An animal that I do not hear get talked about a lot is the grey wolf. Grey wolves are a part of the dog family, and they look like a typical German Shepard except they are a little bit larger and have a different color to them. Wolves in the north are usually larger than wolves in the South and their coat is often a mix of gray and brown. Female wolves can weigh around 60 to 100 pounds and the males weigh around 70 to 145 pounds. One fact you may not know is that grey wolves are the largest living wild canine species.   

          Grey wolves live in Alaska, northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, western Montana, northern Idaho, northeast Oregon, and the Yellowstone area of Wyoming. As you can see a lot of the grey wolves’ population is in the northern parts. Wolves like to live in habitats such as forests, grasslands, woodlands, the tundra, and even deserts. In fact, the historic range of the grey wolf covered over two-thirds of the United States. Grey wolves in the United States outside of the northern Rocky Mountain region are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act.  

         Grey wolves are carnivores. They prefer to hunt larger animals like deer, elk, bison, and moose. But they also hunt smaller animals like hares, rodents, and beavers. Adult wolves can eat 20 pounds of meat in one single meal. Wolves do not have many predators but one of their biggest enemies is bears. Humans also used to be one of their biggest enemies because people used to kill them all the time but now it is illegal to kill a wolf unless you have a permit.  

          You might think that grey wolves are not particularly interesting but there is a lot more to them than what you just read. Grey wolves have a lot of history to them, and they are used to create stories, movies, and more. Wolves are interesting animals, not only are they cool but they are also very beautiful.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

https://www.nwf.org/