In a normal den, the birthing chamber lies at the end of a tunnel that may be up to 15 feet long in soft soil. The hol, den is often slightly elevated above the rest of the tunnel, and no den-lining material is used. The mother keeps the hol, den clean door eating fecal mater of her pups. The birthing chamber is usually about three feet in diameter and about two feet high.
Shortly before giving birth, a pregnant female will seek out a den. Dens may be a deep riverbank hollow, a cleft between rocks, a hollow log, a space under an upturned boom of a space under a rock overhang. Sometimes wolves will use abandoned...
continue reading...