Wolf Pup’s Ludicrously Cute First Howls Caught on Camera

Earlier this year, the Voyageurs Wolf Project in Minnesota released video recorded by a wolf’s collar-mounted camera. The video gave a unique look into the secret life of wolves, which was just as deadly as we’d imagined. Now, on a much cuter note, Voyageurs has captured footage of a wolf pup’s first howls. And they’re so adorable you may have to find something inanimate to squeeze into a neutron star.

Laughing Squid picked up on Voyageurs’ new video, which the organization recently posted to its YouTube channel. The project, a University of Minnesota research initiative, has a singular goal: find out what wolves’ activities are like during the summer.

To find out what wolves do when the sun’s shining and humans aren’t around, Voyageurs has set up a series of trail cameras. In the video above, one of the trail cameras near a den of pups captured this tiny wolf spewing its first awooos. According to a thread on Twitter, Voyageurs says the narrow den was somehow full of five pups. (In non-scientific terms, we believe this kind of rare grouping is called a “slice of snuggle heaven.”)

As for the actual first howls? The awww factor is off the charts. The four-week-old pup shuffles around worryingly as it belts out its tiny—surprisingly screechy—calls. And each time the pup stops to raise its head and call out, it’s tempting to sign up for another dog adoption.

Speaking of which, after watching this video, it’s even easier to imagine how people first domesticated Canis Lupis. Not only were wolves apparently great at dealing with our leftovers during the Ice Age, but it’s hard to imagine most humans resisting this cute call if pups were ever left on their lonesome. Although the calls do help the—far larger and scarier—adult wolves locate the pups.

Voyageurs Wolf Project

Featured Image: Voyageurs Wolf Project