Showing posts with label howling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label howling. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2014

Do Wolves Really Howl at The Moon?

Gray wolves were once common throughout all of North America, but were exterminated in most areas of the United States by the mid 1930s. Today, their range has been reduced to Canada, Alaska, the Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest. 



Wolves have a complex communication system ranging from barks and whines to growls and howls. While they don't actually howl at the moon, they are more active at dawn and dusk, and they do howl more when it's lighter at night, which occurs more often when the moon is full.



Did you know that wolves have unique howls,like fingerprints, that scientists (and other members of their pack) can use to tell them apart?

Thursday, June 6, 2013

How 'Bout That Howl

Howling is a wolves' form of communication, and they howl for many different reasons.



Wolves howl to assemble the pack, usually before and after hunts, to pass on an alarm, to locate each other during a storm or unfamiliar territory and to communicate across great distances. Wolf howls can under certain conditions be heard over areas of up to 50 miles.  When howling together, wolves harmonize rather than chorus on the same note, thus creating the illusion of there being more wolves than there actually are.