How Wolves Communicate
These pages are about communication among wolves.
Have you ever noticed that when one dog begins to bark, all of the dogs around
start to bark too? Barking, growling, and whining are some vocal ways that
dogs, and their wild counterparts, wolves, communicate. But
they also communicate with body language and scent.
A lot of research has been done about wolves and the way that they communicate
feelings and needs to other wolves.
They use their sense of smell to communicate by "marking" territory the
way dogs do, and by scratching the ground - which may leave a
scent if glands that are located in the feet are stimulated.
The scent markers may have many different functions. They tell
intruders that they
are entering territory that belongs to another pack, or tell members of a pack
that they are still
inside their territory. They may also help a lost member find home or
help a pack locate a lone wolf.
Wolves also identify each other by their individual scents. They often "scent
role" by rubbing
their fur on an object and thus transfering the scent to another place.
Learn more about the communication systems of the wolf pack
by clicking on the icons below. Pretend that you are a wolf and try to
"talk" your way through some tricky wolf situations on
Your Turn. Then, tell us about the way your pet communicates
in The Great Dragonfly Challenge.
Most of the pictures and sounds come to us courtesy of the good people at three
Wolf Web Sites:
Wolves on the Web
The Searching Wolf
Special thanks to Brandon Harrison, Perry Hendrix, Andrea Burnett, and
Sienna Berry for work on an earlier draft of these pages.
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This document was last modified on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 11:51:10.
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