<body><div><ul><li>Based on more than 100,000 observations, a new book explains to readers what it is like to be a wolf.</li><li>Author Rick McIntyre describes four life strategies wolves use in their adult years to be successful in life.</li><li>Everything we admire in our pet dogs comes directly from their wolf ancestors.</li></ul><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ASkiO_0wKAVsJi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ASkiO_0wKAVsJi00" width="320" height="214" ></figure>Wolves are fascinating animals, and people from all over the world have flocked to Yellowstone National Park to see these iconic animals who were reintroduced there in 1995. Much of what we know about individual wolves has stemmed from the groundbreaking work of wolf expert Rick McIntyre, whose books in the “Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone” series have informed and fascinated researchers and nonresearchers about the nitty-gritty details of these amazing beings.1,2 And now, with the appearance of RIck's fifth book, Thinking Like a Wolf: Lessons From the Yellowstone Packs, we're once again treated to up-close-and-personal stories about these highly social, intelligent, and deeply emotional animals.Here's what Rick had to say about the legendary wolves of Yellowstone.Marc Bekoff: Why did you write Thinking Like a Wolf?Rick McIntyre: After watching wolves for 45 years in Alaska and Yellowstone, I wanted to sum up what I have been learning about the resiliency of wolves and their life strategies. To do that, I wrote about four Yellowstone wolves that I knew well.1MB: Who do you hope to reach?RM: Due to my career working in national parks, I like to write for regular people.MB: What are some of your major messages?RM: By resiliency, I mean how wolves respond to difficult challenges in their lives. Perhaps the best example would be what pregnant wolf 926, the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon Pack, did after a rival pack killed her mate just prior to the birth of her pups. Four of the adult males from that pack showed up near 926’s den a few days later. When I found her the following morning, 926 had converted the four to her side. They joined her pack and helped her raise her new pups—pups that had been sired by the male they had killed. Since alpha female wolves are the true leaders of their packs, she was the boss of them.Later, 926 went through a terrible period of three years where all of her pups died young. The following year she got pregnant, as did her adult daughter. Between them, they had four surviving pups. Wolf 926 was defined by her determination to move forward regardless of how many losses she had in life.Her father, wolf 755, had earlier lost his mate during the wolf hunting season. He soon found a new female, but she died within a few months. The next mating season, he paired off with another female. She got injured, and none of their pups survived her pregnancy. After that, 755 dispersed into a new part of Yellowstone and paired off with a young female. They had pups the following spring as well as the next year.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=48Farb_0wKAVsJi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=48Farb_0wKAVsJi00" width="320" height="509" ></figure>Then, three big young males from a neighboring pack came into their territory. They drove off 755 from his family and he became a lone wolf. Due to his advanced age, we figured that would be the end of his story. We later heard he had joined a wolf pack east of the park. He and the alpha male from the group traveled together like they were allies, and later 755 was seen mating with the alpha female. The last known sighting of 755 took place the following spring when a line of pups was seen following him around, pups he had likely sired in his new pack.Those two wolves, 755 and 926, father and daughter, epitomized for me what it means to be proactive when hard times knock us down. Life strategies refers to four major tactics I have seen wolves use in their adult years to be successful in life. The first one is dispersal. That means a young male or female leaves their birth pack and sets out to find a mate and establish a territory. That is a dangerous plan due to the high possibility of getting shot or trapped by humans or being killed by a rival wolf pack. Yellowstone only has about 10 potential territories that can support a wolf pack, so there is a lot of competition for those few areas. A second strategy is choosing to be a rebel. That would involve a lower-ranking male challenging the pack’s alpha male to a fight or a female doing the same thing with the alpha female. If the challenger wins, they become the next alpha.The third strategy is being a bider. This refers to situations where a male or female will bide their time, watch the alpha male or alpha female for signs they are too injured or sick to retain their status, and then seize the alpha position without a fight. Or, they could wait for the old alpha to die and then take over.A recent example of the bider strategy took place in Yellowstone’s Junction Butte pack when old female 907 lost the alpha position to a younger female in a fight. The former alpha bided her time until her rival was seriously injured and died. Then 907 became alpha once again.The fourth strategy is somewhat of a catch-all. I call it being a maverick. This would be either a male or female in a pack that lives on their own terms without much regard to the hierarchy. Male wolf 1048 is a maverick who joined the Junction Butte pack as an adult. He is a big male who seems to care little about his social status. Wolf 1048 pays a lot of attention to the females in his pack throughout the year, not just during the mating season. The payoff for that is that 1048 has sired more known pups in that pack than the alpha male. I often tell people that there are no two species on earth that are so alike in social behavior as wolves and humans. One proof of that is how perfectly the domestic version of the wolf, the dog, fits in the social structure of a human family. I sometimes hear dog owners say, “My dog is a better person than I am." Everything we admire in our pet dogs comes directly from their wolf ancestors. That is one of the messages I hope my new book conveys to readers.</div></body>

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\"Thinking Like a Wolf\": Pack Politics, Power, and Personalities

Based on more than 100,000 observations, a new book explains to readers what it is like to be a wolf. Author Rick McIntyre describes four life strategies wolves use in their adult years to be successful in life. Everything we admire in our pet dogs comes directly from their wolf...

"Thinking Like a Wolf": Pack Politics, Power, and Personalities

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