Mother’s Day is over for another year. I just came back in from taking Miss Sugar Plum outside to do her business … and I heard a pack of dogs howling in the distance. Dogs do not sound like wolves howling but it did contrast to me how a pack of wolves seemingly howls in harmony that sounds like music (to me anyway – very lonesome, spine-tingling and musical is how I find it when I hear it) and packs of dogs do not. Dogs barking sounds like a moment of chaos is upon us and getting ready to break my ear drums if close and it always irritates me to hear them … they always seem to have a variety of yapping yap dogs mixed in with the deep bass of bigger dogs and the medium range of off-key woofing.
I was reading over at PBS about Wild Wolves – they have some very interesting info available!
One of the pages is What’s in a Howl? It is not my imagination that a wolf howl is harmonic! I also found out that wolves do a lot of other sounds besides howling but it is their howl that appears to define wolves to us. Howling in the wrong place or at the wrong time can get a wolf killed – if the wolf is too close to another wolf pack’s territory, they might hunt it down to just run it off or to kill it if they can. Low-ranking members of the pack that join the pack howling chorus may start a nasty pack fight as well.
Another article is about restocking Yellowstone National Park with wolves – I remember hearing how ranchers in the area were really, really, really upset to have wolves brought back to the area – I wonder if they are more adjusted to having wolves for neighbors again now? One thing I found quite ironic was that the last wolves killed in America (this is way before the restocking project began) was what is now the US Fish & Wildlife Service … and they are the ones that are now having to do the wolf restoration! The really great news is that the ecosystem is adjusting for the better out there! It’s also interesting to me that dogs are all descended from … check out the DNA … LOL
There is also a Wolf Quiz – Wolves and Dogs: Fact and Fiction. This was so much fun! Go take it and see what you know for a fact and what you believe that is untrue. I’m not going to give away my results 
… but it was fun! And I learned things about wolves that I did not know … I love it when fun and learning become one with each other.
There is a Teacher’s Guide to the program – the original broadcast was November 11, 1997 (they give warnings of it being graphic and may not be suitable for all classrooms) and a Resource page where and how to find more information about wolves. One for kids that sounded awesome is The Boomerwolf – it sounds like a lot of fun – I’ve got to send my daughter a link to this one for sure! She and my grandson would probably enjoy it a lot!
And if you want a wolf … my best recommendation is get a stuffed wolf toy – not a real live wolf!
Posted under Texas
This post was written by Barbara Burns on May 16, 2007
