Wolf Talk

Another way wolves lay claim to their territories is with sound. Wolves are chatty creatures. In close-up communication, they use a variety of noises, whimpers, whines, squeaks, yelps, barks, snarls and growls to express their emotions. For long distance communication, they raise their voices in that most evocative of all wolf sounds, their cool, lingering howl. The powerful effect of this song on human listeners is mystifying. Why should these rising harmonies, uttered by another species for communication with its own kind, resonate so strongly in the human psyche? In recent years, thousands of people have had a chance to experience this reaction at first hand by participationg in wolf howls. Picture a long line of cars creeping through the dusk of a wilderness park, then rolling to a stop. The occupants quickly step out, turn their faces to the sky-howl-then listen. About one time in ten, the human howlers are rewarded by a response, for just as people respond psychically to wolves, so wolves often answer people directly. This fact has been used by wildlife biologists to get an idea of wolf densities in certain areas. The more frequently the biologists get a response, the greater the number of wolves are presumed to be present.

Curiously, this technique does not work nearly so well if the human howls are recorded instead of live. Wolves are much less likely to answer recordings. Although human ears cannot distinguished between the two sources, tests reveal very slight distortions on the tapes. If the wolves can detect these minor anomalies, imagine what they might be able to discern in natural howls.

Just as each person has a unique singing voice, so individual wolves have distinct howls. For example, a particular wolf may always begin and end in a certain way, stay within a certain range of pitches, or include a specific jump from pitch to pitch. Can wolves recognize one another at a distance by these characteristics? Does a howl reveal what the animal is doing or how it is feeling? It has been proven that a wolf that is walking slowly howls slightly differently than if it were lying down or pacing, and one that is sending out an unsolicited message sings higher than if it were responding to another animal. Some people think the howling of a wolf that is isoliated from its companions broadcasts a particularly plaintive, lonesome-sounding call. Whether or not wolves can send messages such as "the hunting over here is pretty bad and I am going to stay another week." as Farley Mowat would have us believe, definitely remains to be seen.

As nearly as we can tell, wolves ofte3n howl simply because they love to. A group howl (the "greeting ceremony" descibes earlier) has been likened to a community singsong.

According to Lois Crisler, who kept free-ranging wolves in Alaska for several years, some animals "will run from any distance, panting and bright-eyes, to join in, uttering, as they near, fervent little wows, jaws wide, hardly able to wait to sing." Each animal joins in at its own pitch for, as Crisler observed, "wolves avoid unison singing; they like chords." A typical howling bout lasts just over a minute, with a pause of at least twenty minutes between sessions. By participating in these festivities, wolves probably strengthen the amicable feeling between themselves and other members of the pack.

Howling also serves to reunite the pack physically if members have separated to hunt alone or in small groups. WOlves have an uncany abillity to pinpoint the source of a howl and use it to locate their companions. In open terrain, a mere human can hear howls 15 kilometres (10 miles) away and, if the sounds are muffled by woods, at half that distance. A wolf's hearing is, of course, more far-reaching than our own.

In addition to providing long distance communication amoung pack members, howls also serve as a means of contact between packs. On a calm night, a single howling bout can advertise a pack's presence over an area of more than 130 square kilometres (50 square miles). Researchers think that howling is a means of territorial defense amoung wolves, just as singing is amoung many species of birds. "This land is our land," the wolf pack cries; and the neighbouring pack may reply, "And this is ours." Sometimes as many as three packs will chorus back and forth, each within its own territory; then each will retreat from its neighbours.