77 



height, and they weigh from eighty to one hundred pounds when in 

 good condition. 



I «j;ive the latter measurements and weisrht from the bodies of 

 wolves which T have killed, and T am confident that 1 am rather under 

 than over the actual size and weight of the American wolf. 



There are several varieties of American wolves, differing so much 

 from each other, chiefly in colour, as to lead naturalists to the conclu- 

 sion that they are different in species, and do not originate from the 

 same primeval stock. They are all about the same size, and when they 

 chance to meet, band together in the same pack. 



In size and other distinctive peculiarities, the larger wolves differ 

 from the prairie wolf and the coyote. Both of these smaller varieties 

 burrow in the ground; are much less savage or destructive, and much 

 more docile and affectionate in a state of domestication; and also, much 

 more easily tamed than are those of any variety of the larger species. 



According to the best zoological authorities, all the varieties of the 

 larger species of wolves are dwellers upon the surface of the earth, sleep- 

 ing in the open air, or making their dens in caves or crevices of rocks. 



The most valuable skins are obtained from the white arctic wolf. 

 The next in thickness of fur and < ostliness, is the skin of the grey wolf 

 of North America, and so on down to the pelt of the black wolf, which 

 being a southern animal, ranging in a warmer habitat, carries the 

 coarsest and thinnest coat of the entire genus, and his skin consequently 

 is of the least value. 



The grey wolf, the variety most common in Canada, bears a strik- 

 ing resemblance to the European wolf. There are, however, differences 

 between them, which appeared at one time to be distinct and permanent. 

 Naturalists of later years seem to be unanimous in the conclusion that 

 the wolves of the old and the new world belong to one species. 



The American wolf, notably the Canadian variety, is at least equal 

 in size to that of any other country. 



Billings tells us, that the body of the American wolf is long and 

 gaunt, muzzle elongate and somewhat thicker than that of the Pyrenean 

 wolf, head thick, nose long, ears erect and conical, eyes oblique, as is 

 the case with all true wolves; pupil of the eye t circular, tail straight and 

 bushy. The animal does not carry it curled over his back like a dog.' 



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