hunt in the wind they can smell prey better. Second, wind carries sound and the wolf doesn’t want to be heard and scare away its prey. This also allows the wolf to hear it's prey better.

Wolves hunt in packs with 2-25 members. It will only be 2 if it is only a male and a female. In the larger hunting packs, the wolves will separate when trying to kill a larger animal. Half of the pack would go around without the animal noticing, then the rest would stay in front to watch over the animal. The Alpha male sends a signal, this signal is to tell the rest of the pack to start attacking.

Now we know that the wolves have their own idea of their way of living, by how they are formed and what they do as puppies, and how to survive.

For more information click on the following links:

http://www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/m194.html

http://www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/m191.html

http://www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/m198.html

http://www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/m193.html

http://www.boomerwolf.com/pack.htm

http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfPack.shtml

http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfPup.shtml

http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfHunting.shtml