By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune
If you like the sound of wolves howling, turn up the volume on your computer and watch a rare, three-minute video of an Oregon wolf pup howling with adults that was shot three weeks ago by a state wildlife biologist.
The video has generated close to 30,000 hits in its first two weeks on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s gray wolves page.
“It’s very rare to get this kind of video,” says Michelle Dennehy, ODFW’s wolf program spokeswoman. “It’s pretty amazing and definitely a cool thing to watch. “It’s probably going to be one of our top videos, even though it’s only been out two weeks.”
The video can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/c6r77qk.
The video was shot July 25 by ODFW assistant wolf biologist Roblyn Brown in the Summit Ridge area of the Snake River wildlife management unit, Dennehy says.
The pup is one of at least three born this year in the Snake River pack, and the video came during a survey of the pups. Photos taken by a remote camera also show at least three adults in the pack.
Wolves are considered to be highly social animals and howling is a common behavior that helps members of packs communicate and stay together, according to the ODFW page. In the video, wolf howls can be heard coming from several miles away.