Wolf

Do wolves really howl at the moon? Through howling, the members of a wolf pack can communicate over large distances. Howling thus primarily serves to maintain cohesion between pack mates, as wolves are highly social. The howl of one wolf is answered by other pack members, and a typical howl chorus begins. With this, pack members can communicate their location and coordinate their movements, for example before the hunt. Wolves thereby recognize other individuals by their voice. Furthermore, researchers could show that every pack howls differently and each pack has its own dialect! At the same time, howling serves to set the boundaries: by howling, wolf packs avoid foreign packs getting in their way. As wolves are nocturnal, they mostly howl at dusk. When howling, wolves raise their heads to the sky. This is probably the reason why people assumed by mistake that wolves are howling at the moon.