WEST VIRGINIA MAMMALS — KELLOGG 455 



1 red fox to each 1,886 acres. No specimens of this fox taken in West 

 Virginia are in the National Museum collection. 



UROCYON CINEREOARGENTEUS CINEREOARGENTEUS (Schreber) 



Gray Fox 



In 1936 gray foxes seemed to be fairly common in Nicholas County, 

 where low rolling hills and rock cliffs abound. I have examined the 

 skin of one killed near Summersville during December 1935. At 

 Pliilippi, in Barbour County, William Bolton told us that he had 

 trapped a number of gray foxes in previous years. About 2 miles 

 east of Fourteen, Lincoln County, Perrygo and Lingebach located a 

 den during April 1936, but circumstances were such that they did 

 not have opportunity to trap a specimen. Within the Monongahela 

 National Forest, according to Arthur A. Wood, forest supervisor, 

 gray foxes occur chiefly in the northern hardwood tracts of the forest. 

 Tally counts made during the periodical drives in this forest indicate 

 a mean abundance of 1 gray fox to each 1,511 acres. 



After a conference with Secretary Joseph Henry during July 1848, 

 Spencer F. Baird agreed to make a collection of natural-history 

 specimens for the Smithsonian Institution. Most of tliis collection, 

 including the skuU of an old gray fox (no. 671) from Greenbrier 

 County, was cataloged shortly after Baird's arrival in Washington. 

 In January 1856 another specimen (no. gif), collected at Rowlesburg 

 in Preston County, was received from A. Brakeley. This specimen 

 cannot now be found. 

 Greenbrier Covinty: White Sulphur Springs, 1. 



CANIS LUPUS LYCAON Schreber 



Gray Wolf 



Although no longer found in West Virginia, wolves were once fairly 

 common in many parts of the State. Nevertheless, there are rela- 

 tively few published records. In 1787, Levi Morgan narrowly es- 

 caped capture by the Indians while skinning a wolf that he had 

 trapped on Buffalo Creek, Monongalia County (Withers, 1831, p. 

 278). Bounties were paid for wolves as early as 1788 and as late as 

 the Civil War (Maxwell, 1898, p. 216). In 1801, a bounty of £1 

 ($3.33) was paid for a full-grown wolf. This bounty was raised to 

 $35 in 1889 (Morton, 1910, p. 357). Wolves were said to have been 

 fairly numerous as late as 1815 along Finks Creek, but the last wolf 

 was killed in Gilmer County before 1852 (McWhorter, 1915, pp. 149, 

 329-330). A wolf was seen in 1854 on Buckhannon Run, Hackers 

 Creek, Harrison County (Lewis, 1912, p. 135). Maxwell (1898, p. 

 216) records the number of wolves killed in Randolph County from 

 1787 to 1861. The number killed fluctuated from year to year — 44 



