wolves123





This is where knowledge about wolves is in you grasp. So sit, wrap your tail around your paws and lend me your ears. Join the world of the wolves.

Snow is such a pretty site. It sparkles and gleams in the light. Everyone loves it and adores it. But when the sun comes along, it melts the snow, and it turns into water. Everyone will look out the window and say "The snows gone" and walk away. But fact is, the snow isn't gone. It changed to water. To the human eye its invisible. Thats what wolves are like. They were like the snow, and then they changed when humans started to hunt them and their population grew less. People stopped paying so much attention to them and said they were almost gone. But they still have hope, and unlike snow we can help them. But there is so much we need to know about them, so much to know about them, and fact is they can be very close to us.

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Population
You walk through the eerie woods. Omnious shadows loomed throughout the forest, stalking you. You speed up into a run, your tail waving like a banner behind you. Leaves screech underpaw, and slivia drips from your mouth. You expose your ivory teeth, trying to scare the enemy that is following you. Suddenly a crystal pond appears. You stop, and there is a loud gunshot, louder then thunder-When the boom finally subsides, so does your life.

In the 1980's wolves were on the brink of extinction. Their numbers were low, for many wolves were being hunted and killed. As people realized this, the population slowly began to climb once more. But to this day their numbers are lower then they should ever be. Wolves are trying hard to stay alive, but they are having a hard time with all the hunters and people taking their resources.

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Species
You walk through the forest. Your pack follows silently behind you, copying every movement you make, almost like your own shadow. The sun blazed high in the sky. You look around and see pawprints from other wolves, not of your type, but i different species it looked like.

There are many wolves that roam the earth, here are a few, the most commonly known wolves.

- Gray wolves (Canis lupus)

- Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi )

- Red wolves(Canis rufus)

- Ethiopian wolves(Canis Simensis )



- Arctic wolves(Canis lupus arctos)



These wolves live all around the world. The rarest wolf is the Ethiopian wolf, located in Africa, where there are only about 500 left. Then there's the closest canine to the wolves are the coyote. They are commonly mistaken for wolves. Their brown-coats and body are almost identical to their cousin wolves, but there are differences that can be seen with the naked human eye.



Habitats & Raising pups
Slithering like a venomous snake comes the scent of caribou as you walk through the woods. You lift your head, your gray muzzle facing the sky. You sniff, and can practically taste the delicious food nearby. Your mate leaves you to take care of the pups. Suddenly, you smell danger. A grizzly bear, its eyes like a demons, blazing with hunger and evil, was heading your way. Circling above was a eagle, waiting for one mischievous pup to wander away, so it could become its meal. The scent of Coyote drifted with the howling wind, and you begin to heard the pups towards the safety of the den.

Wolves make dens with many different resources. Old trees are good, they can make a door to slip in and out. They also dig their own dens and make holes in the ground. Wolves usually choose the high mountains to live and raise pups.Raising pups isn't even close to easy. Its difficult to find enough food for each pup and the pack. Then there are predators lurking in the shadows of the forest, ready to seep their teeth into a pup. The pups, being mischievous, wonder away from their parents, making them exposed to hungry grizzlies, eagles, coyotes, ect.

Food Supply
You hide in the shadows, that swallow your fur. The wind grabs your scent and carries it away from your prey's nose. They grazed on the minty green grass, unaware how close death lurked. You look at the crimson sky. Leaves swam through the windy air, being the only sound around. You stalk a small calf caribou, that decided to wander from it's mother. By the time one of thecaribou realized the calf was in danger, it was too late, you were already going for the finishing bite-

The wolves only eat meat, they are carnivores. They eat elk, cattle, moose, and deer. Wolves are opportunist eaters, and will eat whenever food is available to them. They can be scavengers and eat older food of animals that died of old age or killed by another creature. They will also eat smaller rodents and animals such as rats, hares, ect when they really need to. media type="youtube" key="2jXxtQRy47A?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="center"

Endangered?
Many people and websites would say yes for every wolf. But really, Gray wolves were just recently taken off of the endangered list. Many argue with this, because their numbers are still low. Many will say "Oh, if they aren't endangered, then we don't need to care about them" then they stop worrying. That's wrong. That's exactly how they will end up on the endangered list again, which could have a domino effect. When wolves number's are low, then the prey of the wolves will rise to the point where they could be everywhere and overpopulated way too much. Many of the wolves are still on the endagered list still, and their numbers are still decreasing to this day. media type="custom" key="7964862"

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Sources:

~National Geographic:March 2010

~Field and Stream:February 2004 ~Funk and wagnall snow world encyclopedia ~International wildlife Sep/Oct 95 ~National wildlife Jul. 2007 ~Colombia Electronic encyclopedia 12/1/09