12th October: Wolves

The second full week of October is National Wolf awareness week. So here are some facts about wolves.

1. There are two species of true wolf - the Grey wolf and the Red wolf. Red wolves are smaller. Black wolves don't occur naturally - black fur is the result of a mutation which occurs in domestic Dogs, not wolves. So a black wolf will have ancestors which at some stage, mated with a domestic dog.
2. Although dogs evolved from wolves, wolves don't make good pets or even guard dogs - they are more likely to hide from intruders than confront them.
3. A wolf pack is usually a family group with the pack leaders being the parents. Wolves mate for life. Lower ranking or younger females in a pack will not mate but will help raise any cubs.
4. When wolves howl, it is usually either to rally their own pack or to keep rival packs away. A howl usually lasts around five seconds. When wolves howl together, they harmonize rather than sing on one note to give the illusion of greater numbers.
5. Wolves are born with Blue eyes. Their eyes turn Yellow by about eight months.
6. Wolves can smell other animals more than one mile (1.6 kilometres) away, and they see and hear well, too. Their night vision is also good.
7. A wolf's jaw has a crushing pressure of nearly 1,500 pounds per square inch (compared with about 750 for a large dog), and their jaws can open wider than those of a dog. They have 42 teeth. All adapted to help them eat as much as 20 pounds of meat in a single meal. To put that into perspective, that's the equivalent of 100 burgers.
8. A wolf can run about 20 miles (32 km) per hour, and can reach a speed of 40 miles (56 km) per hour for a short time if necessary. If they are travelling all day they will move at a pace of around 5 miles (8km) per hour. Wolves run on their toes, so they can stop and turn quickly. This also prevents their foot pads from wearing down. They can swim, too - up to 8 miles (13 kilometres). They even have small webs between their toes to help them move through the water.
9. In the 1600s, Ireland was called “Wolf-land” because there were so many wolves there. Wolf hunting was a popular sport among the Irish nobility, who used Irish wolfhounds to outrun and kill wolves.
10. Wolves have a fearsome reputation as fierce predators. However, there have been only 2 human deaths attributed to wolves in North America in the 21st century.

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