Wolves eat a wide variety of food, including small animals like mice and squirrels, large animals like deer and moose and sometimes, carrion and plant material. Additional members include offspring and "helpers." There is a clearly defined dominance hierarchy in the pack, the nucleus of which is the breeding (alpha) pair, who mate for life. In regions like the desert where typical prey is small, packs may consist of 7 or less, instead of 30 or more where prey is large. They define their ranges with scent markings and such vocalizations as growls, barks and their legendary howl. Wolves usually travel in packs and establish territories ranging from 30 to more than 500 square miles. Coat colors vary from white to grizzled gray to brown or black. Females are slightly smaller than males, and Mexican Gray Wolves tend to be smaller than their northern cousins. They stand from 36 to 40 inches high at the shoulders and weigh from 100 to 175 pounds. Adults males range from about 5 to 6.5 feet, from their nose to tip of their tail. Wolf size varies with geographic locality. The Gray Wolf has a tendency to look lean and rangy somewhat like a coyote, but it is larger and carries its tail high rather than low. It is also more bushy-tailed, long-nosed and long-legged. The Gray Wolf looks much like a German Shepherd, but it has a broader skull and longer ears. They are absent from tropical forests, desert floors and the highest mountains. Wolves can live in a great variety of habitats, ranging from arctic tundra to forest and prairie, if adequate prey is present. A small population of the sub-species Mexican Wolf once existed in higher elevations of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of Mexico but is now extinct in its native habitat. In 1995 wolves were reintroduced in wilderness areas of the northern Rocky Mountains. In North America, the Gray Wolf is now found primarily in Canada and Alaska, with much smaller numbers in Minnesota. But because of human persecution and habitat destruction it has been eliminated from much of its original range. It once ranged through all of North America from the Arctic Circle to central Mexico. The Gray Wolf has a larger natural distribution than any other mammal except humans.
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