12 Facts About Wolf

Wolf classified the domestic dog as Canis familiaris, and the wolf as Canis lupus.

Wolf is the largest extant member of the Canidae family, and is further distinguished from coyotes and jackals by a broader snout, shorter ears, a shorter torso and a longer tail.

Wolf has very dense and fluffy winter fur, with a short undercoat and long, coarse guard hairs.

Wolf fur provides better insulation than dog fur and does not collect ice when warm breath is condensed against it.

Wolf packs are typically settled, and usually leave their accustomed ranges only during severe food shortages.

Wolf pups begin play-fighting at the age of three weeks, though unlike young coyotes and foxes, their bites are gentle and controlled.

Wolf must give chase and gain on its fleeing prey, slow it down by biting through thick hair and hide, and then disable it enough to begin feeding.

Wolf is a common motif in the mythologies and cosmologies of peoples throughout its historical range.

The Big Bad Wolf is portrayed as a villain capable of imitating human speech and disguising itself with human clothing.

The musical Peter and the Wolf involves a wolf being captured for eating a duck, but is spared and sent to a zoo.

Farley Mowat's largely fictional 1963 memoir Never Cry Wolf is widely considered to be the most popular book on wolves, having been adapted into a Hollywood film and taught in several schools decades after its publication.

Wolf'storic methods included killing of spring-born litters in their dens, coursing with dogs, poisoning with strychnine, and trapping.