My husky will do that in freezing temps after even pretty mild exertion. They are wearing coats that let them SLEEP in the snow.
Wolves 3,4,5,6 had closed mouths it looks to me. Maybe the ones at the tail end are old, or had to hustle to catch up? I don't see a single hanging tongue, which my derp does after less than ~30 sec of running in freezing temps.
Actually a pack is far less likely to attack a human than a lone wolf is. The pack hunts to feed the entire pack. Humans are a very poor source of food because of how lean we are, and thus, one human will not come close to feeding the whole pack. Wolf packs operate on a “feast and famine” diet where they will spend one or two weeks hunting something large like a moose or elk, then once they take it down they will feast. They eat so much that they have been observed just laying around for a day or two just digesting the food (kinda like the turkey coma we get after thanksgiving dinner, just bigger). Then the next hunt starts.
A lone wolf doesn’t have the support of their pack, and can end up very hungry and desperate, so they may attack a human for food. Of course, if the wolves view you as a threat, they will attack you out of defence.
I was thinking the same thing and actually recalled the story of a 19th Century Canadian trapper.
He was found dead with signs of of animal predation on his corpse under a tree with 7 or 8 corpses of wolves around him. All his ammo expended.
If this was a similarly sized pack, there would have still been like 6 wolves around to kill him. No way out situation. If you run you get eaten, if you stand and fight they kill you.
Haahahahhaha don't hate on pugs. Someone thought it would be cool to breed dogs with squishy faces that snore and sound like gremlins. Not their fault 🤣🤣
A lot of random, and erroneous, information in that thread. Thought I’d chime in here in hopes that it’s useful. My comment from the original post:
Random wolf bio here. We no longer use the term alpha. Just a breeding male and female. That’s it. Nothing fancy. Wolf packs are just a cooperative family unit with, typically, one breeding pair. Each member plays a different role. Unless someone is intimately familiar with this pack, it would be difficult to determine what wolf is the breeding female and what wolf is the breeding male. In my experience, they can be up front, in the middle, or in the back. One pack I get on camera a lot, the breeding female likes to be in front. Another pack, always the breeding male leading, and he almost always pees on my cameras.
ETA: I also think it’s AI. Inconsistent eye glow (tapetum lucidem) is what pushed me to say AI generated.
Thanks for this, I would have never thought it could be AI generated, it’s nice that someone with more experience takes the time to write info down for everyone
Idk why they chose to use “alpha.” 🤷‍♀️ Nat Geo photographers/videographers are not the arbiters of what is or is not appropriate wolf terminology. Ultimately, “alpha” is dated term in the wildlife biology community and we just don’t use it anymore. Nat Geo/BBC’s choice to use it is their own and has no bearing on the wildlife biologist community other than to make us collectively roll our eyes.
Good question! Pretty sure the term originated from some studies on captive wolves in the 1940s. Those wolves were unrelated and they exhibited very marked dominance behaviors and commonly fought amongst themselves. As a result of his observations, the researcher applied “alpha” to the “dominant members” (i.e., the breeding male and female) and it was used broadly for all wolves, captive and wild.
But, as you know, captive wolves and wild wolves are not the same. Wild wolves are just a cooperative family unit. There is no one “dominant” member and there are no constant dominance battles. L.D. Mech (aka the Godfather of wolf research) published a paper in the late 1990s that discussed the term and how misleading it was after his lengthy observations on wolf behavior in the wild. We (wolf bios) do not use the term, and also actively discourage folks from using it (in a polite way). But it’s still pretty pervasive in the media, which is terribly annoying.
Wolves are such gorgeous majestic beasts. I still wish we knew more about the first wolf or wolf pup that was like, hey can I hang with you hairless ones for scraps?
They are all open mouth breathing. They have gone a long way.
My husky will do that in freezing temps after even pretty mild exertion. They are wearing coats that let them SLEEP in the snow.
Wolves 3,4,5,6 had closed mouths it looks to me. Maybe the ones at the tail end are old, or had to hustle to catch up? I don't see a single hanging tongue, which my derp does after less than ~30 sec of running in freezing temps.
I wonder where they're going? 🥹
Wolf pack! Form of : conga line!
love the one dude who stopped to look back, makin' sure his homies were catching up.
Those big ass paws!
Sooo pretty. 14 of em! Humbling to think they would 100% eat you if they found you out there
Actually a pack is far less likely to attack a human than a lone wolf is. The pack hunts to feed the entire pack. Humans are a very poor source of food because of how lean we are, and thus, one human will not come close to feeding the whole pack. Wolf packs operate on a “feast and famine” diet where they will spend one or two weeks hunting something large like a moose or elk, then once they take it down they will feast. They eat so much that they have been observed just laying around for a day or two just digesting the food (kinda like the turkey coma we get after thanksgiving dinner, just bigger). Then the next hunt starts.
A lone wolf doesn’t have the support of their pack, and can end up very hungry and desperate, so they may attack a human for food. Of course, if the wolves view you as a threat, they will attack you out of defence.
So noted! Thank you for the info. 🤗
If i ever get stranded in the wilderness and I'm cornered by a pack of wolves I'll make sure i explain that to them.
Just don’t act threatening and you might end up just fine (physically that is, could be mildly traumatizing)
14 of them, I guess they’ll take the chance even with a group of humans, that’s where our instinct fear for wolfs come from
I wonder what the pecking order is as far as place in line goes. I know they have it all figured out.
I was thinking the same thing and actually recalled the story of a 19th Century Canadian trapper.
He was found dead with signs of of animal predation on his corpse under a tree with 7 or 8 corpses of wolves around him. All his ammo expended.
If this was a similarly sized pack, there would have still been like 6 wolves around to kill him. No way out situation. If you run you get eaten, if you stand and fight they kill you.
Anyone else look at these beautiful creatures and think jesus christ pugs shouldn't exist?
Haahahahhaha don't hate on pugs. Someone thought it would be cool to breed dogs with squishy faces that snore and sound like gremlins. Not their fault 🤣🤣
I think most people dont hate pugs. Most people hate dog breeders.
I've been jiving with the retro pug initiatives to get them healthier
A lot of random, and erroneous, information in that thread. Thought I’d chime in here in hopes that it’s useful. My comment from the original post:
Random wolf bio here. We no longer use the term alpha. Just a breeding male and female. That’s it. Nothing fancy. Wolf packs are just a cooperative family unit with, typically, one breeding pair. Each member plays a different role. Unless someone is intimately familiar with this pack, it would be difficult to determine what wolf is the breeding female and what wolf is the breeding male. In my experience, they can be up front, in the middle, or in the back. One pack I get on camera a lot, the breeding female likes to be in front. Another pack, always the breeding male leading, and he almost always pees on my cameras.
ETA: I also think it’s AI. Inconsistent eye glow (tapetum lucidem) is what pushed me to say AI generated.
Thanks for this, I would have never thought it could be AI generated, it’s nice that someone with more experience takes the time to write info down for everyone
You’re welcome! I never know how it comes across but I do like sharing the information I know about the species I work with.
What about in The Secret Life of Black Wolf where he becomes “Alpha” of a pack of bachelors?
Idk why they chose to use “alpha.” 🤷‍♀️ Nat Geo photographers/videographers are not the arbiters of what is or is not appropriate wolf terminology. Ultimately, “alpha” is dated term in the wildlife biology community and we just don’t use it anymore. Nat Geo/BBC’s choice to use it is their own and has no bearing on the wildlife biologist community other than to make us collectively roll our eyes.
But why did they retire the term?
Good question! Pretty sure the term originated from some studies on captive wolves in the 1940s. Those wolves were unrelated and they exhibited very marked dominance behaviors and commonly fought amongst themselves. As a result of his observations, the researcher applied “alpha” to the “dominant members” (i.e., the breeding male and female) and it was used broadly for all wolves, captive and wild.
But, as you know, captive wolves and wild wolves are not the same. Wild wolves are just a cooperative family unit. There is no one “dominant” member and there are no constant dominance battles. L.D. Mech (aka the Godfather of wolf research) published a paper in the late 1990s that discussed the term and how misleading it was after his lengthy observations on wolf behavior in the wild. We (wolf bios) do not use the term, and also actively discourage folks from using it (in a polite way). But it’s still pretty pervasive in the media, which is terribly annoying.
Alright…in the documentary I mentioned, though, the packs definitely were not all family units.
They’re adorable!
Wolves are such gorgeous majestic beasts. I still wish we knew more about the first wolf or wolf pup that was like, hey can I hang with you hairless ones for scraps?
Awooooooooooo!
What a healthy beautiful pack!
That's an army on a road march!
Amazing capture!! đź‘Ź
We need a banana for reference
This is an old clip...but always cool to see.
Just out here surviving and thriving in the harshest of weather like it’s another Tuesday. Wolves are are amazing creatures.
Cool AF.