Wolves

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Wolves
By Kelci Megan
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Introduction
Wolves arent really BIG, BAD, and SCARY like the
ones you know from fairytales. They are actually
very smart and are afraid of humans. No one in
North America has ever been attacked by a wolf.
They are very protective of their young and if
they think you are harming their young, they may
attack.
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Appearance
The wolf looks very similar to the German
Shepherd, but the wolf has longer legs, bigger
feet, a wider head, a bushy tail, and it moves
and holds its head differently.A wolfs fur is
called its pelage. Their pelage may vary from
white to jet black. Their pelage helps them to
camouflage and works as a raincoat. The
temperature of their feet is just above zero.
That helps the wolf to survive through the winter
and in cold areas.
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Behavior
Howling and body language are two different
forms of communication for the wolf. Wolves howl
for two different reasons to find other members
of the pack if they are lost, and to communicate
with other wolves. Body language is used in
many ways. If a wolf has its tail between
his or her legs or is rolling on the ground with
their legs in the air , it means they are
submissive. The dominant male and female usually
hold their tails in the air. This means that they
are very dominant.
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Wolves biggest enemy is humans.Wolves used to be
seen everywhere but now they are on the
endangered species list. Many people kill wolves
because they think they are vicious, man-eating
animals. Wolves rarely attack humans and if one
does, it is to protect their young. They try to
avoid humans as much as possible. Fairy tales
really make wolves look bad. One main reason
people do not like wolves is because they are
sometimes known to eat livestock. Actually,
wolves will only eat livestock if they are
starving and cant find anything else to eat.
Other enemies of the wolf are the lynx and the
bear. They are the wolfs only natural enemies.
To protect their territory, wolves urinate on
trees to warn the enemy not to trespass.
ENEMIES
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Timber wolves live in wooded, subarctic
regions. Tundra wolves live on treeless plains of
the arctic. Red wolves are separate species that
are nearly extinct. They live in Louisiana and
Texas in the USA. Wolves are seldom found in
deserts and tropical forests. Arctic wolves live
in the most inhospitable areas in the world. It
is one of the few mammals that can exist in such
a climate. Gray wolves (canis lupus)
used to live in large areas of North America,
Europe, and Asia two hundred years ago. Wolves
are extremely territorial. A pack occupies an
area and will defend against any intruder.
Depending on the amount of prey this equaled the
size of territory. They mark their territory by
urinating on trees. If a pack trespasses, fights
often occur and sometimes result in death.
Subordinate wolves were often forced out of a
pack and would then find a mate and begin a new
pack in a unoccupied area.
HABITTAT
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THE PACK
Wolves live in packs of about seven to ten. They
never travel alone. Wolves in the same pack
rarely fight and always help each other out.
Their survival depends on how they get along. The
main rule is to keep the population down, so
there is enough food for everyone. They are
always acting out rituals to keep their social
order. In a wolf pack, there are two leaders,
the alpha male and the alpha female. They are the
only wolves who have pups. All the other wolves
in the pack are submissive. The alpha male and
female show their dominance by raising their
tails and urinate with their leg raised. The
alpha pair is the first to eat in the pack, the
others must wait until they are finished. Every
wolf in the pack has a totally different
personality. Their eyes, body position, and
facial expression are most important for
communicating. The entire pack looks after the
pups and the healthy wolves look after the sick
ones. Wolves get along much better than humans.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Megan and Kelci both play for the Bushido
water polo league. Megan is in grade four and
Kelci is in grade six. They both enjoy drawing
and playing games. Megan swims for the Mini
Marlins and is good at playing piano. Kelci has
been in quite a few television productions
and loves acting. Kelci has a budgie named Hitch
and Megan has a turtle named Spike and a cat
named Tiger.

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THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR PROJECT!
GOODBYE!
WOLVES
written and produced by Kelci
and Megan with help
from Mrs. Madder and
Mrs.Desrosiers made in the Hewlett
Packard Lab at Earl Grey School!