Wolf

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      Turn, smell, listen, feel and then a sound, a small sound, an he looked up and away from the lake and saw the wolf. It was halfway up the hill from the lake, standing with its head and shoulders sticking out into a small opening, looking down on him with wide yellow eyes. He had never seen a wolf and the size threw him - not as big as a bear but somehow seeming that large. The wolf claimed all that was below him as his own, took Brian as his own.

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     The wolf is one of the largest members of the dog family. The gray wolf weighs 75 to 120 pounds. They are 5 to 6 1/2 feet long. The red wolf weighs about 66 pounds.

     The fur of a wolf varies in color from the pure white the of the Arctic plains species to the jet black of the sub-arctic forest species. Most wolves are gray. The gray wolf's coat varies from gray to a tawny-buff. The red wolf's coat is cinnamon or tawny with gray and black highlights. Wolves look like a large German shepherd dogs except they have longer legs, bigger feet, a wider head, and a long bushy tail.

Habitat

     Wolves live in any kind of climate. They seldom are found in deserts or in the tropical forests. Most wolves live in the northern regions such as Alaska, Minnesota, Canada, China, and Russia. 

     Wolves live in a specific area called a territory. A territory may cover 200 square miles to as little as 30 square miles. The size of the territory depends on the amount of food that the wolf has to eat in his territory. Wolves mark their territory with scent.

Food

     Wolves are good hunters. They hunt day or night. They have excellent vision, a good sense of smell, and fine hearing. A wolf can see and smell a deer more than 1 mile away. Wolves have fangs than may grow 2 inches long.

     A wolf can eat 20 pounds at one time. Then they can go without food for 2 weeks or longer. Wolves eat small animals such as mice and squirrels and large animals such as deer and moose.

Young

     Wolves have babies in the spring. They may have from 1 to 11 pups in a sheltered area called a den. The pups weigh about 1 pound. They live on their mother's milk. The pups leave the den when they are 2 months old. In the fall the pups and the adults hunt together.