The alpha wolf is a figure that looms large in our imagination. The notion of a supreme pack leader who fought his way to dominance and reigns superior to the other wolves in his pack informs both our fiction and is how many people understand wolf behavior. But the alpha wolf doesn't exist—at least not in the wild.

Hemlock Grove just gave us our latest iteration of the on-screen werewolf, but it's by no means the strangest. Here are some of the odder takes on these furry faced children of the night.

A lethal dose of caffeine is thought to be roughly 10 grams — about the mass of your standard #2 pencil. That converts to a whopping (but basically undrinkable) 4.69 gallons of coffee, or 120 standard cans of Red Bull. Still, 2012 saw several deaths linked to energy drinks in the United States — five were attributed to …

Do not cross Aishat Maksudova. The Russian grandmother was tending to her livestock when a wolf attacked her village of Novo Biryuzyak, Dagestan. So she cooly axed it in the head.

Arya Stark wouldn't dare put up posters to look for her lost direwolf Nymeria, not after that incident with Joffrey's arm, but if she thought she could get away with it (and if Sansa was willing to do the illustrations), perhaps her lost wolf poster would be as charming as Maritsa Patrinos'.

This skull once belonged to somebody's pet, over 33,000 years ago. It's one of the earliest known examples of the domestication of dogs — and it might actually mean modern dogs aren't all related to each other after all.

Wolves are considered unusually intelligent animals because their packs seem to use complex communication and strategy. But a computer simulation reveals even the most complicated hunting pattern can be explained by two instinctual behaviors. This is bad news for animal intelligence.

The wolf pack seems like the perfect example of how unity can provide strength, of how fierce and often vicious hunters can work together for the common good. Unfortunately, that's a big lie. Turns out many wolves are freeloading bums.

You can't travel to other planets or other times — not yet, anyway. But there are plenty of great landmarks from science fiction and fantasy that you can visit, right here on Earth. Here are 10 great fannish tourist destinations.

The wolves that live on Lake Superior's Isle Royale are completely isolated from all other wolves...or so we thought. One immigrant wolf injected some much-needed fresh genes into the mix, and we know because of the poop he left behind.