Territory Wolfblood Uncovered

How can wolfbloods run so fast and for so long?

Why are their senses so intense?

And why is family so important to them?

It all comes down to the extraordinary wild wolves

that they share so many qualities with.

In this series, we'll uncover the truth about wolves

and reveal just why wolfbloods are the way that they are.

This is Wolfblood Uncovered.

In this episode, we'll find out about a wolf's home -

the land where it lives, hunts for its food and raises its family

and an area it will defend in any way it can.

Pretty much the whole of a wolf's life is spent

within its territory and, much like your own home,

it's very important that it's protected from others.

Because Maddy and Rhydian are both wolfbloods

and have the same senses as the wolves in the wild,

they're also highly aware of the key places that belong to some

wolfbloods but not others.

And when they do find other wolfbloods on their territory,

it's vital they act quickly to defend their space.

So when Rhydian was a new boy at school, Maddy didn't waste

a minute in finding out who was trespassing on her turf.

SHE INHALES

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

Mads, what you doing? It's time for class.

Welcome aboard. My name is Mr Jeffries.

I'm your head of year as well as your form tutor,

so you will be seeing a lot of me over the next year.

Everyone!

This is Rhydian Morris who I am guessing is from...Wales.

-No.

-No.

-LAUGHTER

OK, he's not from Wales.

OK, sue me.

Quiet, everyone.

You smell like my parents.

LAUGHTER

Maddy, Maddy, sit down. Rhydian, you too.

Quiet, everyone.

KIDS BAA

Wake up.

James. James!

If I hear one more sheep noise coming from the back of the class...

'She finally managed to catch up and confront him.'

-What are you doing here?

-What? I'm looking for...

No, here, on our territory. Don't you know the rules?

You can't stay here. If my mam and dad get a sniff of you...

-I don't even know you.

-Exactly.

I don't care whose territory this is, I'm not sticking around anyway.

Why would I in this dump?

But no smelly girl tells me when to stay or go.

'Rhydian's a strange wolfblood, unknown to Maddy and her family,'

so he shouldn't really be trespassing on her territory.

She had to have strong words with him to warn him

and let him know he should leave.

Wolves don't like other unknown wolves on their land either.

They pretty much like to keep it just for themselves and their families.

That's because for wolves, guarding territory is essential in order

to safeguard their food supply and protect their family.

They don't want other wolves coming on to their land

and taking down prey that could be theirs or threatening their cubs.

The size of a wolf's territory often depends on how many

wolves are in the family group and how their prey is distributed.

The larger the wolf pack and the more spread out the prey,

the more land they need.

Some territories are quite small - just 13 square miles.

But others can be enormous.

Some are four times the size of London!

So how do they go about protecting these often huge areas?

One of the main things they do is to wee on their trails and boundaries.

A clear, smelly signal telling other wolves who owns this land

and a warning to keep out.

The pack leaders do most of this scent marking.

They leave a patch of urine every couple of hundred metres or so -

a trail of unmissable signposts.

The smell lasts up to three weeks,

so it's perfect for protecting large areas.

Along the boundaries where they are most likely to come into contact

with their neighbours, the wolves scent mark twice as often.

They also use droppings as well as urine

as a double warning to intruders.

Wolves make sure that really important places

such as the den sites where their pups are born are kept well

away from these borders to reduce the chance of hostile encounters.

Wolves have scent glands in their paws as well

and they'll scratch at the ground to release the smell.

These scent glands also help them

remember the best ways through their territory.

By constantly marking their front line in these ways wolves try

to protect their territory and all that matters to them.

So it's not really a surprise that Maddy warned Rhydian off.

It was just her wolfblood way of marking her territory.

But sometimes these simple warnings just aren't enough.

Sometimes it's inevitable that boundaries will be crossed

and territories invaded and that's when things get serious.

That's when secrets get let out that have been kept hidden for years.

When Shannon sprayed the scent in the woods to attract the wild wolves,

Maddy was forced to transform to protect her territory

and her friends from Rhydian's wolfblood mum.

Throw it away.

Throw it away.

WOLVES GROWL

-Are we going insane?

-We're not insane, Tom. We never were.

WOLF GROWLS

WOLF GROWLS

Enough! I said, enough.

'Rhydian had to get involved to make sure that neither his mum nor

'Maddy ended up getting hurt.

'But it meant that they had to reveal their true wolfblood secret

'to their best friends.

It's OK. It's the chemicals. It makes you see things.

Oh, give it up, Maddy. They know.

This is my mum Kerry and my brother Bryn.

We're all wolfbloods.

Like Maddy.

-What happened?

-Your secret's out.

-You did this.

We invite you into our pack and you've destroyed everything!

-Stop it!

-Stop it! Mum!

-You need to leave our territory.

-Mum, no!

It's all right, Maddy.

She's right, I don't belong here.

Maddy had to go to extremes

and ended up fighting Rhydian's mum to get her to back off.

That's cos she was acting on her wolf-like instincts.

When a wolf's scent markings have been ignored

and their territory is under a very real very real threat,

they'll step it up a gear and clash

with whoever they find on their patch.

If wolves can't find enough to eat and they're desperately hungry,

they will enter another wolf's land.

When wolves from different groups do meet up,

usually their defence may involve no more than intimidating

the outsiders by growling and showing their teeth.

But at times a chase may happen

and in extreme situations that chase may end in a fight.

They will kill other wolves they find trespassing on their property.

And it's not just wolves.

Any animal daring to steal the pack's food will provoke an attack.

As this coyote found out to his cost.

Protecting their land and their food is so important that they're

even prepared to take on animals much bigger than they are.

Large, dangerous grizzly bears are no exception.

GROWLING

So a secure and well-defended territory is key to a wolf's

success in the world, protecting both their family and their food.

It's the same with wolfbloods.

They don't like other wolfbloods coming onto their land either,

so it makes them both a powerful force to be reckoned with.

THEY GROWL

What are you doing here?

You're on Maddy's territory.

And what will the tame wolfbloods do about it?

GROWLING

Rhydian!

GROWLING

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd