![]() Lakota’s face bore the marks from such encounters. In dominance displays, a dominant wolf will frequently grab the muzzle of the submissive wolf, as a mother might do to discipline her pups. Sadly, his skin was riddled with small bumps and scabs where the other wolves had nipped him, and there were small scars on his muzzle where the fur would not grow back. During these occasions, I would run my hand down his back through his fur coat. Over the years that I observed him, Lakota would often approach me and timidly lick my face. Obviously there was more to social rank in a wolf pack than mere size and strength. Because of his demeanor it was difficult for me to see, but actually Lakota was a huge wolf, larger than the three other mid-ranking wolves and possibly even larger than his brother, Kamots, the alpha. He kept his tail tucked, his shoulders hunched and his head lowered as he moved about with uncertainty. So Lakota held the omega position alone. One of the things that was so noticeable about Lakota was his posture. In the beginning of the project, the Sawtooth Pack was small, consisting only of five males. ![]() The alpha pair would never allow the omega male and female to mate, therefore the omegas are not pair-bonded to each other like the alphas. In wolf hierarchy, the males tend to dominate other males and the females dominate other females so that there is generally a low ranking member of each sex. In most wolf packs, there will be an alpha male and female and frequently an omega male and female. Generally this is a bloodless exchange, but at times, especially during the breeding season, it can get vicious and extremely difficult to watch. One or many of the wolves will assert themselves over the omega, who flips over onto his back, whimpering in surrender. This order is constantly reinforced by displays of dominance and submission. Unfortunately, the omega bears the brunt of this behavior.
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