With wolf fur, however, there is but one type: a double-coat with the upper layer providing the water-proofing (and color) and the lower layer being the insulation. Arctic wolves tend to be essentially white to blend in with the snow, Mexican Wolves (which can be found in desert regions) tend to be red, and so on. Depending on the environment and climate, the coat may be a multitude of the base color of black, brown, cream, red, tan or white. While they are known as Gray Wolves, their coats are not always gray. As for the largest wolf of the general Timber species, these are typically found in Alaska and Canada - again bringing to mind how environment and climate influences variety.Ĭoat color is perhaps the one variation that can be easily discussed even though there are a great many colors. The basic mature male Timber Wolf weighs anywhere from 70 to 150 pounds (or more, reportedly), can stand 26 inches to a full three feet and may stretch from four to six-and-a-half feet in length adult females are typically 20 percent smaller. The general belief is that there are five named by habitat: Arctic Wolf, Great Plains Wolf, Mexican Wolf, Northwestern Wolf (or Rocky Mountain Wolf) and Eastern Timber Wolf, this last of which is not aligned alphabetically with the other four because this is the "floater" species of wolf which has divided a great many experts on whether this is a subspecies or a distinct species unto itself. Some experts state there are as few as four but at the other end, there are those who claim there are as many as 24. The Timber Wolf is the most common of all wolf species in North America - but are they? At present, there remains a number of positions on what constitutes a Timber Wolf as well as how many subspecies (i.e., variations) there may be under it. The Timber Wolf is not a dog per se, and the variations of this breed are not like those of either a hybrid or purebred dog - nor is it recognized by the American Kennel Club! It is believed by many experts that dogs came from Timber Wolves mating with other wild species. And though keeping domesticated wolves is illegal in most parts of the world, a few brave souls use them as pets, mostly in North America. Today, thanks in part to conservationist groups, the Timber Wolf population is again on the rise. But by the mid-1900s, a majority of Timber Wolves had been eradicated in most civilized parts of the world because of the threat they posed to humans and livestock. Wolves were used as working animals from time to time Canadian settlers, for example, used Timber Wolves occasionally alongside coyotes and dogs to pull sleds. But by the eighteenth century, when settlers had established colonies in most parts of the Timber Wolf's natural habitat, domesticated dogs were much more common. Through history, the indigenous peoples of the Northern Hemisphere have held the Timber Wolf in high regard, continuing to hunt alongside the breed and depicting it as a legendary creature in art. It is further postulated that at some point, human tribes rescued injured or orphaned wolf pups and raised them, which paved the way for all domesticated dog breeds that came later scientists believe that all dog breeds descended from wolves. As humans evolved, scientists theorize, they figured out ways to hunt alongside wolves for the same prey, and shared the meat from the kill. Anthropologists believe that ancient humans and wolves lived in a similar manner – they both socialized in family groups, in other words – and the two species both relied on wild game for food, and thus had similar styles of hunting. Nor has it been determined exactly when humans and Timber Wolves first interacted. Timber Wolves have lived in the wild in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere, of course, for longer than anyone has been able to determine according to fossil records, four-legged, meat-eating mammals existed in North America, Europe, and Asia as far back as 15 million years ago. Scientists, historians, and anthropologists have long debated the true origin of the Timber Wolf, and particularly when and where the breed was first domesticated by humans.
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