Pecking order of wolves

_Elsa_

Chewy looks at Tiffi with a look like “what’s a pack”? 

“Tiffi do you know what I’m talking about?” questions Tiffi. “Let me explain to you what a pack of wolves is all about.”

‘A wolf pack is an exceedingly complex social unit—an extended family of parents, offspring, siblings, aunts, uncles, and sometimes dispersers from other packs. There are old wolves that need to be cared for, pups that need to be educated, and young adults that are beginning to assert themselves – all altering the dynamics of the pack. 

Living in a pack not only facilitates the raising and feeding of pups, coordinated and collaborative hunting, and the defense of territory, it also allows for the formation of many unique emotional bonds between pack members, the foundation for cooperative living. 

Wolves care for each other as individuals. They form friendships and nurture their own sick and injured. Pack structure enables communication, the education of the young and the transfer of knowledge across generations. Wolves and other highly social animals have and pass on what can be best described as culture. A family group can persevere for several generations, even decades, carrying knowledge and information through the years, from generation to generation. 

“Wow Tiffi, wolves behave like humans,” Chewy says. “Well like most families anyway.” 

Wolves play together into old age, they raise their young as a group, and they care for injured companions. When they lose a pack mate, there is evidence that they suffer and mourn that loss. When we look at wolves, we are looking at tribes—extended families, each with its own homeland, history, knowledge, and indeed, culture. (Info here) 

Let’s continue - The lone wolf

Start at the beginning – Seasons come and seasons go – the story of the wolf