shadow – Apr 1, 2008 12:00 AM

Wolves don’t typically start to shed their winter coat until early June. Some people theorize that this may be a preventative measure against invasive insect populations in the early spring. We don’t know if there’s any truth to that, but they certainly are protected from the late spring black flies. This cooler spring is actually better for the wolves, last year, when temperatures reached 70 degrees in April, the wolves were easily overheated. In this week’s video, Shadow does a roll-over in the snow, possibly to cool off, but more likely, just a social behavior in the pack. Wolves evolved to have hair over their bodies rather than sweat glands like humans, so they function much better with cold than with heat. One way to modify behavior to deal with heat is to reduce activity during the warmest part of the day. This is the transition we will experience in the next few month, more nocturnal wolves.