Wolves and Moose Biology and Dynamics

Vocabulary flashcards covering the biological characteristics, lifecycle development, social structures, and survival adaptations of wolves and moose based on lecture notes.

Wolf Pups at Birth

Wolf pups are born in late April after a $2\text{-month}$ pregnancy. They are born deaf, blind, weigh no more than a can of soda pop, and can only suckle their mother's milk.

Wolf Pups at One Month

By one month of age, wolf pups can hear and see, weigh $10\,\text{pounds}$, and explore and play around the den site while eating regurgitated food brought by parents and siblings.

Wolf Rendezvous Sites

Locations up to a few miles from the den site where three-month-old wolf pups travel in late July to wait for adult pack members to return from hunts.

Wolf Pack Core Members

The core group of a wolf pack consisting of an alpha pair and their pups, frequently joined by offspring from previous years and occasionally less closely related wolves.

Alpha Wolves

The dominant male and female pair that lead pack travels and hunts, feed first, control pack mate behavior, and repress mating attempts by subordinate wolves.

Subordinate Wolves

Older, physically mature offspring in a pack whose mating attempts are repressed by alphas, requiring them to either submit to the alphas' will or leave the pack.

Wolf Communication and Intelligence

Sophisticated traits required by wolves to manage complex social relationships, identify friends and enemies, interpret intentions, and minimize injury or death.

Alpha Wolf Lifetime Rival Kills

The typical number of neighboring wolves killed by an individual alpha wolf in his or her lifetime during inter-pack warfare, ranging from $1$ to $3$ wolves.

Moose Calves at Birth

Moose calves are born in late May in the boreal forest weighing $30\,\text{pounds}$. They can walk within hours of birth and depend on their mother's milk for their first two months.

Moose Calf Weaning Weight

By late fall, healthy moose calves are fully weaned and weigh $300\,\text{pounds}$, which is almost ten times their birth weight.

Moose Calf Survival Rate

Out of eight in ten cows pregnant each fall, only $1$ or $2$ out of ten cows still have a surviving calf by the following spring ($20\,\text{months}$ later).

Moose Summer Forage Consumption

During summer, moose spend about $8\,\text{hours}$ a day consuming $30$ to $40\,\text{pounds}$ of low-nutrition vegetation (forage), biting and chewing several thousand times daily.

Moose Cud Chewing (Ruminating)

A digestive process where low-nutrition forage is partially digested, regurgitated, chewed as cud for about $8\,\text{hours}$ daily, and re-swallowed to maximize nutrient absorption.

Pre-Winter Fat Accumulation in Moose

A seasonal adaptation where moose increase their body weight by up to $25\%$ during summer and fall, storing fat to use as energy over the winter.

Moose Underwater Foraging Nose Structure

A complex nostril-closing system consisting of massive cartilage, specialized muscles, folded and recessed skin, and fatty pads that allows moose to forage underwater without breathing in water.

Aquatic Benefits for Moose

Water provides cooling, reduces respiration rate by almost $30\%$ and overall energy expenditure by about $10\%$, yields protein and sodium-rich plants, and offers safety from wolves.

Moose Winter Diet

A meager diet consisting of twigs from deciduous trees/shrubs and twigs and needles of balsam fir and cedar, which contain only one-third the nutrition of summer leaves.

Moose Winter Energy Restriction

A survival tactic where moose rest and ruminate in solitude and hunger, restricting food intake because foraging in deep snow consumes more energy than the food provides, leading to daily weight loss for about $5\,\text{months}$.