Wild Huskies: do they exist? We do know they occur as feral dogs. So they can (and do) live without human supervision. I suppose the immediate question that springs to mind is what do the poor things eat? After all, living in the Arctic Wild is harsh. Watching those nature programs brings it home how difficult it is to survive. But they do survive. Once I started looking, it turns out that the subject of eating is actually quite interesting.
What do Huskies eat in the wild? Fish. Small mammals – especially rodents. Birds. The short answer is anything they can catch. And even larger mammals, like caribou and seals. The larger ones are scavenged, which enables them to get vegetable matter from the stomachs. Feral dogs also eat bread, fast food, and cooked vegetables.
Recently there has been a revival in interest in what Huskies eat in the wild. This is in a large part due to the efforts by dog racers to find the optimal food for their Huskies. The original wild Husky dogs do not exist anymore so other ways have to be found to discover the answers.
5 Ways to Find Out What Huskies Would Eat in The Wild
1. History
Siberian Huskies were domesticated in the Chukchi Peninsula in eastern Siberia. Most sources say domestication took about 3000 years.
The Chukchi people released all the dogs in summer and allowed them to hunt in packs. This is natural behavior for dogs and their wilder kin. They would only return to the villages when it began snowing and food grew scarce.
Goes to show, Huskies have always been clever little canines!
As far as we know, the people did not follow the packs but I am convinced they knew what the dogs hunted. You don’t live that close to an animal and have no idea what it would catch for food.
Heck, they even slept with them. Like most of us do, to be quite honest!
The term “three dog night”?
Comes from the Chukchi and means the night is so cold you need three dogs to keep you warm!
2. Teeth
An animal’s teeth clearly show what it can eat.
It is a specialized field, but anyone looking into a dog’s mouth can make some observations. Most dogs have a similar set of teeth, but the size does vary quite a lot.
Huskies have large canine (eye) teeth. They are also known as “fangs”.
This conjures up pictures of blood and murder, doesn’t it?!
In fact, they are designed to hold and tear apart meat and bones but can also be used in defense. Their molars were designed for crushing animal bones and thus stronger than your teeth and mine.
These two characteristics tell you they are in the main carnivorous (meat-eating). More than capable of eating small animals!
Huskies also eat vegetables and fruits, as their owners and breeders know very well.
So, by their feeding behavior, we would call them omnivores (eating both animal and plant foods). Their teeth, however, mark them as carnivores.
3. Observations by Owners and Breeders
Breeders, owners, all seem to agree that Huskies have a very strong predatory instinct.
In the fields, they will catch rabbits, birds, and squirrels. It’s most likely that they would do that in the wild as well.
Other small animals are not safe either – cats, guinea pigs, and hamsters have all met their end in a Husky’s jaws.
Of course, the modern domesticated Husky chases these small bodies because that’s what instinct tells them to do.
They get enough nutritious food and are not hungry. At least, that’s what we hope!
4. Feral Dogs
Any dog can become a feral dog.
Huskies, too, can become feral, but this is not the same as living in the wild.
Nonetheless, by watching how ferals survive it is possible to get an idea of what they may eat in the wild as well.
According to some experts, Huskies are opportunistic feeders. One would expect that, I think. They can prey quite efficiently on small and large animals. This we already know from the behavior of domestic dogs.
Siberian Huskies become efficient by hunting in groups for rabbits, hares, deer, and even moose. Unfortunately, this may also include domestic livestock.
Huskies often rely on carrion such as road-kill and will take crippled waterfowl. Besides visiting garbage dumps, they also eat green vegetation, berries, and other fruits.
Some fruits that have been identified are melons, persimmons, and blackberries. Sounds like quite a healthy selection, but of course they can not live on fruits alone!
It seems Huskies, in particular, will also eat kelp, seaweed, and algae when they can’t find other food.
All the above paints quite a picture of the possibilities of what Huskies could eat in the wild.
They originated in Siberia and were confined in their “wild” state to arctic regions. Today feral Huskies occur all over, not only in the Arctic. Many of the foods that are listed in the feral dog diet would as a result just not be available to them.
Surely though, science would have the answer? Well, maybe and maybe not.
5. Scientific Studies
A lot of scientific studies focus on the nutrition for racing and sledding dogs.
Study results tell us a lot about the modern dog and what he should be fed, but little about his feeding in the wild.
The food of feral dogs has been studied scientifically. However, it is very hard to find any information about eating habits in the wild. Let alone the food of specific dogs, like Huskies.
Related Questions
No. You can not supply the dog with the same food it would get in the wild. The raw food diet uses modern commercial animal products – bred and sold in a setting that’s not very wild at all. It is a minefield of trial and error that every owner has to tread with caution. The most successful combination of raw foods can be very different for different animals.
Generally, the answer is no. One could start by arguing about what is meant by “the wild”. Is there anything like that left? Huskies originated in an area that was and still is, very wild. The Arctic region can claim a “wild” title without a doubt. But will you find any Huskies running around without a human owner or carer? One source lists the Siberian Husky as one of the seven Russian Animals That Live In Siberia. But once you scroll down to the Husky entry, it does admit it is not really a wild animal.
No. It is important not to confuse a feral dog with a wild dog. The “wild dog” is an African mammal. It is an entirely different species than domesticated dogs. Many dog sites use the term “wild dog” freely and also attempt to define it, but for those living in Africa, it is a sore point. The African Wild Dog is one of the world’s most endangered species. They deserve not to be mentioned in the same breath as old Spot going off to live on his own in a feral pack.
