Thread: Wolves howl at the Moon.

How long have Wolves been Howling at the Full Moon? Normally from a raised platform. This behavior is inherited from generation to generation. It would not surprise me to learn that this wailing has been occurring for 60/70 million years, or more. Why do they do this? I think they howl at the Moon asking the Moon to stay in its Place. They have experienced catastrophies in their ancestory and they have figured that these terrifying events come from above. ( No, not like chicken little ). I myself do not sleep on or about the full moon.....westwind. This information comes from my own observations and my own collective thoughts.

Originally Posted by westwind

How long have Wolves been Howling at the Full Moon? Normally from a raised platform. This behavior is inherited from generation to generation. It would not surprise me to learn that this wailing has been occurring for 60/70 million years, or more. Why do they do this? I think they howl at the Moon asking the Moon to stay in its Place. They have experienced catastrophies in their ancestory and they have figured that these terrifying events come from above. ( No, not like chicken little ). I myself do not sleep on or about the full moon.....westwind. This information comes from my own observations and my own collective thoughts.

I cannot say for certain, but I think the howling at the moon is a myth - in certain ways. I don't think wolves howl at the moon. I think people may have heard howling, more often than not, during a full moon because of the following:

As I understand, coyotes, hyenas, wolves.. They all howl and what not when they've caught a kill. My conclusion is that the full moon yields more light, and therefore provides an environment where prey is easier to catch during nightfall. But why they howl when they catch their kills? I cannot say.. Perhaps the call out to brethren, to let them know a full belly can be had nearby. Then again, maybe they're just cocky.

NOVA Online | Wild Wolves | What's in a Howl

So wolves howl to find their companions and keep their neighbors at bay. Popular imagination has long held that they also howl at the moon, but there is no evidence that this is so. Wolves may be more active on moonlit nights, when they can see better, or we may hear them more often on such nights, because we feel more comfortable tramping about in the light of a full moon, but a wolf howling at the moon would be wasting its breath.

I agree with Harold (I don't get to say that very often!).

I visited a sanctuary for wolves some time ago. At dusk, the pack leaders started howling (to gather their pack, or whatever). Not surprisingly, the moon is also more visible after dark. We were told that they do it every night. (There was no moon that night. Or rather, it was overcast.)

Coyotes around me get together and sing fairly early, in the evening, a little after they wake up. In the park nearby, they do this regardless of moon phase or even presence.

Howwwwlllllllllllllllllll
I howl to start the neighborhood dogs howling, and the howls flow up and down the valley; each alone, and each joined together into a unity in the howl.
(and it scares the coyotes into silence)

I live about a mile and a half from a wolf haven....we hear them howl all the time even on new moons.

I knew one of the reasons is they howl to mark their territory by sound especially when they are active--like on well lit and otherwise quite and still nights.

I'd like to Howl at the Full Moon anyway. From the local Cemetery. Bit like Johnny Westmuller in the Tarson Movies of the 40s/50s. But I would be Howling for a long lost Love, all the Pathos and longing and promise that never came to pass. westwind.

I remember being on my honeymoon and stopping in Alaska during our cruise. We went into the Yukon and one night we went outside with a guide and he started howling. I thought it was funny at first, then I heard the howls coming from the wolves in the distance. Blood chilling and beautiful.

I had never heard the thing about wolves howling on a full moon because of the increased visibility. Makes a lot of sense. I learn something new every day.