How intelligent are wolves?

I know they're pretty damn smart, I think in many ways more so than humans, so how smart are they and how is their intelligence measured?

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2013/05/whos-socially-smarter-dog-or-wolf

googling "wolf intelligence" gets many articles, some conflicting.

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There is still a healthy population of wolves in many northern states but mostly in the mid west and east we commonly have coy-dogs and coy-wolves.


If there are say 20 deer for every coy-wolf, (personal best guess ) then a hunter who manages to 'Harvest' a legal deer yearly should at least see a Coy-wolf

if not get a shot at one yearly ! I Know many hunters who fall into the successful hunter class without ever seeing a Coy-dog/wolf year after year !

( They are common enough here to call too and get responses most nights at this time of the year !

I hope this was timely, useful, and our fellow members don't let me "High-jack this Thread'' ! For the Craft ! Big AL!

The Apache's used wolves as their model for how to conduct a scout team. That would include how to move invisibly, how to hunt as a team, and how to leave minimal tracks by stepping into the tracks of the lead wolf. Presumably that would extend to community living and long distance travel as well.

I think the stepping in the footprints of the lead wolf part of it was not for stealth or to trick anybody, but the wise conservation of energy when moving in snow. This may have tricked people who did not know how many wolves were there, but I think the primary purpose on the part of the wolves is to conserve energy. If every wolf in a pack was to plow it's own way through the snow, the caloric reserves of the pack would quickly be exhausted.

I think wolves are smart, but their intelligence is channeled into several avenues based on their species specific needs.

Some wolves, like with people, are smarter than others. Some are very difficult to trap or hunt, because they are super crafty at figuring things out, whereas others are easier to catch. I don't trap myself, but know people who do trap and hunt. A wolf or wolf pack can judge distance that a rifle can shoot, and subsequently stay just out of range of a hunter who is working on a hunted elk, moose, deer, or whatever.

A wolf pack will use a lead animal to run fast after it's selected prey, while the rest trot steadily but more slowly behind, conserving energy. They take turns to run fast, driving the prey to exhaustion and to the point of making mistakes, while the previous charger goes to the rear to regain energy.

A wolf understands the facial expressions and body language of other wolves, communicating a wide variety of needs/demands/.

A good book to understand wolves a bit, and is very entertaining winter read: In Praise of Wolves by R.D. Lawrence.

The author was a Canadian Government Biologist studied wolves for a time. He also raised wolf pups in a way that was wild enough to set them free; the big male nearly killed him. Fascinating.

Roberto pokachinni wrote:I think the stepping in the footprints of the lead wolf part of it was not for stealth or to trick anybody, but the wise conservation of energy when moving in snow. This may have tricked people who did not know how many wolves were there, but I think the primary purpose on the part of the wolves is to conserve energy. If every wolf in a pack was to plow it's own way through the snow, the caloric reserves of the pack would quickly be exhausted.

I think wolves are smart, but their intelligence is channeled into several avenues based on their species specific needs. Some wolves, like with people, are smarter than others.

A good book to understand wolves a bit, and is very entertaining winter read: In Praise of Wolves by R.D. Lawrence.

The author was a Canadian Government Biologist studied wolves for a time. He also raised wolf pups in a way that was wild enough to set them free; the big male nearly killed him. Fascinating.

Exactly ! I agree with you completely Big AL

Thanks, Al,

I grew up in, and currently live in wolf country... and cougar country. I've got a lot of respect for the things that could eat me, but not just for that reason. I'm amazed continuously that these predators can make a living off the land when the snow is deep and wet, and the meat continually getting leaner. They are certainly not just meat getting machines, they have some serious survival brains.