If you remember a few months ago, we answered a question on “where do wolves live.” That answer led to more questions about the life of wolves and we thought we would answer one of those questions today. If you do have more questions about wolves, feel free to email us your question or to post it here and we will try to post new answers as the questions arise.

So with that little introduction, let’s look at what wolves eat.

Before I get into the actual diet of a wolf, it is important to note that wolves are carnivores, meat is their primary food source but they have been known to eat some berries and even insects like grasshoppers or even earthworms.

Since wolves rely on fresh meat as their food supply, the actual food that they eat depends on a number of things; their environment, the prey that is available in their environment and the season. If the herd has migrated to an area where the wolves are not, the pack will find other means to feed themselves.

Wolves, like dogs, can eat several times in a day, usually every 5 hours or so but generally, food is not plentiful enough for that type of feeding behavior so wolves are able to live without food for several weeks.

When it comes to hunting, wolves hunt in packs and will often single out old, sick or young animals to attack. This is beneficial to both the pack and the herd since the animals that are weakened by age or sickness are less likely to injure a wolf and the wolves keep the herd healthy and strong by removing the diseased members.

Since wolves hunt in packs, they are able to take down large game and will often hunt deer, moose and other large game. When large game is not readily available or the pack is too small to successfully kill one, wolves will survive on mice, birds, fish and the berries and insects that I have already mentioned.

A wolf’s digestive system is very efficient and it will digest 95% of the meat swallowed. Any bone splinters or undigested food will be wrapped inside the hair the wolf swallowed and will prevent the intestines from becoming damaged as the bone passes out of the body.

Young wolves are nursed by their dam (mother) until they are old enough to eat food. When they are, adult wolves will take the food back to the den and regurgitate it for the young. As they grow, the adult wolves will begin to take pieces of the kill back to the den for the pups.

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My kids, on the other hand, only need to ask and suddenly I am rushing for a container, a mister and everything else that I need to set the snails up into the lap of luxury. They eat well when they visit and many because so used to being handled, that they stretch out each time we pick them up.

So the first time I brought snails into the house, I had to figure out how to make the snails visit enjoyable not only for us but for them. One of these was figuring out what they eat and is a question often asked by many impromptu snail owners.

So what do you feed a snail?

One of the first things that I would like to mention is Cuttle Bones. You can find these in the bird section of any pet store and are very cheap. Without a cuttle bone, snails will not receive the proper nutrients and their shells will harden. This isn’t really what they eat but it is essential to their diet.

When it comes to food, you can feed snails a variety of things including plants, vegetables and fruit. They tend to eat everything and anything that is plant matter and this also includes decaying vegetation. They aren’t very picky and I have had snails that love apples. As soon as an apple plopped down in the terrarium, even with other food, the snails would be all over the apple.

If you are keeping snails in a terrarium, it is better to plant a small houseplant into the terrarium. The snails will curl up onto the plant and come down when food is out. If there is an abundance of vegetables and fruit, you will find that the snails will leave the plant alone – well, for the most part that is.

Lastly, snails need water to survive. They should be misted with a spray bottle several times a day but don’t worry too much if you miss a spritzing. In times of drought, snails will seal up the entrance to their shell with a thick mucus and go into hibernation. To revive your snail, simply mist it a few times and the snail will be back out and being its usual snailish self.

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In many towns and cities, you can contact the local animal shelters to find out if they offer spaying/neutering at a lower price.  Some shelters do and will offer spay/neutering for as low as $25.  Others do not offer the service and you will need to go to a regular veterinarian clinic for the service.

When it comes to spaying and neutering, you will generally pay within a price range of $50 to $350.  I have heard of vets charging much more, some as high as $450 to $500 but generally you will not get much higher than $350. 

With males, you will find that vets offer the neutering service at a lower cost to pet owners.  That is of course if there are no other problems which will cause more surgery to the animal such as incidences where one or both testicles did not descend.

For females, you will find that they are slightly more expensive than males since the surgery is more invasive.  You will also find that the age range and the history of the female will cause a change in the price. 

If a female puppy is spayed before her first heat, usually between 6 months to 11 months, the cost will be at the lowest for a female.  After the first heat, many veterinarians will charge a bit more for the procedure.  If she happens to become pregnant with her first (or subsequent heats) a vet will increase the price of spaying significantly. 

In the end, it is better to spay your puppy before she has her first heat for both her sake and your wallets.  It is also important to be completely prepared for the cost before you bring a puppy home.  After that, you will only need to make a few phone calls to find the best vet for the best price.

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They live in packs typically consisting of a father, a mother, and the wolf pups.

Wolves can be found in Canada, Alaska, and in parts of Minnesota, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wisconsin.  These close relatives of domestic dogs used to live all over the United States, but hunting had reduced their population almost to the point of extinction.  Today, thanks to regulations forbidding hunting of wolves in many areas, the population is on the rise.

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