Kathleen Yale - Howl like a Wolf!: Learn about 13 Wild Animals and Explore Their Lives through Creative Play and Activities

Gray Wolf Canis lupus

Im a social animal, so I like to hang out with my fellow wolves. I live in a pack with my parents, older siblings, and littermates. My parents are the alphas that means theyre in charge and the rest of us follow their lead.

Most of the time our pack is on the move, hunting and patrolling the borders of our territory. In fact, we often run 10 to 20 miles a day even up to 50 miles when we need to. On our way, we pee and poop at the edges of our range so that when other wolf packs smell our markings, they know to keep out. Its kind of like having a fence around your backyard.

We hunt together for large prey like deer, elk, moose, and bison, but we chase smaller prey like rabbits, squirrels, and mice, too. We hunt in order to eat, but we dont kill for fun, and we rarely waste food.

Hunting big animals is hard and dangerous work.

A wolfs teeth are sharp, big, and heavy. They look a lot like your pet dogs teeth, but wolves jaws are much stronger. In fact, the force of their bite is strong enough to break bones.

Every spring, the alpha female finds or digs a safe den for her new pups. It might be underground, or in a hillside, or under a rock or the roots of a tree. While shes nursing the pups, the rest of us bring her food so she doesnt get hungry. When the pups get big enough to start playing outside, the whole pack helps take care of them, bringing them food to eat and sticks to play with, and teaching them how to be wolves.

Everyone loves the pups!

Wolves dont really howl at the moon. We just like to run around at night, and we howl with our heads back to help the sound carry. So why do we howl?

• To remind intruders to stay away. You can hear a howl through the forest up to six miles away, and even farther across open land!
• To find packmates who may have wandered off.
• For fun! I like howling with my family when were excited about something its like a big, furry group hug.
  

Your wolf mission is to get your pack together, protect your territory, and, of course, give a good howl!

Invite your family and real or imaginary friends to play along. Stuffed animals work, too; or better yet, enlist your family dog!

Stake out a territory around your house, in your backyard, or in a local park. Although wolves mark their territory with smelly pee and poop, you can mark yours by scratching the ground, putting up signs or flags, or even outlining it in chalk if youre near a sidewalk. Patrol the borders to keep intruders out!

Pick one or two wolves in your pack to be the alphas. Everyone else must follow the alpha and do what he or she does. If the alpha sits, jumps, rolls over, or howls, the other wolves do, too.

Imagine you look just like a wolf, with a tail and pointy ears. Try talking to your packmates by getting down on all fours and using wolf body language.

Im the boss: Hold your head and tail up high. Look confident and relaxed, and make eye contact with everyone in your pack. Growl and show your teeth if someone isnt listening.

I dont want to fight: Keep your ears back, your tail tucked between your legs, and look away. You can also crouch to the ground so you look smaller, or roll over and show your belly.

Lets play!: Keep your ears up and facing forward and your tail up and wagging, and make excited play bows by lowering your front half and keeping your bottom up in the air.

End a round of playing wolf with a group rally to remind everyone that youre all part of one big family. Get all the wolves in your pack to howl together, then wrestle around in a big, friendly pile. Bonus points if you can get your dog to howl along!