Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Why Do Wolves Howl?
Wolves live in family groups called packs. Packs of wolves hunt together. A pack of wolves can bring down a larger animal like a moose that a single wolf could not. By hunting as a team, food can be shared so that each wolf has enough to eat. Why do wolves howl? There seems to be many reasons for howling.
Wolf packs have home ranges that cover many square miles. Howls can help wolves identify members of their own pack or strange wolves. When hunting over a large area, members of a pack may become separated from one another. Howling is a sound that can be heard for many miles. Wolves howl to let the others in their pack know where they are. Howling may be a way to call a pack together before a hunt. When a pack of wolves howl together, they send a warning to other wolves. Instead of howling all together as a chorus, each howls in a little different way at different times. This makes it sound as though the pack is larger than it really is. A small pack of wolves can sound like twice that many.
Do wolves really howl at the moon? No, that isn't true. When wolves howl, they lift their heads toward the sky. People long ago saw this and thought that the wolves were howling at the moon. However, wolves also howl in the daytime. They even howl on nights when there is .....
