Body Language
The wolf's ®visual¯ signals consist mostly of body language. Just as ®humans¯ and ®dogs¯ show their emotions through various facial expressions, so too does the ®wolf¯. This is one reason why a wolf's mask emphasizes facial features so greatly.
®Humans¯ smile when they're happy, and our ®dogs¯ assume a "happy face" at times. The ®wolf¯ and ®dog¯ happy expression includes an open mouth, tongue hanging loosely, and ®ears¯ forward.
The emotions that a ®wolf¯ expresses through body language are suspicion, threat, anxiety, and submission. Threat behavior is quite different. The threatening animal - ®dog¯ or ®wolf¯ - wrinkles its ®nose¯, opens its mouth, bares its ®teeth¯, pulls its lips forward, and erects its ®ears¯. Usually this expression is accompanied by a ®growl¯ or a ®snarl¯. The anxious ®dog¯ or ®wolf¯ on the receiving end of the threat puts on a very different face. It keeps its mouth closed and its lips drawn way back, lays back its ®ears¯, and ®whines¯.
One of the most useful expressions of an alpha wolf is the "fixed stare," or glare. Often, all an ®alpha¯ has to do is stare at a ®subordinate¯ wolf, and that animal will immediately cringe, turn, and slink away. The glare is an ®alpha's¯ way of controlling ®subordinate¯ pack members.
A ®wolf¯ or ®dog¯ also uses certain tail and body positions to communicate. For example, a threatening wolf not only ®snarls¯ and bares its ®teeth¯, but also raises its hackles and tail and essentially inflates its size. Conversely, the ®wolf¯ being threatened pulls its lips back in a defensive "grin", lowers itself, holds its tail between its ®legs¯, and may even roll over on its side or back, trying to make itself look smaller.
