Gray-wolf 767 



During the last twenty years, however, I cannot find a never 

 reliable instance of Western Wolves, or especially Manitoba man^^'^ 

 Wolves, killing or even attacking human beings. 



The following, related by George Fraser, of Winnipeg, 

 aptly illustrates the disposition of Wolves to-day: In 1886, 

 he was travelling near Whitewater Lake, in southern Manitoba. 

 He came on a Swede who was drawing a long box wagon in 

 which were three or four quarters of beef. Sometimes on the 

 load and sometimes running around were two large Gray- 

 wolves, feeding on the beef in spite of the Swede's efforts to 

 keep them off with a pitchfork. The driver and the Wolves 

 dodged around the wagon for some time before the man heard 

 Eraser's shouts to stand aside; when he did, Fraser shot 

 both Wolves. The Swede said these two had been a pest for 

 some time, killing his sheep and one colt. They had never 

 offered violence to man. 



I have seen many recent newspaper clippings that re- 

 corded harrowing tales of men, women and children devoured 

 by grewsome packs, but each and all have crumbled into 

 newspaper stories when fully investigated. The question then 

 arises, are the old records wrong, or are the modern Wolves of 

 different species ? The answer is, the modern Wolves are the 

 same as the old ones, except in one particular, viz., that they 

 have been educated by fear to let man alone. Man with the 

 modern gun is a different creature from man with the bow 

 and arrow. The Wolves have learned this, and are now 

 no more a menace to human life than are the Prairie-wolves 

 or Coyotes. Not only do they abstain from harming man, 

 but they have learned that they are likely to be harmed by 

 him, unless they keep out of sight in the daytime. This, I 

 think, is why Wolves are so rarely seen, even when com- 

 paratively common. 



In accounting for these changes it is not necessary to at- 

 tribute human intelligence to this animal. Evidently much 

 hard luck and many unpleasant surprises have engendered in 

 it a deep and general distrust of all strange things, as well as 



