Howl: The Secret Language of Wolves

Howl: The Secret Language of Wolves

Jeff T Reed, PhD

Jeff T Reed PhD, raised in Paradise Valley Montana, is a research affiliate and lead software engineer for the Cry Wolf Project - a bioacoustics study of wolves. He has degrees in anthropology, linguistics, and ancient history. After three decades in the tech industry, he now runs a next-gen camera trap company GrizCam. Jeff experienced Yellowstone's wolf reintroduction first hand...before, during and now 25 years after. Active in the Greater Yellowstone's conservation, Jeff's passion is animal communication, from elk bugles and chickadee alarms to the language of wolves and dogs. You can buy his recordings at www.fivetoedwolf.com or his digital art at The Languages of Life online store. All profits go to biodiversity conservation via Yellowstone Forever, the non-profit arm of Yellowstone National Park.

Web Companion to the Book

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 in to our own and our dogs’ languages.