The Howling! by Sue Demetriou
The Howling! by Sue Demetriou
Finally I have seen these Canadian Wood Wolves howl! What a beautiful sight it was! The first wolf to start was on the far left and the other two ran over to join him. However there was a fourth that stayed out of the picture and did not join in. Perhaps that ties in with the following narrative over why do wolves howl!! So I did some research and found the piece below from Fred Harrington
Professor of Ethology
The center of a wolf’s universe is its pack, and howling is the glue that keeps the pack together. Some have speculated that howling strengthens the social bonds between packmates; the pack that howls together, stays together. That may be so, but chorus howls can also end with nasty quarrels between packmates. Some members, usually the lowest-ranking, may actually be “punished” for joining in the chorus. Whether howling together actually strengthens social bonds, or just reaffirms them, is unknown. We do know, however, that howling keeps packmates together, physically. Because wolves range over vast areas to find food, they are often separated from one another. Of all their calls, howling is the only one that works over great distances. Its low pitch and long duration are well suited for transmission in forest and across tundra, and unique features of each individual’s howl allow wolves to identify each other. Howling is a long distance contact and reunion call; separate a wolf from its pack, and very soon it will begin howling, and howling, and howling…
So I’m wondering was the wolf, who was just out of picture to the left, the lowest ranked wolf – harsh! These are captive wolves at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. The dream, to see them in the wild of course!
Sue Demetriou: Photos · Blog
2012-12-08 17:35:54
Source: http://500px.com/photo/20115321
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