778 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



SPEED The speed of the Wolf is often exaggerated. My im- 



pression is that 21 or 22 miles an hour would represent the 

 highest rate of an average individual for one mile. This is 

 much less than the speed of the Coyote, Jack-rabbit, Deer, 

 Antelope, greyhound, or even foxhound; but the Wolf can 

 keep it up longer than most animals. A comparative scale is 

 given on page 233. 



TRACK The track of a Wolf cannot be distinguished with cer- 



tainty from that of a large dog. (See Fig. 199.) 



STRENGTH Although we must be cautious about receiving accounts 

 of the Gray-wolf's ferocity, we are sure to be surprised by 

 facts about its strength. I have known a young Gray-wolf, 

 scarcely six months old, drag off a 100-pound bar of iron, to 

 which it was chained, taking it 200 or 300 yards without stop- 

 ping, and a quarter of a mile before discovered. This same 

 cub could almost hold its own against an ordinary man pulling 

 at its chain. I have several times seen a Gray-wolf in a trap 

 go off with a drag that weighed considerably over 100 pounds; 

 and on one occasion I saw an 80-pound female that was 

 trapped drag a 52-pound beef-head over rough ground faster 

 than I could follow on foot, and keep up the flight for one and 

 a half miles. 



I have known a Gray-wolf go off carrying the head of an 

 ox in his jaws, and take it so far that I gave up following his 

 trail in the dust. I did not weigh the ox-head, but found that 

 a small cow-head weighed over 50 pounds, so that it must have 

 been at least 75 pounds. 



The Wolf's great strength, indeed, is in his jaws. It is 

 doubtful whether any dog, of truly domesticated race, has such 

 powerful jaws as the Wolf. It is generally believed by the 

 hunters that for this reason no dog has yet been found which, 

 single-handed, could conquer a full-grown Gray-wolf. 



The rope used for lassoes on the Plains is half-inch 

 manilla, and yet has often been cut through by a single clip 

 of the Wolf's jaws when he has been lassoed. 



