The wolf is a formidable predatory animal, which, along with coyotes and jackals, zoologists belong to the order of wolves. Research in the field of gene research has proven that wolves are the progenitors of dogs. Yes, all of our pets, from Chihuahuas to St. Bernard.
In the article we will talk about this predator, and also explain what color the eyes of the wolf are, how and why they glow in the dark.
What does it look like
And here is the description of the wolf’s appearance: the beast resembles an ordinary large dog with sharp ears. He has a rather massive broad-faced muzzle, which is stretched forward and has a kind of whiskers on the sides. Wolves, like dogs, according to scientists, are able to "demonstrate" with a change in the position of the ears and tail, as well as the mouth and lips, at least 10 facial expressions. Among them, anger, anger, alertness, joy, fear, calm, threat, etc. For example, raised tail and ears indicate alertness of the animal or even clearly expressed aggression.
The movement of the tail is one of the indicators of the state of the wolf. In the normal state, it is quite long and fat, most often lowered down. The tail is "log" - this is what the hunters say about it.
The teeth of this animal are a formidable weapon. The jaw, only the upper one, not counting small and ordinary molars, contains six incisors and two fangs. The latter are assigned the most “responsible” role - they are called upon to grab and hold the victim, experiencing a huge load. Usually wolf fangs are sharper than a dog’s and slightly bent backwards.
The molars are also strong enough - they are also responsible for grinding the bones of the victim. For example, a polarized wolf who is thoroughly hungry can eat a whole hare, along with its skin and bones.
The coat color of this predator living in the forests differs from its tundra counterpart. Everything is clear here. The colors prevailing in the environment dictate their camouflage: a forest wolf is grayish with a brown tint, tundra forests are almost white, and desert wolves have reddish fur.
Dimensions
An ordinary gray wolf is a rather large animal for its appearance. An adult can be up to 160 cm long (we are talking about the length of a body without a tail), and a tail more than half a meter. The height at the withers is quite decent - up to 90 cm. Such growth can only be compared with large-breed dogs - such as the Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Newfoundland, Serbernar.
However, all these characteristics are subject to adjustments made by the rule formulated by the German biologist Karl Bergman: the size of an individual depends on the climatic characteristics of the area in which it lives. The lower the average annual temperature, the larger the beast.
For Alaskan and Siberian seasoned wolves, a weight of 77-80 kg is considered normal. And the minimum wolf growth from areas located to the south can be 60 centimeters with a body length of just over a meter and a weight of 30 kg. The smallest, so to speak, is considered a subspecies of the Arabian wolf, the weight of individual representatives of which in mature form does not exceed 10 kg.
Where dwells
It is interesting that for a long time the habitat of the wolf occupied an area of second place after the human range. Now in Europe this animal is still no, no, and you will meet somewhere in Spain, Belarus, Italy, Ukraine, well, and in Russia, of course. By the way, the Russian wolf is represented by five species, among which the ordinary gray wolf, as well as the red, tundra, steppe, Eurasian and polar wolf.
There are still wolves in the Scandinavian countries, on the Balkan Peninsula, in the Baltic. The Asian subspecies inhabits Korea, China, India, as well as Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. But in Japan, the wolf is already extinct. To such a sad conclusion came zoologists.
Although before the wolf population was stable both in Eurasia and on the American continent, today, due to human economic activity, it has declined significantly. The wolf lives where there is still a dense forest and not so human presence is felt. A predator is a predator - it does not get along well with human settlements, sometimes causing significant damage to livestock. This is especially common if the food supply of the area is scarce or unstable.
Wolf eyes
The wolf has excellent eyesight, and it cannot be otherwise - it is a predator, and its survival depends on how sensitive it is and how fast it is to react. In addition, the animal is most active at night - therefore, it has excellent twilight vision.
It is still not clear whether the wolves distinguish colors, although embedded flags when hunting these animals are traditionally made red.
All wolf cubs, like most mammals, are born blind. When babies' eyes begin to open, they are blue in color. But only 2 to 4 months will pass - and the color of the iris will change and become normal for this animal, golden yellow or darker - yellow-brown. Hue and color saturation depends on the overall color of the animal. It is believed that the darker the color of the hair of a wolf, the brighter and brighter the eyes. However, it is very rare, but there have been cases when the wolf remained with blue eyes.
Nevertheless, to the traditional question of what color the eyes of the wolf are, most without hesitation will answer: yellow. A similar color, generally speaking, is common among animals. Iris of a similar or similar color is found in cats, foxes, owls, eagles, pigeons, fish. The pigment lipochrome, which is present in the iris, is responsible for this color.
As for the romantic image of a white wolf with blue eyes, here it is not a wolf, but a husky. This breed (Siberian husky) was bred by the northern peoples from the ancient native sled dogs.
Her eyes, according to pedigree data, can be not only brown, amber and green, but also blue. And the color of the fur can vary from pure white (which, in fact, a rarity) to white-gray, wolf. There are black husky.
Eye magic
For most people, the direct fixed gaze of a large animal directed at him is perceived as a threat. Most likely, this is due to ancient ideas, when a person’s survival depended solely on the reaction and speed of his run. The wolf is still considered a dangerous and formidable predator, and a meeting with him in a desert place and without weapons is fraught with the most terrible complications. Although it is believed that wolf aggression is rarely directed directly at the person.
Developed eyebrows make the eyes of the wolf deep set, and the look - as if squinted. This also does not add to the person the presence of spirit. Not for nothing that in medieval Christian representations the wolf was considered an accomplice of the devil, and its appearance was an expression of heresy, cunning and anger.
The image of the soul-stealing "hellish" wolf with eyes burning in fire was highlighted in his work "German mythology" by philologist and historian Jacob Grimm. These were the mythological representations of the ancient Germans. Researcher of Slavic folklore A.N. Afanasyev spoke about this demonic image, mentioning sayings:
I would say a word, but the wolf is not far off.
A werewolf man turning into a wolf - a wolkolak, a werewolf, a lycanthropus - also came into modern art from mythology.
Eyes burn with fire
Do wolf eyes glow in the dark? This question can be answered as follows: as with all animals that are well seeing at night (cats, deer, dogs), the eyes of this beast can sparkle because of a special layer, a membrane located behind the retina. It is called tapetum lucidum (from the Latin tapetum - "cover"). And the ability to reflect in this layer is much higher than the same ability in the retina. Passing through it and returning, even the weakest light from the object in question is amplified. Thus, the animal sees in the dark more clearly and in more detail than a person.
As for the answer to the question of what is the color of the eyes of the wolf, when they glow, it depends on the color of the membrane and can be sparkling white, orange, green.
This is the scientific explanation of the luminous eyes of the wolf. And here is how this image was embodied in the poem "Leaf fall" of the Russian poet Ivan Bunin:
Let the forest rage in the rain
May dark and rainy nights
And in the clearing wolf eyes
Glow green with fire!
We talked about the color of the eyes of the wolf and gave a description of this animal.