Wolf Communication Part 1- Howling

Recently while watching “A Man Among Wolves” Sean, the man whom chose to live amongst wolves, has believed he has found  a way for farmers to keep their livestock safe from wolves without resorting to violence.

Wolves howl for communication in the wild with each other and others around them.
Whimper, whines and yelps are used for short range communication and are most often associated with friendly or submissive gestures.

Growls and snarls are used by more dominant wolves for assertions of  leadership or as a defence or attack signal. The leadership in wolves society is particular key as it helps form the social pecking order of the back and each wolf’s individual role there.

However wolves also can use long range communication which can travel up to ten miles and can be used to communication through its own members , social bonding & as well as developing territories around themselves and setting those boundaries around for other wolves to understand.It’s a helpful tool to avoid physical confrontation between the packs as if one vastly outnumbers the other, the lesser group may have the opportunity to retreat away.

Sean has proposed the idea of recorded howling to keep wild wolves away from the farmers “territory”  which in return would help keep the distinct boundaries of wolves and the farmers livestock which would lead to reduction in farmers having to cull wild wolves .

Unfortunately auditory communication such as howling has not been investigate scientifically as thoroughly  as the other communication sense of wolves and much research is still needed to be done.