Celebrating small victories or milestones is very important for most of us.
It is a way to appreciate what we have accomplished. It’s also a reminder that we are getting closer to our goals. Even with our children and pets, we celebrate our small victories.
Do you remember the first time that your baby said his first word? How about your pet’s first birthday?
They are truly special moments, just like this tiny wolf’s accomplishment.
Just a few days ago, Voyagers Wolf Project celebrated a small victory when they saw, or should we say, heard a tiny wolf pup’s first howl.
The VWP’s trail camera was in the right location, and what their camera captured was really something to celebrate.
Voyageurs Wolf Project
The VWP or Voyageurs Wolf Project is a research project from the University of Minnesota. Their research started with one question – what do wolves do during the summer?
According to their website:
“Our goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the summer ecology of wolves in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem in northern Minnesota. Specifically, we want to understand the predation behavior and reproductive ecology (e.g., number of pups born, where wolves have dens, etc) of wolves during the summer.”
The young researchers started putting trail cameras in Voyageurs National Park, located in northern Minnesota.
Their goal was to study wolves and their prey, and as of now, their findings are very promising.
A loud howl from a tiny wolf
In the said video, we see a wolf pup approaching the trail camera and after making his tiny presence known, he started howling.
This little wolf pup may be small, but his howls are very loud.
“Listen to some of this wolf pup’s first howls from only a few weeks ago,” VWP wrote on their YouTube video description.
They also posted a little warning about the tiny wolf pup being really loud despite being only 4-weeks old.
Why do wolves howl? Hearing a wolf howl is such an exciting experience for everyone. No wonder everyone was so happy to see this little pup’s first howl.
It’s not something that you would see or hear every day.
According to research, howling is a way to communicate. They howl if they want to call other wolves. They howl when they want to reassemble their pack members or even warn off other wolf packs.
They can also howl at their pack members to show affection.
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According to National Geographic, wolf pups 3 to 5 weeks old can already hear and see clearly.
They also start exploring at this age, but they still can’t go too far. By this time, wolf pups are already trying some solid food. However, they still need assistance as their jaws aren’t strong enough. Their solid food is often being regurgitated by their parents or any adult wolf.
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The wolf pups start to communicate by moaning, yelping, growling, whining, and of course, howling.
Another thing to watch out for is to see a wolf pack howl in chorus.
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As of now, Voyageurs Wolf Project is still accepting donations for their project. They are still a long way to go before they reach their target goal. So, if you would want to check out their page, just click here.
See this little wolf pup bellow out his first real howl in the video below!
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