The Gray Wolf

~ The Gray Wolf hunting ~

Image from http://www.treehugger.com

The gray wolf is one of the world's stealthy and formidable hunters. Although gray wolves appear fierce and aggressive, they are actually quite social, friendly creatures. Unless we threaten them or their young (perhaps straying to close to the den), they are likely to ignore humans. The problem is, they can't help but notice us. We are destroying some of their natural habitat, and the wolves themselves - the gray wolves were once quite common in North America, but were killed off in the 1930's. A lot of wolves are killed by farmers to protect the livestock, because wolves like to feed on sheep and cattle. We are also cutting down their forest homes in Canada, New Mexico, and a small bit of the USA. Of course, a lot of the wolves' habitat are in protected wildlife parks, but are rare in the wild nowadays. There are now about 200,000 gray wolves. That is minuscule compared to the once 2 million wolves living in the wild! The wildlife parks are a big help, though. Yellowstone National Park is one of the best places to see and hear the gray wolves in their native habitat, thanks to the reintroduction of wolves in 1995.
Wolves live in packs of about 4-7 members in the wild. They hunt, travel, and sleep together. The wolf is one of the best examples of an animal who knows about teamwork! They are phenomenal hunters. They eat a wide selection of animals and plants; they're not picky! They will eat berries, caribou, moose, horses, elk, deer, beavers, rabbits, and other small mammals or birds. Wolves are also scavengers, eating already dead animals that have died because of starvation or disease.
The wolf has a very interesting and strong bond with the raven - it is an every day miracle of nature. They work together to survive, their destinies forever linked. Here is how it works:
The raven is a bird, and can scout and search exceptionally well. The wolf relies on the raven on finding the food (whether it be dead or alive). For example, the raven might spot a herd of caribou. Then, it would alert the wolves. The wolves would hunt down a caribou and kill it. They would bite through the tough skin and feed. The raven would join. The wolf relies on the raven on finding the food (whether it be dead or alive), and the raven needs the wolf to kill the food and open up the animal's skin. Isn't it fascinating? I hope you enjoyed it.