WICKED GIVEAWAY #2
POST #2
I'M RELEASING BLOOD BROTHERS
Rocky Mountain Shifters #2
Paranormal Romance
Ex-military Hawt-E!
Wolf Hierarchy
Within a wolf pack, hierarchy permits a distribution of the roles and
responsibilities enforced with acts of dominance and submission through the use
of eye contact, facial features, and tail positions. At the top is the alpha
and there may be two, a male and female. Right below is the beta. Again, segmented
so two, male and female, exist. And then there is the omega rung. Lowest. The hierarchy
of the pack determines who shall mate, who shall be decision maker, which wolves
eat first and who eats last, who patrols and who watches the pups.
Alpha Pair
Mating pair of the pack. The male and female (per Barry Lopez’s book Wolves and Men) are thought to work in
tandem where the male is head of the pack subordinate males and the female head
of subordinate females. They share equally is decision making except during
springtime mating, when the female solely decides upon the location of the den,
and therefore where the pack resides. During the birthing the female does not
actively hunt. Food is brought to her and the pups. Alphas are not always the
strongest or largest of the wolves. For all practical purposes, in reality they
are the parents. They lead, yet so can other wolves within the pack. There is
more democracy in wolf packs than what is imagined.
Beta
Below the alpha pair. The enforcers of the pack. Exist in a pair. If
something happens to the alpha, male or female beta may move up into the alpha
role. Betas have been known to mate in their secondary positions yet only when there
is an abundance of food. The limited mating is to ensure the survival of the
strongest pups. Betas must assert themselves when they are younger (yearlings),
distinguishing themselves from other subordinate wolves.
Omega
Generally, the pack has one omega. This wolf is lowest in ranking. Eats last
and may travel on the outskirts of the pack, but not always. Some omegas were prior alphas, yet no longer occupy the position of dominance. Omegas have been
known to be the most playful of the wolf positions but lack the ability to assert their positions to any real degree. Interesting, the wolves documented in The Hidden Lives of Wolves shows a beta showing compassion to an omega.
However typically, this position takes the most abuse. The omega may go without food if
prey is scarce and may became a scapegoat of sorts.
In-betweens
Between beta and omegas are the juvenile, subordinates, and pups. Packs
in North America range in size from 20 wolves per pakc in the Denali Forest in Alaska to about 10 per pack
in places like Minnesota.
Resources:
Hidden Life of Wolves Jim and Jamie Dutcher, National Geographic
Wolfdog Behavior http://www2.fiu.edu/~milesk/behavior.htm
Hidden Life of Wolves Jim and Jamie Dutcher, National Geographic
GIVEWAY #2
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The Hidden Life of Wolves
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