The Highly Intelligent Wolf
Wolves are natural-born predators and are well-equipped to take down prey. They have keen senses, large canine teeth, powerful jaws and the ability to run at 37 miles per hour. Wolves are complex, highly intelligent animals who are caring, playful, and above all devoted to family. A wolf pack is an exceedingly complex social unit—an extended family of parents, offspring, siblings, aunts, uncles, and sometimes dispersers from other packs. There are old wolves that need to be cared for, pups that need to be educated, and young adults that are beginning to assert themselves – all altering the dynamics of the pack. Much of how wolves communicate is done through body language and even the chemistry of scent. Wolves communicate, collaborate and share knowledge across generations. The older wolves, as more experienced hunters, share hunting strategies and techniques with younger wolves, passing down knowledge from one generation to the next, maintaining a culture unique to that pack. In a wolf pack, order is regularly reinforced by displays of dominance and submission through a complex mix of vocal and physical communications. Wolves are a keystone species which means they play a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions.
If the wolf is your power animal you exemplify faithfulness, intelligence, inner strength, and intuition. You are a natural-born teacher, imparting knowledge based on experience. You have a strong sense of family and community with an intuitive sense of the right social order. Although externally very tough, you are passionate and romantic on the inside. You know how to trust your insights about emotional attachments. You are a natural leader and command the respect of your peers. You prefer diplomacy and retreat before open hostility but will fiercely defend yourself and your loved ones whenever necessary. The wolf will not let anyone intimidate or coerce them. The wolf uses their inner strength and intuition to enjoy great powers of endurance. The wolf knows how to face its deepest fears and is the epitome of the spirit of the wild. The wolf symbolizes compassionate freedom.
