Reading and vocabulary. Gray Wolf

Wolves live in groups called packs. A pack is a family of seven to eight wolves with a mom, dad, and offspring. The wolves' communication skills are very important to the pack's survival.

Wolves work together to      , raise their young, and protect their           . Wolves communicate with more than howls. They whimper and whine, growl and bark, yelp and snarl. They also use        produced by their bodies to communicate. A wolf’s sense of smell is 100 times stronger than a human’s. One source of scent is urine, which they use to mark territory and to tell other        in their own pack where they are. Another way wolves communicate is through body          . If a wolf feels           , it will approach another wolf with its head and tail held high and ears perked up. If you saw a wolf slinking toward another with its body lowered, its tail between its legs, and its ears flattened, you'd know it was approaching a dominant animal.

When a pack of        [wolf, wolves] does howl, it can be       [hear, heard] from ten miles away. The howl is      [uses, used] as a way to call to         [another, other] pack or warn of danger. Each pack has a unique howl, and while they don’t howl at the moon, wolves howl more when the moon is full and bright.

When a wolf wants         [to play, playing], it prances about happily and bows—lowering the front of its body while      [it's, its] rump stays up in the air with its tail wagging. When it's angry, a wolf may furrow its forehead, show its fangs, or growl. A        [wolf's, wolves] body language may remind you of another animal: a pet dog. Wolves and dogs are closely related, and the ways they communicate are similar.