Biologists have determined that only one or two of every five pups born live to the age of 10 months, and only about half of those remaining survive to the time when they would leave the pack and find their own mates. Adult wolves on the other hand, have fairly high rates of survival. A seven year old wolf is considered to be pretty old, and a maximum lifespan is about 16 years. Communication Wolves communicate through facial expressions and body postures, scent-marking, growls, barks, whimpers and howls. There is no evidence, however, that wolves howl at the moon.
Pups begin to howl at one month old.
The howl of the wolf can be heard for up to six miles. Wolves also wrestle, rub cheeks and noses, nip, nuzzle, and lick each other. These marks can set the boundaries of territories, record trails, warn off other wolves, or help lone wolves find unoccupied territory. No one knows how wolves get all this information from smelling scent marks, but it is likely that wolves are very good at distinguishing between many similar odors. They also eat smaller prey such as snowshoe hare, beaver, rabbits, opossums and rodents.