Gray Wolves
Classification Kingdom Animals
Height 2 - 3 feet at shoulders
Phylum Chordata
Length 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet long tip of nose to tip of tail
Class Mammals
Weight 50 to 150 pounds
Order Carnivores
Paw 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches
Family Canidae
Genus Canis
Description Of The Gray Wolf
The gray wolf is the largest of the dog family
Species--Lupus (gray wolf)
Common Names
Tundra Wolf
Timber Wolf
Gray Wolf
Arctic Wolf
Lobo Wolf
Plains Wolf
And The Buffalo Wolf
Subspecies
In North America there are five subspecies of gray wolf
These are as follows
Canis Lupus Baileyi
Canis Lupus Lycaon
Canis Lupus Nubilus
Canis Lupus Arctos
And Canis Lupus Occidentalis
Fur
Wolves have two fur coats
Undercoat
This coat is thick like wool and traps air to help keep the wolf warm
Overcoat guard hairs
These hairs are coarse and hollow
This gives another layer of insulation against the cold
Fur Color
Wolves Can Be
White
Gray
Black
Brown
Red
And Yellow
Usually Wolves Are A Combination Of Colors
Eye Color
Most wolves have golden to yellow eyes
Some wolves have brown eyes
And some have even been seen with green eyes
Puppies are always born with blue eyes
Say The Name
CANIS LUPUS is pronounced like this
"CAN-NIS LOU-PESS"
Wolf Talk
Wolves make many different sounds
Howling
Barking
Growling
Whining
And Yipping
Breeding
Wolves will breed anytime between January and March
It all depends on where they live
The further north, the later in the season they breed
It takes 63 days after breeding to have puppies
This is the same as the dog
It should be since dogs came from wolves
Long Legs
Wolves have very long legs and very large heads
Their necks are quite small for as big as they are
Narrow Shoulders
They have narrow shoulders and a narrow rear end
This lets them accelerate fast
This very useful when trying to catch a bite to eat
Diet
The Wolves Diet Consists Of
Deer
Caribou
Musk Oxen
Beaver
Small Sheep
Mountain Goat
Fish
Birds
Carrion
Elk
Bison
Moose
Big Horn Sheep
And Small Mammals
Size Of The Wolf
Most of the adult grey wolves weigh in the vicinity of 75 to 125 pounds
Males are usually larger than females by as much as twenty-five percent
There are authenticated records of male wolves weighing as much as 175 pounds
As large as wolves are
They usually appear to much larger because of their long hair
In the winter coat
The hair on their back and sides averages 2 to 2.5 inches in length
Starting at the base of the neck
The wolf has a teardrop-shaped mane of hair
That elongates into just a crest down the spine toward the tail
Over the shoulder, the mane is about 6 inches wide
The hairs in the mane are 4 to 5 inches long
And are attached to erectorpilli muscles
This allow the hairs to stand on end
Making the wolf appear even larger
Extensive studies of the North American wolf species
Show between 50 to 70 inches in total nose-tip-to-tail-tip length
Of that length, one quarter is tail length
Wolves Stand between 27 to 31 inches high at the shoulder
Compared to dogs of the same size wolves' chests are much narrower
Their legs are also longer in proportion to their body weight than are most dogs
Because of its narrower chest
The wolf's left and right foot tracks closer together than the dogs
General Appearance Of A Wolf
Although most wolves have basically grey coats
Hence the common name
The coats usually have a lot of base yellow
Interspersed between the salt-and-pepper frey and black hair
Wolves anywhere can have coats that grade from almost pure white to jet black
Although all of the arctic wolves are usually all white
Wolves are very intelligent creatures
Whose upright ears
Sharp pointed muzzles
Inquiring eyes
And other facial features instantly convey this quality
Their heads closely resemble that of a german shepard dog
Although the skull is broader and more massive
Wolves also have ruffs of long hair framing the sides of their faces like sideburns
The dentition of the wolf consists of twenty-two teeth
Twelve incisors
Four canines
Sixteen pre molars
And ten carnassials and molars
The canines of the wolf are
1-inch Long
Strong
Sharp
And slightly curved
These are the teeth used for grasping prey
The wolf does not chew its food
It uses its carnassials to scissor off a piece of meat
The meat can then be swallowed in a manageable chunk
Red Wolves
Classification
Kingdom Animals
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammals
Order Carnivores
Family Canidae
Genus Canis
Species Rufus (Red Wolf)
Common Names
Red wolf and Swamp wolf
Subspecies
In North America there are two subspecies of red wolf
These are as follows
Canis Rufus Rufus
Canis Rufus Gregoryi
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