Wolf Bust, Statues, and Gifts

The hierarchy, led by the alpha male and female, affects all activity in the pack to some extent. In most larger packs there are two separate hierarchies in addition to an overbearing one: the first consists of the males, led by the alpha male, and the other consists of the females, led by the alpha female. In this situation, the alpha male was originally assumed to be the "top" alpha, but biologists have since concluded that alpha females can and do take control over entire packs. The male and female hierarchies are interdependent and are maintained constantly by aggressive and elaborate displays of dominance and submission.

After the alpha pair, there may also, especially in larger packs, be a beta wolf or wolves, a "second-in-command" to the alphas. Betas typically assume a more prominent role in assisting with the upbringing of the alpha pair's litter, often serving as surrogate mothers or fathers while the alpha pair is away. Beta wolves are the most likely to challenge their superiors for the role of the alpha, though some betas seem content with being second, and will sometimes even let lower ranking wolves leapfrog them for the position of alpha should circumstances necessitate such a happening, such as the death of the alpha. More ambitious beta wolves, however, will only wait so long before contending for alpha position unless they choose to disperse and create their own pack instead(Wikipedia.org).

All pack members seem to like playing with and caring for pups. The adults play with each other, too. Adults and pups play by chasing, jumping over each other, ambushing and wrestling with jaws or forelimbs. Other play behaviors include muzzling, tail wagging, paw raising and licking faces---and running! Though their usual walking speed is about 5 miles per hour, a wolf can run 35 to 40 m.p.h. (this is their "sprint" speed, not their distance speed). (The average distance a wolf travels in a day is 10 to 15 miles, but sometimes they will travel 50 miles in a day.)

...So, the pup becomes a young wolf, losing his baby teeth (at 4 to 6 mos) and finally getting his 42 adult teeth (see chart below for wolf dentition), and quickly enough becoming a yearling; but only about 25% of pups born in the wild make it through their first year, the rest dying because of lack of food, disease (mange, parvovirus among others), accident or attack by bears or humans. If a wolf survives to yearling status and becomes a full adult, her/his weight can be anywhere from 80 to 100 pounds average for female and male respectively (males are roughly 20% larger than females. They can get up to 175 pounds in weight). They grow to be about 6 or 6 1/2 feet long from the very tip of the tail to the tip of their nose, and are about 2 1/2 feet tall at their shoulder. They become sexually mature at 22 months.

In the wild, wolves generally live to around 8 years of age but can live to the ripe old age of 13 or so. (In captivity, wolves live as long as domestic dogs).