Talk:Wolf

Including a note about a paper reporting a lone wolf that ate 181 grasshoppers

I attempted to include a sentence about a report that a lone wolf may have consumed 181 grasshoppers in a single night, but it proved controversial: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wolf&curid=33702&diff=1244457753&oldid=1244416467 May I add it to the article? citation: https://trophiccascades.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Barton_et_al-2019-Ecology.pdf it's a short read, 4 pages Nagging Prawn (talk) 08:06, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

Why? What use is it? Wolverine XI ^{(talk to me)} 22:51, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

It's an unusual example of the dietary breadth wolves can exhibit, thereby bolstering the point made by the sentences preceding the one I wrote. Additionally, there is precedent in Wikipedia for the inclusion of detailed information regarding animal diets, e.g. this article on golden eagle diets: Dietary biology of the golden eagle . Multiple references to single-occurence observations — like the one I intended to add to the wolf article — were even added to this Wikipedia article on golden eagles. Nagging Prawn (talk) 10:15, 8 September 2024 (UTC)

This dietary detail is not limited solely to articles dedicated to diet either. The article on bald eagles, which is a featured article, no less, contains an extensive survey of bald eagle prey species: Bald eagle#Diet and feeding . Nagging Prawn (talk) 10:22, 8 September 2024 (UTC)

The article states that wolves will eat some types of insects when these are plentiful. I cannot see a reason why the volume of consumption should not be included. 14.2.206.29 (talk) 05:12, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it seems this still elicits pushback: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wolf&action=history Can you provide more substantive reasons why this shouldn't be in the article? @Moxy Nagging Prawn (talk) 21:17, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Can't believe this is a serious considered addition to the article. There is zero context here.... calorie wise is this a lot or a little? Is this comparable to eating a squirrel or a cow? Is this abnormal or normal behavior? Sounds to me like a trivial fact.... was this in the wild or in captivity. Moxy🍁 21:24, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

These are questions covered in the paper being cited. Should I simply add more detail from the paper in my edit? Regardless, Wikipedia is a summary of available knowledge, not a site of post-publication peer review. This paper is a peer-reviewed publication with little apparent scientific controversy, going by the citations on google scholar, so I don't understand the resistance against its inclusion. Nagging Prawn (talk) 22:09, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Please stop referencing this page in your edit summaries when there is no agreement to adding the grasshopper information. Should you repeat your behavior, I will request action against you. Wolverine XI ^{(talk to me)} 21:19, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

And just so you know silence ≠ consensus. Wolverine XI ^{(talk to me)} 21:20, 13 October 2024 (UTC)

Project banners

Would someone like to reveal what Wikiprojects this article falls under, please. 14.2.206.29 (talk) 01:45, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

Can you now click the [show] link in the banner? - UtherSRG (talk) 02:05, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

Largest extant Canidae Claim

This is factually incorrect: Several domestic breeds of dogs outweigh and are larger than wolves. The English Mastiff outweighs the wolf by an average of 50kg ( 110 lbs.), and both the Irish Wolfhound and Great Dane stand taller than the wolf at the shoulders. The wolf stands at an average of 80 to 85 cm (30 to 32 inches) at the shoulder; but for Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds, these are the minimum heights with the average being 90 cm (35 inches).

Before attempting to edit, I wanted to bring this to discussion. 91.21.30.93 (talk) 08:05, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Domestication

I agree with the recent addition of the passage on domestication. A summary of this material should be present here, together with a link to the main article. But the copied text could be shortened a bit more, we probably don't need all these specifics with their attendant references. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 20:31, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

"The material is from a non-FA article"...? Getting a little grotesque in our gatekeeping criteria, are we? Anyway, correct re duplication, as the Evolution section does do a good job of covering the ground here. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 07:10, 31 October 2024 (UTC)

RFC on Grasshoppers in Diet

User:ClueBot III/DoNotArchiveUntil Should the following sentence be included in the article, in the Diet section, immediately following: Template:Tq

One wolf was even known to have eaten 181 Payette's short-winged grasshoppers in a single sitting.

? Robert McClenon (talk) 06:02, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Yes. The scientific article cites two other previously documented consumption of grasshoppers in grey wolves as well other canids. The article opens the possibility for new areas of research, as most wolf studies have focussed on large ungulate kill sites. If nature does not heed to taxonomic boundaries imposed by ecologists, is worth exploring and worth a mention in Wikipedia. Rigorousmortal (talk) 21:43, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

Survey

Please enter Yes or No with a brief explanation. Please do not reply to the statement of other editors in this section. That is what the Discussion section is for.

• No As others have said, that is trivia. SilverTiger12 (talk) 06:47, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
• No. It already says that they will sometimes eat large insects, so this is somewhat redundant, and unless there is reason to believe that this number of grasshoppers is typical, I'd say it's not very illuminating, possibly misleading, and generally trivial. -- Ssilvers (talk) 09:39, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
• Yes. Similar one-off dietary observations are included in other featured articles, such as the Bald Eagle article. Nagging Prawn (talk) 00:12, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
• No somewhat redundant and has zero context. Is this a lot or little is this even a sustainable diet.Moxy🍁 02:11, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
• No A case of a single specimen cannot be considered representative of the entire species. We will need much more than this in order to find relevance. Mediatech492 (talk) 03:25, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
• Comment Arriving from WP:RFC/A - This seems like a good candidate for an endnote comment, expanding on the statement that they eat insects with an extreme example of this being observed. It seems a little too in-depth for the main body of the article, in my opinion. Fieari (talk) 07:01, 4 December 2024 (UTC)
• No. It seems superfluous since insects are already mentioned. Alaexis_¿question? 21:01, 10 December 2024 (UTC)
• No. It's trivia, not encyclopedic. Averixus (talk) 19:30, 13 December 2024 (UTC)
• No. The mentioned text is too trivial and in-depth. --_ZZ^Z'S 10:18, 14 December 2024 (UTC)

Discussion

• I have no strong feelings; I understand the argument that it verges on WP:TRIVIA, but I admit it is interesting and does show the dietary diversity of wolves—it'd be a good fact at DYK :) I do however have a nitpick on the wording. Reading the source, it says Template:Tq I don't think that supports the "single sitting" wording. While I understand that "single sitting" is an English turn of phrase (and a fun and evocative one at that), I rather doubt the wolf ate them all at once, or that it was sitting, given that the paper elaborates on how hard it would be to catch that many grasshoppers. It seems more accurate to keep the original wording of the source and say Template:Tq. CaptainEek ^{Edits Ho Cap'n!}⚓ 07:55, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

  A reasonable suggestion! Nagging Prawn (talk) 01:49, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

  I agree with this, and I especially appreciate the idea of the rewrite to "short period of time". ^🦄✨bedazzledunicorn^✨🦄 19:51, 25 November 2024 (UTC)

• Seems more on the trivial side. I've found information in a tertiary source that dogs have eaten: '40 starfish, fiberglass insulation, drywall, part of a home foundation, light bulbs, and glass', but I didn't feel the need to include it in Dog. Traumnovelle (talk) 09:45, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Discussion at Talk:Wolf (disambiguation) § List of animals

File:Symbol watching blue lashes high contrast.svg You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:Wolf (disambiguation) § List of animals. Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 12:02, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

"Eastern beringia" listed at Redirects for discussion

File:Information.svg The redirect Eastern beringia has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Template:Section link until a consensus is reached. Hemiauchenia (talk) 18:17, 12 April 2025 (UTC)