Siblings Dispersing Together

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Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by Snowstar » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:05 am

I was wondering- and I searched the forums to see if there was anything on it, and I found nothing- will siblings disperse together? Like 2-3 sisters or brothers, or possibly a combination of the two genders, might want to disperse together. Would this actually happen? Would it increase the chances for survival for the wolves? And would they stay together once they found mates, or would they go their separate ways?

Also- Would wolves disperse a pack, possibly earlier or later (meaning a dominant wolf or one that chose to stay with its parents for a long time) than usual, if the rest of the pack was ill? Such as, with mange, distemper, or another similar disease?
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Re: Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by Mosquito » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:48 am

Hi Snowstar,

1. Sometimes siblings will disperse together, but will go their seperate ways once they find a mate.

2. I'm not sure about this, but one the illnesses you listed (mange) is highly contagious, and a dispersing wolf would have probably already caught it. I'm not sure about distemper, though. I'll have to look it up later.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
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Re: Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by CLBaileyi » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:35 am

Wolves do indeed disperse in sibling groups and sometimes will even stay together for longer periods of time once one one of the animals becomes a breeding animal (although not very often).

More often than not, when mange, distemper, parvo virus is contracted into a pack, the infected animals become very debilitated and either die quickly (especially with parvo/distempter) or cannot keep up with the rest of the pack.

I hope that helps
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Re: Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by Blightwolf » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:29 am

I would like to add that because dispersion can be considered as a way for wolves to prevent inbreeding, the siblings will often split up and find a route of their own and then travel individually rather than sticking together for too long. They might leave the initial pack territory together and travel in pairs for some length of distance but eventually, it's very common that these dispersal groups and "gangs" will break apart and each wolf sets out on a solo journey.
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Re: Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by Kittysaysmeow » Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:00 pm

I would like to add that wolves are very social creatures and like to have company. They sometimes don't disperse at all, but stay in their birth pack until they die. However, this depends on the wolf's 'personality' and temprement.

As to your second question, I think their instincts of being old enough to leave anyways would influence them. However, I did find this interesting tid-bit:
Wolves also carry the Canine coronavirus, with infections being most prevalent in winter months. However, grey wolf populations are remarkably resilient against disease outbreaks. Usually, a wolf displaying the first symptoms of disease will leave its pack, thus preventing the sickness from spreading to its pack mates
Source: http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/37/4/740.pdf
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Re: Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by Snowstar » Fri Jul 30, 2010 5:20 pm

Sorry, I've been away on vacation for a little while. Thanks for all this info, especially on the first question!
Kittysaysmeow wrote:As to your second question, I think their instincts of being old enough to leave anyways would influence them. However, I did find this interesting tid-bit:
Wolves also carry the Canine coronavirus, with infections being most prevalent in winter months. However, grey wolf populations are remarkably resilient against disease outbreaks. Usually, a wolf displaying the first symptoms of disease will leave its pack, thus preventing the sickness from spreading to its pack mates
Source: http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/37/4/740.pdf
Hmm... This is making me feel like I might want to change the method through which my main characters leave the pack... This along with some of the other info on the effects of illness posted by others seems to show that the situation I had in mind might not be quite so realistic. Thanks everyone for all the information! I think a mod can lock this thread now that my questions have been so thoroughloy answered :) .
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Re: Siblings Dispersing Together

Post by Masika » Fri Jul 30, 2010 5:50 pm

Hello Snowstar,

Alrighty then, glad your questions could be answered! ^^ And thanks to everyone who helped out!

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