Howl: The Secret Language of Wolves

Howl: Decoding Wolves & Talking to Dogs

Jeffrey T Reed, PhD

A rare hybrid of hunter-gatherer, linguist, and AI tactician, Jeff tracks meaning through howls in the wild and code in the cloud. He lives where stories still have teeth—near Yellowstone National Park. He questions everything, from ancient alphabets to modern AI, and does it with rigor sharpened by a PhD, three decades in tech, and a lifetime of wilderness grit. He doesn’t just watch wolves — he decodes them.

He founded the Cry Wolf Project — the largest bioacoustics study of wolves in the world. To support this mission, he co-founded Grizzly Systems—the iPhone of camera traps. But his proudest work lies in co-founding the Wild Livelihoods Business Coalition, a movement redefining how we protect wild places—not just for today, but for generations to come.

Forthcoming Book 2026

Howl. Some hate it. Some love it. But nearly all know it.

The wolf’s howl is one of the most iconic sounds in nature. Our ancestors could imitate it. And during the Covid lockdown, modern souls echoed this primal sound from their porches, signaling to the world and themselves that they were still here…still enduring.

Excerpt from the Written Book

Excerpt from Audio Book

Howl: The Secret Language of Wolves reveals how wolves (Canis lupus) communicate with sound. It is about their—not our—language, much of which has been secret to us. We all know the howl, and many can imitate it. But wolves have over 20 different vocalizations, including barks, whimpers, whines, moans, yelps, growls, snarls, yips, yaps, woas, and even teeth clacking. Using modern technology leveraging artificial intelligence, observations in the wild, and over 100,000 hours of audio recordings from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, this book explores the mysteries of wolf communication, including insights on how to understand your own dog's communication.