10

Food: Caribou

Time of Year: Fall

Sport: Hunting

Age: 6

Warning! No parts of this journal may be copied without leading to 100’s of card signings by Mrs. Jones

Winney Wolf

5620 Arapaho National Forest

Montane Life Zone, CO, 80121

© 2009 Mrs. Jones Printing Press Centennial, Colorado

Did you know that the grey wolf is an ice-age survivor and that researchers have concluded that wolves are related to domestic dogs through genetic drift? The Grey Wolf is a marvelous animal because of its food, habitat, description, and lifestyle.

1.

Hi, I’m Winney Wolf!

My species adapts well to many habitats. I have successfully thrived in forests, deserts, tundra’s, mountains, taiga (forest of coniferous trees), grasslands, and even urban areas! .I reside mainly in the Montane Life Zone but can be located in other areas. My species is a highly-endangered from habitat loss and when humans eradicated us by poisoning, trapping, and shooting us. Scientists came up with a name for species like mine called “extirpated species”. An extirpated species is a name for a species that no longer exists in its natural and historical habitat, and mainly only found in zoos throughout the country. In 1999 the government established a program to reintroduce us into the wild so we could push the populations of elk and deer down to their regular population.

2 2

2

ME

!

The

Den

Tre

esH

owlin

g C

liff

My species is known for hunting in groups called packs. We devour the kill and prefer to hunt down our own prey. If we don’t consume the whole elk or caribou, we sometimes store leftovers in the ground called a “cache”. We have different ways and strategies for attacking the prey. Some of them are ambushes while others are to attack the tired, old, or young. We sometimes depart from each other and attack the heard from four or five directions, limiting the area of escape routes. When my species starts to consume the kill, we insist that the alpha pair feed first. After they take their first bite, we all furiously dig in like a glutton because we are usually famished. Rabbits, squirrels, fish, mice, caribou, hares, elk, moose, bison, beaver, musk-oxen, reindeer, deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and waterfowl comprise my diet.

3

4We consume deer…

…and elk

My description may remind you of a German Sheppard. There are two layers to my majestic coat, the outer layer and the inner layer. Like the bighorn, the outer layer of my majestic coat sheds snow and water and the inner layer is composed of soft fur to help me stay heated during the long, harsh winters. The coloring of my coat consists of whites, grays, blacks, and browns. I am about 7 feet long and about 3 feet tall and can weigh from 50-100 pounds. If you acquire a glimpse of the bottom of my feet you will see pads with dirt brown fur running in-between them. My jaw is strong which helps me to tear flesh supported by my canine size teeth. My claws are razor sharp but not retractable while my legs are long and slender.

11

Oooh! A deer!

A wolf’s lifestyle plays an enormous part of its daily agenda. Did you know that only the alpha female and male mate? The alpha couple leave the pack and start a den after mating . The den is made out of rocks, sticks, and dirt and is usually is formed by the bank of a river. The female has 3-4 pups and the pups are blind and deaf. After the pups are 3 months old, they start to venture farther from the den to chase mice and play with their siblings. After 2-3 years the pups proceed to leave the den to join a pack or start a new one. When a wolf joins a pack he receives a rank like alpha (highest) or minor (lowest). Each wolf can move up and down in rank. Wolves use this method to determine who receives the female, where to rest, and what to attack. Another thing that wolves are known for is their deafening howl. Wolves never howl the same note and howl to locate prey, to warn other packs in the area, before a hunt, after bringing down an elk or caribou, or to locate other members of their pack and don’t they howl at the moon.

5

6

Hey! I’m the Alpha Male, and we’ll feast on a deer, not elk!

You move left we’ll stay right. Together we’ll take

out a couple of the elk

Wolves reside in the Montane Life Zone, hunt in packs to take down larger prey, look like a German Sheppard, and that the den is made out of rocks and sticks on the bank of a river. Oh, and if you are camping and you hear a howl, it is probably just a wolf pack trying to warn other packs in the area.

7

8

9

I like to hunt mice since

that’s all I can catch

Dierks, Carrie. "Wolves." Reviewed by James G. Doherty. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 20 Oct. 2009 <http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2031900-h>.

Paul, William J. "Wolves." http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild/pdf/wildlife/WOLVES.PDF. 1994. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.uUnknown, . "Wolves." http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

Unknown, . "Wolves." http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/SpeciesOfConcern/Mammals/GrayWolf.htm. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

Unknown, “Wolves”http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Gray_Wolf Web 9 Nov. 2009

McConoughey, Jana. The Wolves. Mankato, MN: Baker Street Productions®, 1983. Print.

Lepthien, Emilie U. A New True Book Wolves. Chicago , IL: Childrens Press®, 1991. Print.

Patent, Dorothy H. Grey Wolf, Red Wolf. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 1990. Print.

1. http://www.nashoba.k12.ok.us/wolf-photo.jpg

2.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wildnatureimages.com/images%25203/Wolf-Pups

3. http://ic2.pbase.com/t6/76/503576/4/73866016.Vux9iFIl.jpg

4. http://www.aritaur.co.uk/PICS/Wolf%20eating.jpg

5. http://www.scottianbarry.com/WolfPack.jpg

6. http://mudflats.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/wolf_pack.jpg

7.http://www.defenders.org/images/coolstuff/wolf_pup_wallpaper_

8. http://howlingforjustice.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/wolf-pups-2.jpg

9.http://www.comingbackalive.com/images/cba/animal/wolf_howl.jpg

10.http://www.petandwildlife.com/wolves/images/posternow/gray_wolf_montana_400x285.jpg

11. http://www.maxwaugh.com/images/zoo02/wolf2.jpg