Blog Reader Dave Messineo asked me the following question last week----"I have heard coyotes howling in Yellowstone, Arizona, Florida, etc. as well as right here around my home in central New York".......... "Perhaps I can be enlightened by some one but I have never heard a coyote during the day or at dusk or dawn i.e. crepuscular"............ "Coyotes in my experience only howl during the night, well after dusk and well before dawn"............ "Often during the night here in New York I awaken to what sounds like scores of howling coyote howling all around my house".. I would be interested to hear if indeed they do howl at dusk or dawn in other areas(of the Country)"...................Dave, From the articles below, it does appear that both Wolves and Coyotes do howl during daylight hours------Gary Clancy is a hunter and writes a column called SPORTSMANGUIDE.COM------He writes: "Coyotes are most vocal from sunset until an hour after dark and again in the morning just before the first break of day, although they will howl off and on all night long"............"I have heard coyotes howl during the middle of the day on a few different occasions, but this is not common"..............From FREEWEBS.COM comes these statements: "While howling, wolves often alter their voices considerably"........... "As a result people are often "fooled" into believing that there are more wolves present than there really are when they hear wolves howling"................. "People have often guessed, based on listening its howls, that a pack of wolves contained up to 20 individuals, when there were only 3 or 4"............"Also, wolves do not howl only at night"........."They will howl during the daytime, evening or early morning".................From WOLFPARK.ORG comes this commentary---"Despite the assertions of popular mythology, the wolf does not howl only during the full moon"............ "Wolves howl during the day, at night, and any time of year, no matter what the moon is doing".................." Wolves howl most often at dawn and dusk, when they are most active, and during late January and early February, the breeding season"-------Dave, hope this sheds some further light on Wolf and Coyote HOWLING-----Best to you and all our readers for a Merry and a Happy!

Why do wolves howl? Scientists unravel mystery. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0822/Why-do-wolves-howl-Scientists-unravel-mystery?cmpid=addthis_email#.UrovKFJBnAo.email

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wolf howling
freewebs.com


There are many misconceptions regarding the reasons wolves howl. Contrary to popular belief, wolves do not howl for the sake of howling at the moon, and despite the traditional imagery, wolves do not always sit when they howl - they often remain standing. Also, wolves do not howl only at night. They will howl during the daytime, evening or early morning.

 They often howl together in a group, and one wolf in the pack will usually start the howling session by pointing its nose towards the sky and howling. The other members of the pack will soon join in excitedly. Under ideal conditions, wolf howls can be heard from as far away as 10 miles (16 km).

While howling, wolves often alter their voices considerably. As a result people are often "fooled" into believing that there are more wolves present than there really are when they hear wolves howling. People have often guessed, based on listening its howls, that a pack of wolves contained up to 20 individuals, when there were only 3 or 4. Some people have claimed that wolves do that deliberately, in order to fool neighbouring packs into believing that there are more animals present than there really are. However, many naturalists and wolf biologists do not accept that idea.

Wolves seem to howl for many reasons. They often howl before they go on a hunt, possibly to rally the pack together, and they often begin to howl after a successful hunt. That suggests that howling serves to assemble a pack together, as wolves often become separated from each other during a hunt. They do not, however, howl while they are hunting, as that would alert potential prey items to the wolves' presence, giving them more time to escape.

 In addition, a wolf may howl alone if it is having troubles locating its pack, as pack members seem to recognize each other's voices, since individual wolves often have their own characteristic way of howling. Wolves will also howl in apparent grief after the death of their mates, and lonely wolf pups often howl in distress. And, as R. D. Lawrence has written in his book, Trail of the Wolf, "somewhat like humans, they [wolves] enjoy a singsong."

Wolf packs may also howl to communicate with other packs, as two different wolf packs will sometimes answer each other's howls. Wolves will also often answer the calls of humans mimicking wolf howls. L. D. Mech (1970) notes that wolves often remain silent for 20-30 minutes after a howling session. He suggests that such a silent period would allow each pack to listen for other wolf packs. If different packs repeated their howling right away, it would be difficult for any one pack to determine how many other packs were in the area.

Wolves howl less frequently during May and June than they do during the rest of the year, likely because that is the time that packs are most likely to have young pups present. It is possible that wolf packs who have young pups present often keep silent so they do not attract attention to their whereabouts, since pups are vulnerable to predators like bears and cougars.
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The Scoop On(COYOTE)  Howling sportsmanguide.com By Gary Clancy Howling is a very effective way to  locate coyotes and in  one very specific circumstance, \ howling can be used to  bring a coyote into gun range. Here is the scoop on howling. The Locator Howl Coyotes are very communicative.  They use barks, yips, whines, growls and a wide assortment  of howls to communicate with other coyotes in their packs and  also with other individual coyotes and other packs. Sometimes  I think, especially on nights  with a full moon, coyotes howl just  for the fun of it. Coyotes are most vocal from sunset  until an hour after  dark and again in the morning just  before the first break  of day, although they will howl off  and on all night long.  I have heard coyotes howl during  the middle of the day  on a few different occasions, but  this is not common. I use howling to locate good places from which  to call. With the exception of some Western states,  coyotes are not so plentiful that you can just walk  into any old section and expect your calls to be  heard by a coyote or two. When I take the time  to hike into a section and set-up to call, I want to  be assured that coyotes are hearing my calls. I like to cruise the backroads in my pickup truck an  hour or two before first light or for an hour or so  after sunset. I stop every one-quarter to one-half  mile to howl and then listen for a reply from a pack  or a single coyote. When I get a reply, I make note  of the location so that I can return later to call. If I  am familiar with the country, I will usually just tie a piece of orange flagging tape to a nearby branch,  road sign or fence so that I can find the exact  location again when I return to call. If I am hunting Electronic Calls Work Most of the time, I rely upon an electronic call and Johnny Stewart's tape CT 161 Coyote Locator. When I get to a spot from where I want to howl, I pull over and park. I get out of the truck, hold t he speaker at arms' length, turn the volume up about half way on the caller, and slowly move the speaker in a circle so that the sound is directed  in all directions. Then I turn the volume off and  listen for a reply. Usually, if there are coyotes  around they will already be howling when you turn  off the volume. If I don't hear any, I crank the volume all of the way up and repeat the process.  If there is no answer, I'm back in the truck and down the road. Using this method I can usually locate two to six good locations from which to call in a morning or evening of howling. If you don't have an electronic caller, you can use  a mouth blown call. The best I have used is the CH-1, which also happens to be from Johnny Stewart calls. It is easy to blow and has good volume. To learn to make howls on the CH-1, pick up the instructional tape, "ICT 402 Secrets  Of Successful Coyote Howling." I'm firmly c onvinced that one of the most important things you can do to up your calling success is to  locate coyotes with howls before calling. The Lone Coyote Challenge Howl This howl is not a locator call, but is designed to bring a dominant male coyote to the gun. It is most effective during the breeding season, which over much of the country is in late January through the month of February. Coyotes  are territorial and every pack of coyotes will have one "boss dog." This dominant male will  perform the bulk of the breeding duties within  the pack's territory. If a dominant male hears  the challenge howl, the response is usually dramatic and immediate. I've had a couple of big males nearly in my lap. That will get your attention! Coyotes are most vocal from sunset until an hour after dark and again in the morning just before the first break of day, although they will howl off and on all night long. The challenge howl is not a good call to use  for calling in numbers of coyotes because it  is usually only effective on the dominant male in each territory and may even put other  coyotes on the run. I have had a pair of coyotes respond to the call, however. I assume  that the dominant male was already in the  company of a female when he heard the lone coyote challenge and the female just tagged  along with the male when he responded to my howling. Bad mistake on her part, both times! But usually, the challenge howl is only going to  be of interest to the biggest and smartest male  coyote in the area. When calling at this time of the year, I will often start off with the challenge howl in the hopes that  there is a dominant male within hearing. I'll wait 10 minutes for the boss dog to show himself. If he has not arrived by then, odds are good he is not within hearing of the challenge howl. I will then switch over to a conventional call, such as  a cottontail in distress or fawn bleat -- something that will appeal to any coyote within hearing distance. Gary Clancy writes a weekly column for  sportsmansguide.com. Gary has hunted  whitetail deer in 20 different states and  provinces. He has harvested many record-book  animals, and presented hunting seminars from  Tennessee to Wisconsin. Gary also has authored  or co-authored six hunting books, four on   whitetail hunting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WOLF HOWLING Despite the assertions of popular mythology,  the wolf does not howl only during the full moon.  Wolves howl during the day, at night, and any  time of year, no matter what the moon is doing.  Wolves howl most often at dawn and dusk, when  they are most active, and during late January and early February, the breeding season. Wolves do not howl to "strike terror" into the hearts of their prey. Prey can smell that wolves are around and  do not need to be warned by sound of their presence — and it does the wolves no good to  warn the prey that they are hunting. Wolves  hunt in silence, and make use of the advantage  of surprise whenever they can.  A wolf’s howl may be heard up to ten miles away depending on weather conditions and terrain. There are several different kinds of howl, and each has a different meaning depending on the context in which  it is used. The chorus howl, where three or more wolves howl together, is used both to call the pack  members together and to warn other packs of the presence of the howling wolves. The solo howl, howled by one wolf, is primarily used to attract  a mate or to relocate a pack from which the lone wolf has been separated. Duet howls, by two  wolves, have different meanings depending on  whether the wolves are howling simultaneously  or alternately, and on the histories of the two  wolves.  Chorus howls may become rallies, where the howling  wolves and sometimes the whole pack come together  in a mob of wagging tails and sniffing noses. The wolves greet each other during a rally and act very  excited. Lower-ranking wolves will often rally to higher-ranking wolves, directing their greeting behavior primarily toward the dominant animals  and following them around as they howl, offering  them submissive greetings and affirming their status. Sometimes rallies end in small arguments  as the greeting ceremony brings two wolves who  would rather not be near each other into close  contact as they greet others in the group. Source: http://www.wolfpark.org/wolffaq.html