Howling can also be used to signal rival packs, hopefully keeping them at bay. This tells intruders that they're approaching boundaries and provides the wolves with olfactory sign posts. Wolves scent mark by spreading urine and feces on targets above the ground, such as a tree stump. How can wolves tell where their land begins and ends? Sometimes, the nose knows. Crossing into another group's domain can open the door for confrontation. Depending on the region, a single pack's terrain may range in size from under 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) to more than 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers). Individual wolves may lie in wait for up to 30 straight hours to attack beavers, which have lousy eyesight and are vulnerable to attacks from predators standing downwind. Elk, by comparison, are much easier to kill, with packs containing two to six wolves regularly taking them down. Then again, at Yellowstone National Park, packs of nine or more wolves are the most likely to succeed when they go bison-hunting. Having extra mouths to feed can be a real detriment when your prey is scarce. The biggest packs aren't necessarily the most successful. Packs may also include multiple breeding pairs, although that's a departure from the norm. Noted wolf researcher David Mech had this to say in a 2008 YouTube presentation:Īfter moving out, young adults try to find mates and establish their own packs, beginning the cycle anew.īesides the parents and kids, "other unrelated wolves may sometimes join pack," according to the International Wolf Center. īecause they don't live under the artificial constraints Schenkel observed, wild wolves (usually) organize themselves in a way that's less competitive. They also take up way more space, patrolling territories of 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers) or larger. Unlike their counterparts at this particular zoo, natural wolf packs mainly consist of genetic relatives. However, Schenkel didn't look at any wild wolves at the time. His study specimens were unrelated animals who'd been brought together at a Swiss zoo, where they shared an enclosure measuring 2,153 square feet (200 square meters). Schenkel's 1947 paper was describing two wolf packs in captivity. We even repeated that idea here at HowStuffWorks when we first published this article on July 28, 2008. This belief - that every wolf pack is a dog-eat-dog environment where some members are constantly vying to climb the ranks by aggressive means - has been repeated in countless wildlife documentaries and nonfiction books over the past 70-odd years. Īlpha wolves are said to outrank "beta wolves," who look down on submissive "omega wolves" in turn. "By continuously controlling and suppressing all types of competition within the same sex," wrote Schenkel, "both 'alpha animals' defend their social position.". Īccording to this idea, wolf packs are led by an "alpha male" and an "alpha female." These top dogs rule the roost by fighting the other wolves for dominance until they've clawed their way up the pecking order. The concept as we know it today can be traced back to a 1947 study written by animal behaviorist Rudolph Schenkel. "Alpha wolf" is a term that gets tossed around a lot in popular culture. One of the biggest misconceptions involves their power structures. But in nature, wolf packs operate very differently than most people think.
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