When the females' period of oestrus ends, the agitated atmosphere of the bredding season gradually fades. If subordinate females have been suppressed, they are now readmitted to the fellowship of the pack and may even help the alpha female prepare her den. This may involve simply cleaning out a burrow that has been used in previous years, since some dens are occupied for decades; or it may mean enlarging and renovating an old fox burrow or an abandoned beaver lodge. Alternatively, the female may decide to excavate a new hole, generalyy choosing a sandy hillside that promises easy digging through the still frozen ground. She also gives preference to sites that are near a supply of drinking water from a spring, river or lake. Work on the den or dens )the female may prepare several) often bgins about six weeks after she conceives and three weeks before the pups are born. The gestation period for wolves is about sixty-three days.
What is it like inside a wolf den? Adolph Murie decided to find out. "I wriggles into the burrow which was 16 inches high and 25 inches wide. Six feet from the entrance of the burrow there was a right angle turn. At the turn there was a hollow, rounded and worn, which obviously was a bed much used by an adult...From the turn the burrow slanted slightly upward for 6 feet" to a chamber for the pups.
It is to these snug surroundings that the female retires alone to give birth. As each tiny infant appears, the mother licks it hard to remove the amniotic sac, chews through the umbilical cord, then licks the baby again until it is clean, dry and snuggles against her side. It takes her about three hours to whelp a typical litter of five or six pups. At birth, the pups can do little but squirm and suck; their awareness scarcely extends beyond warmth and warem milk. But after a couple of weeks, their eyes begin to focus, dimly at first, and by three weeks they can walk, chew, growl and hear. It is at about this time that they first poke their round heads out of the den; then let the fun begin!
Everyone who has played with a puppy dog knows how delightfully silly and full of life they are. A wolf pup is just the same, and five or six of them, growing up together in the fresh spring air, form an exuberant company. "Catch me if you can." "Don't look now! I'm going to pounce on you." "Watch me kill this old piece of caribou hide!" "I can beat up on you." All these puppy games have their serious side, since the youngsters are practising hunting skills, learning the subtleties of wolf body language and beginning to explore a variety of social relationships. But the pups presumably are not aware of this. They are simply rollicking with energy and the newfound enjoyment of one another's company. No matter how old they get, they will not lose these qualities. A wolf is never too old to play.