Gray Wolf

. The greatest increase due to drying is in the ultimate crushing strength, and strength at elastic limit in endwise compression; these are followed by the modulus of rupture, and stress at elastic limit in cross-bending, while the modulus of elasticity is least affected. This takes into account the anatomy, distribution, and migration of various wolf colonies. An extreme example is the case of a completely dry spruce block 5 cm in section, which will sustain a permanent load four times as great as that which a green block of the same size will support. However, the last decade has seen a new and widely accepted list that has been condensed to 13 living subspecies, and 2 recently extinct subspecies. Drying produces a decided increase in the strength of wood, particularly in small specimens. It was once believed there were as many as 50 separate subspecies. Within certain limits the greater the water content the greater its softening effect.

The subspecies for the Gray Wolf has been a very controversial issue among taxonomists. A similar effect of common observation is in the softening action of water on paper or cloth. Further taxonomic clarification may well take decades. The general effect of the water content upon the wood substance is to render it softer and more pliable. Many of these seem unlikely to stand. Even oven-dried wood retains a small percentage of moisture, but for all except chemical purposes, may be considered absolutely dry. Scientists have proposed a host of subspecies. Wood that is thoroughly air-dried retains from 8-16% of water in the cell walls, and none, or practically none, in the other forms.

Indeed, only a single wolf species may exist. In heartwood it occurs only in the first and last forms. Although taxonomists have proposed many species over the years, most types clearly do not comprise true species. Water occurs in living wood in three conditions, namely: (1) in the cell walls, (2) in the protoplasmic contents of the cells, and (3) as free water in the cell cavities and spaces. The classification of wolves and closely allied creatures offers many challenges. If ease of working is prized, wood should be chosen with regard to its uniformity of texture and straightness of grain, which will in most cases occur when there is little contrast between the late wood of one season's growth and the early wood of the next. However, molecular systematics now indicate very strongly that domestic dogs and wolves are more closely related than either is to any other canid, and the domestic dog is now normally classified as a subspecies of the wolf: Canis lupus familiaris. In many uses of wood, strength is not the main consideration.

Because the canids have evolved recently and different canids interbreed readily, untangling the true relationships has presented difficulties. In general it may be stated that such woods of medium growth afford stronger material than when very rapidly or very slowly grown. Most authorities see the wolf as the dog's direct ancestor, but others have postulated descent from the Golden Jackal. The effect of rate of growth is, therefore, not the same as in the ring-porous woods, approaching more nearly the conditions in the conifers. Much debate has occurred over the relationship between the wolf and the domestic dog. In diffuse-porous woods, as has been stated, the vessels or pores are scattered throughout the ring instead of collected in the early wood. The radio telemetry is an important component in the suite of tools used in Wisconsin to calculate the overall wolf population. The effect of rate of growth on the qualities of chestnut wood is summarized by the same authority as follows:.

Use of such radio collars enable biologists in airplanes to track the wolves and count pack sizes. Forest Service show that:. Darting and box traps are important tools used by wildlife biologists who use the techniques to catch wolves, fit them with collars holding radio transmitters, and check their health before releasing the wolves. The results of a series of tests on hickory by the U.S. Wolves are bred for their fur in very few locations, as they are considered as a rather problematic animal to breed, and combined with the low value of the pelt, it has driven most of the fur farms to change to utilizing other animals, such as the fox. Here not only strength, but toughness and resilience are important. It is alleged that trapping, using the right tools and equipment, can be considered as humane as hunting; however, unskilled trappers can create unnecessary suffering in animals. This is particularly the case in the choice of hickory for handles and spokes.

Wolf trapping has come under heavy fire from animal rights groups, who also use it to attack other forms of trapping and hunting. Wide-ringed wood is often called "second-growth", because the growth of the young timber in open stands after the old trees have been removed is more rapid than in trees in the forest, and in the manufacture of articles where strength is an important consideration such "second-growth" hardwood material is preferred. The economic value of wolf pelts is limited, so it is mainly a recreation activity. Such variation is very largely the result of rate of growth. Wolves are frequently trapped, in the areas where it is legal, using snares or leg-hold traps. In inferior oak, such fibre areas are much reduced both in quantity and quality. Such methods include rubber ammunition, and use of guard animals. The late wood of good oak, except for radial grayish patches of small pores, is dark colored and firm, and consists of thick-walled fibres which form one-half or more of the wood.

Other, non- or less-lethal methods of protecting livestock from wolves have been under development for the past decade. In good oak these large vessels of the early wood occupy from 6 to 10 per cent of the volume of the log, while in inferior material they may make up 25 per cent or more. Today, most of the hunting is done on the ground or from helicopters. As the breadth of ring diminishes, this middle portion is reduced so that very slow growth produces comparatively light, porous wood composed of thin-walled vessels and wood parenchyma. Poisons have been used to kill wolves during the extermination campaigns in Europe and America. In ring-porous woods of good growth it is usually the middle portion of the ring in which the thick-walled, strength-giving fibres are most abundant. This practice is seen as highly controversial. This, it must be remembered, applies only to ring-porous woods such as oak, ash, hickory, and others of the same group, and is, of course, subject to some exceptions and limitations.

Some ranchers in the United States hunt wolves from helicopters or light planes, some of them calling it an effective method of controlling wolf numbers, others calling it a sport. This may be briefly summed up in the general statement that the more rapid the growth or the wider the rings of growth, the heavier, harder, stronger, and stiffer the wood. In the United States, as the timber wolf and other large predators been reintroduced, the USDA has been looking into the use of breeds such as the Akbash from Turkey, the Maremma from Italy, the Great Pyrenees from France and the Kuvasz from Hungary, among others. In the case of the ring-porous hardwoods there seems to exist a pretty definite relation between the rate of growth of timber and its properties. Over several centuries in some countries, shepherds and dog breeders have used selective breeding to "create" large livestock-guarding dogs that can stand up to wolves preying on flocks. But in choosing a particular specimen it is not the width of ring, but the proportion and character of the late wood which should govern. Wolf-secure fences, relocation (in some cases), or local extermination of wolves are today the only known methods to effectively stop livestock predation. In general, however, it may be said that where strength or ease of working is essential, woods of moderate to slow growth should be chosen.

Sheep are frequently the most vulnerable, while horses and cattle are also at risk. The quality of the site where the tree grows undoubtedly affects the character of the wood formed, though it is not possible to formulate a rule governing it. However, some wolves or packs can specialize in hunting livestock once the behavior is learned despite relative food supply. In conifers, at least, rate of growth alone does not determine the proportion of the two portions of the ring, for in some cases the wood of slow growth is very hard and heavy, while in others the opposite is true. As long as there are enough prey, wolves seem to avoid taking livestock. Several factors may be involved. Wolves are hunted for their pelt, recreation, and population control. No satisfactory explanation can as yet be given for the real causes underlying the formation of early and late wood.

However, some sources claim to have documented attacks, but in those cases, it is likely that the attacking wolves were suffering rabies, which is common in the areas in which the attacks occurred.^[13] In general, it is considered dangerous to approach or provoke wolves, as they are wild animals that will defend themselves if they feel threatened. One can judge comparative density, and therefore to some extent weight and strength, by visual inspection. There has been no documented proof in the past 150 years that any wild, healthy wolf has killed a human; wolves are more likely to flee than to attack. In specimens that show a very large proportion of late wood it may be noticeably more porous and weigh considerably less than the late wood in pieces that contain but little. The Mongols' greatest hero Genghis Khan called his people 'Clan of the Gray Wolf'. It is not only the proportion of late wood, but also its quality, that counts. In Mongolian mythology, the Mongols believe that they are descended from a male Gray Wolf and a white doe. The width of ring is not nearly so important as the proportion of the late wood in the ring.

Despite their often negative image, wolves have variously been credited, in mythology, fiction and reality, with adopting, nursing, and raising human feral children, the most famous examples being Romulus and Remus and Mowgli of The Jungle Book. In choosing a piece of pine where strength or stiffness is the important consideration, the principal thing to observe is the comparative amounts of early and late wood. However, in the 20th century, with the new knowledge of wolves and the growing respect for Native American folklore, the animal has been generally depicted much more positively. The strength is in the walls, not the cavities. Human fear of the wolf is responsible for most of the trouble the species has received, and the reason it was nearly hunted out of existence. When examined under a microscope the cells of the late wood are seen to be very thick-walled and with very small cavities, while those formed first in the season have thin walls and large cavities. Norse mythology prominently includes three malevolent wolves: the giant Fenrisulfr, eldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, (who was feared and hated by the Æsir); and Fenrisulfr's children Skoll and Hati, who will devour the sun and moon at Ragnarok. The late wood of all species is denser than that formed early in the season, hence the greater the proportion of late wood the greater the density and strength.

The iconic examples of this image are the Big Bad Wolf and the werewolf—a human that transforms into a wolf through magic or a curse, one that is shunned and reviled in regular society. If a heavy piece of pine is compared with a light specimen it will be seen at once that the heavier one contains a larger proportion of late wood than the other, and is therefore considerably darker. In more modern western folklore, the wolf is a creature to be feared. Some species, such as walnut and cherry, are on the border between the two classes, forming an intermediate group. Wulfstan, Wolfgang, Wolfhard). Examples of this kind of wood are basswood, birch, buckeye, maple, poplar, and willow. Many Germanic personal names used to and still include "wolf" as an element (e.g. In diffuse-porous woods the pores are scattered throughout the growth ring instead of being collected in a band or row.

In Proto-Indo-European society, the wolf was probably associated with the warrior class, and the term was subject to taboo deformation, the Latin lupus being an example of a mutated form of the original Proto-Indo-European *wlkwos. These fibres are the elements which give strength and toughness to wood, while the vessels are a source of weakness. The gray wolf is also the focal point of Pan-Turkism and related mythology. The rest of the ring, produced in summer, is made up of smaller vessels and a much greater proportion of wood fibres. The wolf was also the revered totem animal of Ancient Rome (see Romulus and Remus and Lupercalia). In ring-porous species, such as ash, black locust, catalpa, chestnut, elm, hickory, mulberry, and oak, the larger vessels or pores (as cross sections of vessels are called) are localized in the part of the growth ring formed in spring, thus forming a region of more or less open and porous tissue. The best examples of these myths can be seen in those of the Native Americans. In discussing such woods it is customary to divide them into two large classes, ring-porous and diffuse-porous.

In many ancient myths, the wolf was portrayed as brave, honorable, and intelligent. They are more or less filled with vessels: in some cases (oak, chestnut, ash) quite large and distinct, in others (buckeye, poplar, willow) too small to be seen plainly without a small hand lens. There is an ongoing controversy, since regulations of the EU may make this impossible. The structure of the hardwoods is more complex. Reindeer farmers in Lapland are affected by the increase, and other parts of the population wish to lift bans on wolf hunting. There are no vessels ("pores") in coniferous wood such as one sees so prominently in oak and ash, for example. The situation is similar in Finland, where the number of wolves has been increasing over the past decades. In coniferous or softwood species the wood cells are mostly of one kind, tracheids, and as a result the material is much more uniform in structure than that of most hardwoods.

Generally, the urban population is most positive to the wolf, while people actually living in the designated "wolf zones" are far more skeptical. Ordinary sap-staining is due to fungous growth, but does not necessarily produce a weakening effect. It is difficult to hinder the wolves from preying on the sheep, and in areas where the wolf has been reintroduced many farmers have quit. Certain rot-producing fungi impart to wood characteristic colors which thus become symptomatic of weakness. In Norway the situation is further complicated, since sheep farmers use the forests as pasture for their animals during summer. The discoloration is merely an indication of an injury, and in all probability does not of itself affect the properties of the wood. In spite of the fact that attacks on people are virtually nonexistent historically, and hundreds of dogs are killed each year in hunting accidents, the wolves' possible threat to dogs and people is often cited by these people as a strong argument against the wolf's right to exist in Swedish forests. The reddish-brown streaks so common in hickory and certain other woods are mostly the result of injury by birds.

It has been argued that modern Scandinavian wolves are recent arrivals from Russia, not the remnants of the old wolf tribes. The black check in western hemlock is the result of insect attacks. The opponents are generally the rural working class who fear competition for Roe Deer and moose; they consider the wolf to be a foreign element, much like immigrants. Abnormal discoloration of wood often denotes a diseased condition, indicating unsoundness. In Sweden, there is a long and ongoing conflict between some groups who claim that the wolf has no place in nature, and that it has been reintroduced by the Swedish government with some sort of secret agenda. Except in the manner just stated the color of wood is no indication of strength. With the return of the wolf, these bigger coyotes are forced to return to their previous niche, or face attacks from wolves. In ring-porous woods the vessels of the early wood not infrequently appear on a finished surface as darker than the denser late wood, though on cross sections of heartwood the reverse is commonly true.

As they started to fill in the niche of the top predator, they started to grow larger. This is particularly the case with coniferous woods. Where wolves are reintroduced after a long absence, it has a marked influence on the coyote population. Since the late wood of a growth ring is usually darker in color than the early wood, this fact may be used in judging the density, and therefore the hardness and strength of the material. Fish and Wildlife Service. Spruce impregnated with crude resin and dried is also greatly increased in strength thereby. Reports by wildlife biologists working for the National Park Service who stated that they had seen, though rarely, wolves in Yellowstone National Park, and had photographic proof of their limited presence prior to the "reintroduction", were essentially suppressed by the U.S. Stumps thus dug may actually remain a century or more since being cut.

Recent studies have shown that the wolf would have enjoyed greater protection had it been allowed to repopulate areas on its own without human intervention. Stumps of old longleaf pines are often dug, split into small pieces and sold as kindling for fires. This includes several studies looking into the feasibility of reintroducing the wolf in places farther east, in areas like Adirondack State Park in New York and certain areas of Maine. Structures built of fat lighter are almost impervious to rot and termites; however they are very flammable. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees threatened and endangered species within the United States. Such resin-saturated heartwood is called "fat lighter". Government, primarily by the U.S. This is due to the resin which increases the strength when dry.

In fact, wolf reintroduction was pushed hard by the U.S. Some experiments on very resinous Longleaf Pine specimens, however, indicate an increase in strength. It is curious to note that some ranchers prefer reintroduction, as they can kill wolves that eat their livestock and get reimbursement for their losses, while wild animals are protected by law. This is produced by deposits in the heartwood of various materials resulting from the process of growth, increased possibly by oxidation and other chemical changes, which usually have little or no appreciable effect on the mechanical properties of the wood. Not only are they slowly but surely coming back naturally from Canada, they are also being successfully reintroduced in some states such as Idaho and Wyoming. In species which show a distinct difference between heartwood and sapwood the natural color of heartwood is usually darker than that of the sapwood, and very frequently the contrast is conspicuous. In the United States, wolves are repopulating where they were eradicated, and numbers have been increasing in Alaska and Minnesota, where some packs remained in the deep forests despite bounty hunting and other past eradication efforts. yew) are harder than most hardwoods.

Such mediums tend to emphasize the wolf as an affectionate, devoted parent and fraternal animal that is deserving of our respect and protection as integral members of our global biodiversity. Conversely, some softwoods (e.g. This onslaught of pro-wolf publicity, including that which is procured from nature documentaries and books, has undoubtedly played a role in changing attitudes for the better. The well-known balsa (a hardwood) is actually softer than any commercial softwood. David Mech and Luigi Boitani have arguably been the two leaders in contemporary wolf research. These names are a bit misleading, as hardwoods are not necessarily hard, and softwoods are not necessarily soft. Biologists L. oak) is called hardwood.

The large amount of research done on wolves in the last half century has also helped to educate people in a way that helps them to realize how sociologically similar humans are to wolves, and how people have little to fear from these naturally cautious, complex animals. pine) is called softwood, and the wood from broad-leaved trees (e.g. Even this undertaking has it drawbacks, because, as naturalists point out, tourists sometimes intrude on wolf habitat, consequently disturbing them in an attempt to communicate with them in this manner. The wood from conifers (e.g. In certain parks, tourists enjoy participating in wolf howls, in which a person or a group attempts to imitate a wolf's howl well enough to induce a response from resident wolves. Wood is commonly classified as either softwood or hardwood. Today, organizations such as the International Wolf Center, Defenders of Wildlife, and Mission: Wolf attempt to educate people about the true nature of wolves, and such action has proven helpful to past reintroduction efforts, especially in places such as Yellowstone National Park. The densest wood may be black ironwood.

Society as a whole has begun to realize the morality in attempting to make up for centuries of undue persecution, and knows of the justification behind trying to return a portion of our ecological integrity back to the American landscape. For example, while mahogany is a medium-dense hardwood which is excellent for fine furniture crafting, balsa is light, making it useful for model building. Accordingly, while the stereotype of wolves as malicious, wanton killers and vile, worthless beasts still has influence in certain circles, a significant portion of the public has developed a more positive opinion of wolves as interesting, valuable, and noble animals. There is a rough correlation between density of a wood and its strength (mechanical properties). This increased awareness exposed the beneficial nature of wolves, and helped lead to their eventual endangered classification and subsequent reintroduction efforts. For every trees species there is a range of density for the wood it yields. David Mech, and Adolph Murie helped to shift the wolf's image to that of an intelligent and affectionate creature essential to the proper functioning of a conventional North American ecosystem. There is a strong relationship between the properties of wood and the properties of the particular tree that yielded it.

The works of wolf supporters such as Farley Mowat, L. In a large log the sapwood, because of the time in the life of the tree when it was grown, may be inferior in hardness, strength, and toughness to equally sound heartwood from the same log. In the late 20th century, American society underwent a dramatic change of heart. In some trees, the wood laid on late in the life of a tree is softer, lighter, weaker, and more even-textured than that produced earlier, but in other species, the reverse applies. In Alaska, where they are not protected by the Act, their populations continue to be controlled (usually by aerial hunting) in an effort to increase yields for hunters. There may be decided differences in the grain of heartwood and sapwood cut from a large tree, particularly one that is mature. In a somewhat novel development, they have been allowed to naturally propagate in the upper Midwest, and have been reintroduced to areas in Wyoming, Idaho, and Arizona. Upon the whole, however, as a tree gets larger in diameter the width of the growth rings decreases.

in some form or another by a national endangered species bill, the latest of which is the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Some trees, such as southern oaks, maintain the same width of ring for hundreds of years. Since the late 1960s, wolves have been protected in the U.S. In the case of forest-grown trees so much depends upon the competition of the trees in their struggle for light and nourishment that periods of rapid and slow growth may alternate. Ergo, they were destroyed completely in the contiguous 48 states, with the exception of Minnesota, over the subsequent decades. As a tree reaches maturity its crown becomes more open and the annual wood production is lessened, thereby reducing still more the width of the growth rings. It is somewhat unbelievable that wolves managed to garner such an incredible amount of hatred for having done little else than what any species would do if both its habitat and main food source were destroyed. Since each succeeding ring is laid down on the outside of the wood previously formed, it follows that unless a tree materially increases its production of wood from year to year, the rings must necessarily become thinner as the trunk gets wider.

The corpses of affected animals would then themselves become poisonous, which tended to result in a rather long chain reaction of death. The annual rings of growth are for many years quite wide, but later they become narrower and narrower. Besides traps, snares, and other mechanical methods, hunters would line carcasses with poison (usually strychnine), which would then kill the animals that preyed upon it. If a tree grows all its life in the open and the conditions of soil and site remain unchanged, it will make its most rapid growth in youth, and gradually decline. To accomplish this, there was no limit to the extent hunters and trappers were willing to go in order to kill predators in large numbers. Whatever advantages, however, that sapwood may have in this connection are due solely to its relative age and position. With few vouching for them, wolves and other predators were destroyed en masse, resulting in a so-called "hunters paradise" free from irritating predators. The larvae of many insects bore into the trees and their tunnels remain indefinitely as sources of weakness.

Eventually, North American society's perception of the wolf was one defined by indifference or outright hatred. Every broken limb or root, or deep wound from fire, insects, or falling timber, may afford an entrance for decay, which, once started, may penetrate to all parts of the trunk. When the wolves preyed on what little of their natural prey was left, hunters complained; when they then began preying on the cattle, ranchers, of course, complained, too. It is remarkable that the inner heartwood of old trees remains as sound as it usually does, since in many cases it is hundreds of years, and in a few instances thousands of years, old. Humans destroyed the vast majority of their habitat and food source in North America, replacing forests with farms and wild ungulates with cattle. Since in most uses of wood, knots are defects that weaken the timber and interfere with its ease of working and other properties, it follows that sapwood, because of its position in the tree, may have certain advantages over heartwood. Wolves, for a time, were partially valued for their fur, but in the majority of circumstances (and in some instances today), they were viewed as wholly worthless and decidedly despicable creatures. Consequently the sapwood of an old tree, and particularly of a forest-grown tree, will be freer from knots than the heartwood.

During this time, the wilderness was perceived as something to be conquered, settled, and cultivated, as through Manifest Destiny or by man's inherent worldly right. No matter how smooth and clear a log is on the outside, it is more or less knotty near the middle. European folklore exacerbated this negative image, which was brought over to North America as it was settled. Subsequent growth of wood may completely conceal the stubs which will however remain as knots. Traditionally, humans have viewed wolves negatively, perceiving them to be dangerous or as nuisances to be destroyed. When a tree is very young it is covered with limbs almost, if not entirely, to the ground, but as it grows older some or all of them will eventually die and be broken off. The relationship between people and wolves has had a very long and turbulent history. Sapwood is thicker in the upper portion of the trunk of a tree than near the base, because the age and the diameter of the upper sections are less.

At the same time, this balance between wolves and their prey prevents the mass starvation of all species involved. As the tree gets larger, the sapwood must necessarily become thinner or increase materially in volume. Wolves are sensitive to fluctuations in prey abundance, making them likely to experience minor changes within their own populations. If the rings are narrow, more of them are required than where they are wide. Wolves are susceptible to the same infections that affect domestic dogs, such as mange, heartworm, rabies and canine distemper, and such diseases can become epidemic, drastically reducing the wolf population in an area. Within the same species the cross-sectional area of the sapwood is very roughly proportional to the size of the crown of the tree. The most significant mortality factors for grown wolves are hunting and poaching by humans, car accidents, and wounds suffered while hunting prey. There is no definite relation between the annual rings of growth and the amount of sapwood.

Pups die when food is scarce; they can also fall prey to other predators such as bears, or, less likely, coyotes, foxes, or other wolves. Thin sapwood is characteristic of such trees as chestnut, black locust, mulberry, osage-orange, and sassafras, while in maple, ash, hickory, hackberry, beech, and pine, thick sapwood is the rule. High mortality rates result in a relatively low life expectancy for wolves on an overall basis. Some species begin to form heartwood very early in life, so having only a thin layer of live sapwood, while in others the change comes slowly. Wolves that reach maturity typically live between 6 and 9 years in the wild, although in captivity they can live to be twice that age. This is shown by the fact that a tree can thrive with its heart completely decayed. Wolves typically reach sexual maturity after two or three years, at which point many of them will feel compelled to leave their birth packs and search out mates and territories of their own. Its name derives solely from its position and not from any vital importance to the tree.

Letting the pups fight for the right to eat results in a secondary ranking being formed among them, and lets them practice the dominance/submission rituals that will be essential to their future survival in pack life. This inert or dead portion is called heartwood. After a few more weeks, the pups are permitted to join the adults if they are able (they tag along as observers until about eight months, by which time they are large enough to actively participate), and will receive first dibs on anything killed, their low ranks notwithstanding. As a tree increases in age and diameter an inner portion of the sapwood becomes inactive and finally ceases to function, as the cells die. An adult or two will stay behind to ensure the safety of the pups. Sometimes trees grown in the open may become of considerable size, 30 cm or more in diameter, before any heartwood begins to form, for example, in second-growth hickory, or open-grown pines. After two months, the restless pups will be moved to a rendezvous site, which gives them a safe place to reside while most of the adults go out to hunt. Hence trees making rapid growth in the open have thicker sapwood for their size than trees of the same species growing in dense forests.

^[12]. The more leaves a tree bears and the more vigorous its growth, the larger the volume of sapwood required. During the first weeks of development, the mother usually stays with her litter alone, but eventually most members of the pack will contribute to the rearing of the pups in some way. Its principal functions are to conduct water from the roots to the leaves and to store up and give back according to the season the food prepared in the leaves. They begin eating regurgitated foods at four weeks – by which time their milk teeth have emerged – and are weaned by six weeks. All wood in a tree is first formed as sapwood. During this time, the pups will become more independent, and will eventually begin to explore the area immediately outside the den before gradually roaming up to a mile away from it. Sapwood is comparatively new wood, comprising living cells in the growing tree.

Pups reside in the den, where they are born, and stay there until they reach about 8 weeks of age (the den is usually near an open water source, and has an open "room" at the end of an underground/hillside tunnel that can be up to a couple meters long). The color of fresh sapwood is always light, sometimes nearly white, but more often with a decided tinge of yellow or brown. There are 1–14 pups per litter, with the average litter size being about four to six. In some instances this distinction in color is very marked; in others, the contrast is slight, so that it is not always easy to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. The gestation period lasts 60 to 63 days, and the pups are born blind, deaf, and completely dependent on their mother. Examination of the end of a log of many species reveals a darker-colored inner portion, called the heartwood or duramen, surrounded by a lighter-colored zone called the sapwood. Under normal circumstances, the alpha female will try to prevent this by aggressively dominating other females and physically separating them from the alpha male. wall panelling, knots are considered a plus as they add visual texture to the wood, giving it a more interesting appearance.

A pack usually procures one litter, though sometimes multiple litters will be born if the alpha male mates with one or more subordinate females. For some purposes, e.g. Wolves, unlike dogs, only mate once a year. Sound knots do not weaken wood when subject to compression parallel to the grain. Mating usually occurs between January and May, happening later in the year as latitude increases. The breaking strength is very susceptible to defects. This kind of organization also occurs in other pack-hunting canids, such as the Dhole and the African Hunting Dog. The effect of knots is to reduce the difference between the fibre stress at elastic limit and the modulus of rupture of beams.

Normally, only the alpha pair of the pack breeds. Stiffness and elastic strength are more dependent upon the quality of the wood fibre than upon defects in the beam. In one study, less than 1 out of 10 chases of moose resulted in a successful kill.^[11] Therefore, wolves must hunt almost constantly to sustain themselves. Only defects of the most serious character affect the elastic limit of beams. Even so, pack hunting efforts are usually fruitless. Knots do not necessarily influence the stiffness of structural timber. Probability dictates that these tactics are much more useful against lame, young, or old prey animals, and so it is these individuals that are most likely to fall to wolf predation. Sound knots which occur in the central portion one-fourth the height of the beam from either edge are not serious defects.

Realizing this, wolves are not likely to spend much time testing, chasing, or harassing such individuals. Knots which occur near the ends of a beam do not weaken it. Healthy, fit individuals will stand their ground against wolves, and are simply better able to effectively defend themselves, increasing the possibility of injury for the wolves involved. Knots in a board or plank are least injurious when they extend through it at right angles to its broadest surface. Hence, while wolves are certainly capable of culling the least fit from the communities of animals on which they prey, the process certainly doesn't target the feeble or the ill-suited to an outright degree. Small knots, however, may be so located in a beam along the neutral plane as actually to increase the strength by tending to prevent longitudinal shearing. Less fit animals typically include the elderly, diseased, and young, and though these individuals are among the most likely to fall victim to predation, healthy animals may also succumb through circumstance or by chance. The knot, especially (as is often the case) if there is a season check in it, offers little resistance to this tensile stress.

Wolf packs test large populations of prey species by inducing a chase, thereby picking and ganging up on an individual that they perceive to be less fit. A knot on the upper side is compressed, while one on the lower side is subjected to tension. When pursuing large prey, wolves generally attack from all angles, targeting the necks and sides of such animals. The extent to which knots affect the strength of a beam depends upon their position, size, number, direction of fibre, and condition. ^[10]. The weakening effect is much more serious where timber is subjected to bending and tension than where under compression. In fact, wolves rarely eat on a daily basis, and so they make up for this by eating up to 20 lb (9 kg) of meat when they get the chance. They are defects which weaken timber and depreciate its value for structural purposes where strength is an important consideration.

They also prey on rodents and small animals in a limited manner, as a typical wolf requires between 3 and 10 lb (1.3 to 4.5 kg) of meat per day for sustenance; however, this certainly doesn't mean that a wolf will get the chance to eat everyday. Knots materially affect checking (cracking) and warping, ease in working, and cleavability of timber. Wolves' diets include, but are not limited to, elk, caribou, moose, deer, and other large ungulates. In grading lumber and structural timber, knots are classified according to their form, size, soundness, and the firmness with which they are held in place. Solitary wolves depend on small animals, capturing them by pouncing and pinning them to the ground with their front paws – a common technique among canids such as foxes and coyotes. Hence dead branches produce knots which are nothing more than pegs in a hole, and likely to drop out after the tree has been sawn. Through meticulous cooperation, a pack of wolves is able to pursue large prey for several hours before relenting, though the success rate of such chases is rather low. Subsequent layers of growth of the stem are no longer intimately joined with the dead limb, but are laid around it.

Pack hunting methods range from surprise attacks to long-lasting chases, though they strongly favor the latter. During the development of a tree the lower limbs die, but may persist for a time--often for years. Packs of wolves hunt any large herbivores in their range, while lone wolves are apt to consuming smaller animals due to their relative inability to catch anything larger. Note that a small knot may also be the result of a dormant bud. The wolf is a carnivore. The fibre direction is at right angles or oblique to the grain of the stem, thus producing local cross grain. Howling becomes less indiscriminate as wolves learn to distinguish howling pack members from rival wolves. The included portion is irregularly conical in shape with the tip at the pith.

Such indiscriminate howling usually has a communicative intent, and has no adverse consequences so early in a wolf's life. Branches generally originate at or near the pith (central axis) of a stem, and the living portion will increase in size through the addition of annual woody layers which are a continuation of those of the stem. The pups themselves begin howling towards the end of July, and can be provoked into howling sessions relatively easily over the following two months. Knots are portions of branches included in the wood of the stem or larger branch. Studies also show that wolves howl more frequently during the breeding season and subsequent rearing process. In the diffuse-porous woods, the demarcation between rings is not always so clear and in some cases is almost (if not entirely) invisible to the unaided eye. Observations of wolf packs suggest that howling occurs most often during the twilight hours, preceding the adults' departure to the hunt and following their return. In ring-porous woods each season's growth is always well defined, because the large pores of the spring abut on the denser tissue of the fall before.

For example, confrontation could mean bad news if the rival pack gravely underestimates the howling pack's numbers. In hard pines, on the other hand, the late wood is very dense and is deep-colored, presenting a very decided contrast to the soft, straw-colored early wood. This concealment of numbers makes a listening rival pack wary of what action to take. In white pines there is not much contrast in the different parts of the ring, and as a result the wood is very uniform in texture and is easy to work. During such choral sessions, wolves will howl at different tones and varying pitches, which tends to prevent a listener from accurately estimating the number of wolves involved. The outer portion is the late wood or summer wood, being produced in the summer. Some scientists speculate that such group sessions strengthen the wolves' social bonds and camaraderie—similar to community singing among humans. The inner portion is formed early in the season, when growth is comparatively rapid; it is known as early wood or spring wood.

Wolves will also howl for communal reasons. The part nearest the centre of the tree is more open textured and almost invariably lighter in color than that near the outer portion of the ring. Thus, wolves tend to howl with great care. Within a growth ring it may be possible to see two more or less well-defined parts. Adjacent packs may respond to each others' howls, which can mean trouble for the smaller of the two. Where there is no seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be absent. As a rule of thumb, large packs will more readily draw attention to themselves than will smaller packs. If these seasons are annual these growth rings are annual rings.

This behavior is also stimulated when a pack has something to protect, such as a fresh kill. Where there are clear seasons, this can happen in a discrete pattern, leading to what is known as growth rings, as can be seen on the end of a log. Furthermore, howling helps to summon pack members to a specific location.^[9] Howling can also serve as a declaration of territory, as portrayed by a dominant wolf's tendency to respond to a human imitation of a "rival" individual in an area that the wolf considers its own. A tree increases in diameter by the formation, between the old wood and the inner bark, of new woody layers which envelop the entire stem, living branches, and roots. Howling helps pack members keep in touch, allowing them to effectively communicate in thickly forested areas or over great distances. Wood may be broken down and be made into chipboard, engineered wood, hardboard, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), paper or used to make other synthetic substances. Wolves howl for several reasons. Construction wood is commonly known as timber in International English, and lumber in American English.

This ranges from subtle signals–such as a slight shift in weight–to the obvious, like rolling on the back as a sign of submission.^[8]. Wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters, and remains in plentiful use today. Wolves communicate not only by sound (such as yipping, growling, and howling), but also by body language. It is also used as a material, for making artworks, boats, buildings, furniture, ships, tools, weapons, etc. This kind of dominance encounter is more common in the winter months, when mating occurs. One of its primary uses is as fuel. The loser of such a confrontation is frequently chased away from the pack or, rarely, may be killed as other aggressive wolves contribute to the insurgency. Wood has been used by man for millennia for many purposes, being many things to many people.

While the majority of wolf aggression is non-damaging and ritualized, a high-stakes fight can easily result in injury for either or both parties. . On the other hand, the challenged individual may choose to fight back, with varying degrees of intensity. Dry wood is composed of fibers of cellulose (40%–50%) and hemicellulose (20%–30%) held together by lignin (25%–30%). An older wolf may simply choose to give way when an ambitious challenger presents itself, yielding its position without bloodshed. Wood is a hygroscopic, cellular and anisotropic material. Loss of rank can happen gradually or suddenly. In its most common meaning, "wood" is the secondary xylem of a woody plant, but this an approximation only: in the wider sense, wood may refer to other materials and tissues with comparable properties.

In large packs full of easygoing wolves, or in a group of juvenile wolves, rank order may shift almost constantly, or even be circular (e.g., animal A dominates animal B, who dominates animal C, who dominates animal A). Wood from the latter is only produced in small sizes, reducing the diversity of uses. Rank, who holds it, and how it is enforced varies widely between packs and between individual animals. Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. Wolves prefer psychological warfare to physical confrontations, meaning that high-ranking status is based more on personality or attitude than on size or physical strength. Rank order is established and maintained through a series of ritualized fights and posturing best described as ritual bluffing.

Most, males particularly, will disperse, however. Some mature individuals, usually females, may choose to stay in the original pack so as to reinforce it and help rear more pups. All the wolves in the pack assist in raising wolf pups. Usually, only the alpha pair is able to successfully rear a litter of pups (other wolves in a pack may breed, and may even produce pups, but usually they lack the freedom or the resources to raise the pups to maturity).

The death of one alpha does not affect the status of the other alpha, who will quickly take another mate. While most alpha pairs are monogamous with each other, there are exceptions.^[7] An alpha animal may preferentially mate with a lower-ranking animal, especially if the other alpha is closely related (a brother or sister, for example). In addition, one wolf typically assumes the role of omega, the lowest-ranking member of a pack.^[6] These individuals absorb the greatest amount of aggression from the rest of the pack, and consequently enjoy comparatively few individual privileges. In larger packs, there may be also be a beta wolf or wolves – a "second-in-command" to the alphas.

It is the baby-sitter and usually more puppy than wolf. The omega is the lowest. There are verious subordinates, who dominate the omega. Below the alphas are the betas, who will take over breeding responsibility as well as the pack if the alpha cannot for any reason.

The rest of the pack usually follows. The alphas do not give the other wolves orders; rather, they simply have the most freedom in choosing where to go, what to do, and when to do it. The alpha pair has the greatest amount of social freedom among all the pack members, but they are not "leaders" in the human sense of the term. Most dogs, except perhaps large, specially bred attack dogs, do not stand much of a chance against a pack of wolves protecting its territory from an unwanted intrusion.

Dispersing individuals must avoid the territories of other wolves because intruders on occupied territories are chased away or killed, a behavior that may explain wolf "predation" of dogs. Lone wolves searching for other individuals can travel very long distances seeking out suitable territories. New packs are formed when a wolf leaves its birth pack and claims a territory. The hierarchy affects all activity in the pack, from which wolf eats first to which is allowed to breed (generally only the alpha pair).

Packs can contain between two and 20 wolves, though an average pack consists of six or seven.^[4][5] The hierarchy of the pack is relatively strict, with the alphas at the top and the omega at the bottom. The size of the pack may change over time and is controlled by several factors, including habitat, personalities of individual wolves within a pack, and food supply. However, emerging new theories suggest the pack strategy has less to do with hunting than with reproductive success. This social structure was originally thought to allow the wolf to take prey many times its size.

Wolves function as social predators and hunt in packs organized according to a strict social hierarchy and led by an alpha male and alpha female. Therefore, any injury to the jaw line or teeth could devastate an individual, dooming it to starvation or inutility. inch of pressure, a wolf's teeth are its main weapons as well as its primary tools. Powered by 1500lbs/sq.

The long canine teeth are also important, in that they are designed to hold and subdue the prey. The mandible has six incisors, two canines, eight premolars, and six molars.^[3] The fourth upper premolars and first lower molars constitute the carnassial teeth, which are essential tools for shearing flesh. Wolves and most larger dogs share identical dentition: The maxilla has six incisors, two canines, eight premolars, and four molars. Also, precaudal glands at the base of the tail are present in wolves, whereas they are not in dogs.

Larger paw size, yellow eyes, longer legs, and bigger teeth further distinguish adult wolves from other species of canids, particularly dogs. Wolves also differ in certain skull dimensions, having a smaller orbital angle, for example, than dogs (>53 degrees for dogs compared to <45 degrees for wolves) while possessing a comparatively larger brain capacity. Wolves have stout, blocky muzzles that help distinguish them from coyotes and dogs. Though extremely unusual, it is possible for an adult wolf to retain its blue-colored eyes.

At birth, wolf pups tend to have darker fur and blue eyes that typically change to a yellow-gold or orange color when the pups are 8-16 weeks old. At the beginning of life, wolf puppies cannot eat solid food, regulate their body temperature, or even urinate without the help of their mother. The birthing itself takes about three hours for the average litter of five. She will prepare at least one den, always on high ground and near water.

The gestation period of a mother is sixty-three days. Fur color sometimes corresponds with a given wolf population's environment; for example, all-white wolves are much more common in areas with perennial snow cover.^[2] Aging wolves acquire a grayish tint in their coats. A multicolor coat characteristically lacks any clear pattern except for the dark markings around the eyes. These colors tend to mix in many populations to form predominantly blended individuals, though it is certainly not uncommon for an individual or an entire population to be entirely one color (usually all black or all white).

Coloration varies greatly, and runs from gray to gray-brown, all the way through the canine spectrum of white, red, brown, and black. Females tend to keep their winter coats further into the spring than males. Wolves have distinct winter and summer pelages that alternate in spring and autumn. The second is a dense, water-resistant undercoat that insulates.

The first layer consists of tough guard hairs designed to repel water and dirt. A wolf sometimes seems more massive than it actually is due to its bulky coat, which is made of two layers. Furthermore, scent glands between a wolf's toes help it to keep track of its location, and others of its whereabouts. Bristled hairs and blunt claws enhance grip on slippery surfaces, and special blood vessels keep paw pads from freezing.

The front paws are larger than the hind paws, and feature a fifth digit, a dewclaw, that is absent on hind paws. Wolves are digitigrade, and so the relative largeness of their feet helps to better distribute their weight on snowy surfaces. There is slight webbing between their toes, which moves them over snowy ground like a duck through water. Wolf paws are designed to traverse easily through snow, giving wolves an advantage over hampered prey.

While sprinting thus, wolves can cover up to 5 m (16 ft) per bound. They are capable of covering several miles trotting at about a 10 km/h (6 mph) pace, though they have been known to reach speeds approaching 65 km/h (40 mph) during a chase (wolves only run fast when testing potential prey). Narrow chests and powerful backs and legs contribute to the wolf's proficiency for efficient locomotion. Wolves are built for stamina, possessing features tailored for long-distance travel.

Wolves measure between 1 and 1.5 meters (39 to 59 inches) from nose to tail tip, with the tail itself consisting of approximately one quarter of overall body length. Extreme specimens reaching 80kg (176 lbs.) have been recorded in Alaska and Canada, though some people claim to have seen larger anomalous individuals (90+kg) roaming the Yukon, where some of the largest wolves in North America can be found. Roughly speaking, Males average about 45 kg (100 pounds), while females usually weigh around twenty percent less. Wolf weight and size tend to increase proportionally with worldly latitude, with height varying between 0.6 and 0.9 meters (24 to 35 inches) at the shoulder, and weight typically ranging from 30–55 kg (65-120 pounds), making wolves the largest among all wild canids.

. Carolus Linnaeus gave the wolf the scientific name Canis lupus in the 18th century.^[1]. They continue to be hunted in many areas of the world as perceived threats to livestock and human well-being, as well as for sport. , they are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

In the contiguous U.S., with the exception of Minnesota and Wisconsin (where they have a threatened status). A list of potential wolf habitat reflects their adaptability as a species, and includes temperate forests, mountains, tundra, taiga, and grasslands. Gray wolves, being keystone predators, are integral components of the ecosystems to which they typically belong. Today, for a variety of human-related reasons involving widespread habitat destruction and excessive hunting, wolves inhabit only a very limited portion of their former range.

Gray wolves were once abundant and distributed over much of North America, Eurasia, and the Middle East. The wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), and, according to most experts, is likely the progenitor of all dogs as they exist today (in which case, the domestic dog would more accurately be classified as Canis lupus familiaris). The Gray Wolf (Canis lupus; other forms: Timber Wolf, Wolf; British English: Grey Wolf) is a mammal of the Canidae family. pallipes) - From India to the Middle East.

l. Indian Wolf (C. occidentalis) - Western Canada, Alaska, and reintroduced into North West USA. l.

Mackenzie Valley Wolf (C. nubilus) - Far West and Eastern Canada, North East USA. l. Great Plains Wolf (C.

lycaon) - South East Canada. l. Eastern Timber Wolf (C. lupus) - from China, Mongolia, Russia and Eastern Europe to Germany, Spain and Portugal.

l. Eurasian Wolf (C. Previously mistaken for golden jackals. lupaster) - North Egypt and North East Libya.

l. Egyptian Wolf (C. italicus) - Italian Apennines. l.

Italian Wolf (C. Extinct. hodophilax) - South Japan. l.

Honshu Wolf (C. Extinct. hattai) - North Japan. l.

Hokkaido Wolf (C. cubanensis) - Russia, Georgia, between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. l. Caspian Sea Wolf (C.

communis) - Central Russia. l. Russian Wolf (C. baileyi) - Reintroduced into Arizona.

l. Mexican Wolf (C. arctos) - Canadian Arctic islands and Greenland. l.

Arctic Wolf (C. arabs) - Arabian Peninsular. l. Arabian Wolf (C.

albus) - Northern Russia. l. Tundra Wolf (C. Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)