10 Interesting Facts about the Gray Wolf

Here we will discuss interesting facts about the Gray Wolf. Gray Wolf is a carnivore animal belongs to canid native of North America, Eurasia, and northern, eastern and western Africa. In the genus Canis, this animal is the most specialized member. To find out more about the Gray Wolf, read the following facts below.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 1: Etymology

The word “wolf” is derived from the Old English “wulf”. The term “wulf” itself came from the Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from the Proto-Indo-European root *wlq^wos/*luk^wos.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 2: Anatomy

The Gray wolf is larger and heavier compared to coyote and golden jackal. It has a broader snout, shorter ears, a shorter torso and longer tail. The gray wolf’s head is large and heavy, with a wide forehead, strong jaws and a long, blunt muzzle. The ears are relatively small and triangular.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 3: Diet

The diet of the wolves include marmots, hares, badgers, foxes, weasels, ground squirrels, mice, hamsters, voles and other rodents.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 4: Attacks on Humans

Under human’s provocation, the wolf can react aggressively. The victims are repeatedly bitten on the head and face, and are then dragged off and consumed, unless the wolves are driven off. The peak of wolf’s attack is on the June–August period, when the chances of people entering forested areas.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 5: Hunting

Despite of the difficulty to hunt the wolf, there are several methods can be used such as killing spring-born litters in their dens, coursing with dogs, poisoning with strychnine, and foothold and deadfall trap. Find more facts about the German Flag here

Facts about the Gray Wolf 6: Fur

The Wolf’s fur is mainly used for scarf and the trimmings of women’s garments. Sometimes, it is used for jackets, short capes, coats, mukluks and rugs. Based on CITES’s data, 6,000–7,000 wolf skins are internationally traded each year. The largest exporters are Canada, the former Soviet Union, Mongolia and China. While the United States and Great Britain are the largest importers.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 7: Flesh

The wolf flesh is rarely eaten by people. The reasons of wolf flesh to be eaten are for medical reasons or in scarcity times. During Vilhjalmur Stefansson’s 1913 Arctic expedition, particularly during the summer, the wolf flesh was eaten several times. In Japan, the wolf flesh was eaten to give courage to Japanese mountain people.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 8: Wolf in Japan

In Japan, grain farmers occasionally left food offerings near their dens. They worship wolves at shrines and hope for the wolf to protect their crops from wild boars and deer.

Facts about the Gray Wolf 9: As Working Animals

Swedish biologist, Erik Zimen tried so hard to train his captive wolves as sled dogs. The wolves were unreliable; they were easily distracted by other wildlife and often fought for personal space. After his hard work, the wolves finally accepted the harness and the need to pull the sled in a straight line. Find more facts about the Gallipoli Campaign here

Facts about the Gray Wolf 10: As Pets

The best moment to make Gray Wolf as a pet is caught the wolf just after their eyes began opening. Some hunters of the USFWS kept wolf pups as pets. Different with dogs, the wolf is hard to train. In 11 pups only one of the pups who became tame.

Those are the following facts about the Gray Wolf. Hopefully you will like this following information and continue to read on some facts.