Why the wolf sleeps in his tail - tips for keeping warm at night

Humans are poorly equipped to endure the cold nights of the outdoors. The wolf, and most other wild kanid of the north have a couple tips to share.

While asleep their extremities are tucked near their warm bodies and their noses are dipped in their tail. What they are showing us is keep your extremities warm. The blood has to move through them and circulate back into our bodies at a cooler temperature than need be.

Second, cover your nose with a glove or scarf that will breath. Keep your mouth shut. Beyond keeping your body warm, a shemgh will help to stop bug bites at night. You can draw in warm air this way rather than a cold air with every inhalation; doing this will put less of a caloric drain on your body to keep warm; it also just feels more comfortable; I do it in the hot days of summer and winter. 

Another important point to make when choosing a sleep spot is to avoid low ground like where the water runs between mountains. Valley bottoms can have a far colder atmosphere than a location only 20ft higher on the mountain.  Always take the higher ground and collect water when needed. An example is where I had spent the night on a mountain top at a comfortable 0 c and when I reached the bottom it was -24, during the day.

Always make sure your back is well insulated. Your back, weither you are sleeping on the ground or in a car floor, will always be your point of energy drain; your body will crush any insulation there. Add any available insulation material if you are sleeping on an artificial surface, and make a bed of dry spruce needles if you are on the forest floor.