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Did you know that there are only two species of wolves known to the world? One is the red wolf, which lives in the southeastern United States. The other is the gray wolf, which is also known as the timber wolf. The Mexican gray wolf is really a subspecies of the timber wolf.
The gray wolf used to live in all of North America from Alaska and Arctic Canada to Central Mexico. It also lived in a big portion of Europe and Asia. Over the years, it was pushed out of its normal habitat and hunted to the point of extinction.
The gray wolf is a very powerful animal. Because of their long legs and wide paws, they are able to chase their pray through the deep snow. An adult male can measure up to six feet long, from nose to the end of their tail and can weigh from 44 pounds to 175 pounds. Females measure smaller than the males. A wolves fur is dense, long, and soft.
Wolves are very intelligent animals. It is also a very social animal. They live in packs which can contain up to two dozen wolves. They communicate with each other with yips, squeaks, barks, whimpers, snarls, and howling. Wolves are thought to howl for several reasons. One reason is to communicate with each other or with other packs. Another reason could be that they find pleasure in howling. |
