uh it depends on what you want to know in particular!
but basically a wolf can get exiled for
1) being an incompatible ass. this was the case with one of the wolves in Wolves at Our Door; she was hugely domineering but also kinda useless and once the kiddos got big enough to not deal with her shit anymore, they were gonna be like "hit the road, sista" (they removed said asswolf before the situation could get quite so dire). note that in these situations, sometimes the wolf is just getting away with their life—like, sometimes these sorts of wolves just get killed by the alpha before they have the sense to leave.
2) "coming of age" and deciding to strike out on their own—oftentimes when wolves hit a year or two of age, the alpha will start moderately pressuring those wolves to get out of the pack—because young strong wolves in their prime are obviously going to be a threat to the position of an aging alpha. but if the younger wolves don't feel like they can properly challenge the alpha for his spot, or don't want to, then they may try and strike out on their own. it's fairly common for, say, a couple of male wolves to leave the pack and survive in a "loner band" for a while until someone can find a pretty lady wolf and start a new pack (or vice versa; a set of lady-wolves leaving to go find a dude) (or a mated pair leaving, whatever).
note that the "loner band" element is pretty important here—a wolf on their own is going to have drastically reduced odds of survival—unlike big cats or whatever, most of a wolf's hunting prowess comes from numbers and hunting formations. plus wolves are incredibly social animals, so no wolf really wants to be on his own for an extended period of time.
also finally I guess I'd just note that the wolves getting exiled are not necessarily the oldest/weakest/the omega or whatever. omegas occupy a low rung on the totem pole but the wolves who are getting kicked out generally occupy some subordinate role. and wolves generally take as good of care of their elders as possible; if a wolf gets old enough they sort of "age out" of the whole ranking system and no longer have to be involved in quarrels for rank or whatever. (there was actually an interesting story I read somewhere where they found a wild wolf's jawbone which indicated the jaw had been broken at some point, but also had healed back completely and the wolf had proceeded to live for another few years—which meant the rest of the pack must've been helping to feed him while the jaw healed, because otherwise he couldn't have survived. i don't know its veracity but it's a neat story anyway)
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Date: 2013-02-26 07:13 am (UTC)but basically a wolf can get exiled for
1) being an incompatible ass. this was the case with one of the wolves in Wolves at Our Door; she was hugely domineering but also kinda useless and once the kiddos got big enough to not deal with her shit anymore, they were gonna be like "hit the road, sista" (they removed said asswolf before the situation could get quite so dire). note that in these situations, sometimes the wolf is just getting away with their life—like, sometimes these sorts of wolves just get killed by the alpha before they have the sense to leave.
2) "coming of age" and deciding to strike out on their own—oftentimes when wolves hit a year or two of age, the alpha will start moderately pressuring those wolves to get out of the pack—because young strong wolves in their prime are obviously going to be a threat to the position of an aging alpha. but if the younger wolves don't feel like they can properly challenge the alpha for his spot, or don't want to, then they may try and strike out on their own. it's fairly common for, say, a couple of male wolves to leave the pack and survive in a "loner band" for a while until someone can find a pretty lady wolf and start a new pack (or vice versa; a set of lady-wolves leaving to go find a dude) (or a mated pair leaving, whatever).
note that the "loner band" element is pretty important here—a wolf on their own is going to have drastically reduced odds of survival—unlike big cats or whatever, most of a wolf's hunting prowess comes from numbers and hunting formations. plus wolves are incredibly social animals, so no wolf really wants to be on his own for an extended period of time.
also finally I guess I'd just note that the wolves getting exiled are not necessarily the oldest/weakest/the omega or whatever. omegas occupy a low rung on the totem pole but the wolves who are getting kicked out generally occupy some subordinate role. and wolves generally take as good of care of their elders as possible; if a wolf gets old enough they sort of "age out" of the whole ranking system and no longer have to be involved in quarrels for rank or whatever. (there was actually an interesting story I read somewhere where they found a wild wolf's jawbone which indicated the jaw had been broken at some point, but also had healed back completely and the wolf had proceeded to live for another few years—which meant the rest of the pack must've been helping to feed him while the jaw healed, because otherwise he couldn't have survived. i don't know its veracity but it's a neat story anyway)
let me know if you have any other questions!