188 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



may therefore be said that all Dogs are gregarious 

 animals. 



Physical I' 1 respect to agility the Dogs are very 

 Capabilities of little inferior to the Cats. Their blunt 

 the Dogs. claws prevent them from climbing and 

 confine them to the ground; neither can they leap so 

 high and far as the Cats; but in all other respects 

 they rather surpass them. They are excellent run- 

 ners, possessed of nearly incredible endurance; they 

 swim, without exception, and some in a masterly way, 

 and we find veritable aquatic animals among them : 

 that is, such as really take delight in the water. 

 Their mode of progression is digitigrade, like that 

 of the Cats, but their walk is peculiar, as they do not 

 set their legs straight in this movement. All Dogs 

 have highly developed senses. Their hearing is not 

 inferior to that of the Cats, while the sense of smell 



^sR^si 



THE WOLF. The most common of the wild members of the Doc family, lean, long-legged, with erect ( 



.nd a bushy tail. This common Wolf is found in Europe, Asia and America, although a few minor differences h 

 ed certain naturalists to make separate species of some of the varieties. It is a great enemy of flocks and herd 

 elentlessly hunted by Man but is still found in large numbers wherever the country is wild. (Canis lupus.) 



is developed to a marvelous degree, and their faculty 

 of sight may be said to be better than that of the 

 Cats, for the nocturnal Dogs are equal to the Cats, 

 and those of diurnal habits decidedly surpass them. 



Mental Endow- The mental endowments of the Dogs 

 ments of are still more highly developed than 



the Dog Family. trioS e of the Cats. Those species 

 that stand on the lowest plane show notable cunning 

 and craft, sometimes at the expense of their courage, 

 a quality possessed by others to a high degree ; the 

 higher grade of Dogs, especially those which know 

 Man, or, as I might better term it, are devoted to 

 him body and soul, daily prove to us that their intel- 

 lect has reached a higher development than that 

 of any other animal. The tame Dog and the wild 

 Fox act with rational deliberation and carry out 



carefully thought-out plans, as to the outcome of 

 which they are tolerably secure in advance. It is 

 the high grade of intellect of the Dog which has 

 allied it so closely to us and puts it above the other 

 animals. 



Habits and Their food is mainly animal, consist- 

 General Traits of ing of mammals and birds. They do 

 the Dogs. not eat freshly killed meat in pref- 

 erence to carrion, showing in very many cases a con- 

 siderable predilection for the latter, and some are 

 very fond of bones. Besides, they feed on reptiles, 

 amphibia, fish, Crabs, insects or honey, fruit, the 

 products of the field and garden, even buds, young 

 shoots, roots, grass and moss. Some species are very 

 greedy and kill more than they can devour ; but 

 their bloodthirstiness never assumes so formidable a 

 shape as that of some of the animals of the Cat and 

 Marten families. There 

 is no one Dog which de- 

 lights in the blood of his 

 victims to the point of 

 intoxication. 



Dogs are more prolific 

 than the Cats, the num- 

 ber of their young in 

 some instances reaching 

 the greatest limit of the 

 reproduction of mam- 

 mals. On the average a 

 litter consists of from 

 four to nine young ones, 

 but there are instances of 

 record where one female's 

 litter has amounted to 

 eighteen and even twenty- 

 three Pups at a birth. It 

 happens not infrequently 

 that the father or some 

 other male Dog pursues 

 the offspring with mur- 

 derous intent and devours 

 them, if he can, and this 

 is especially the case with 

 Wolves and Foxes, which 

 under favorable condi- 

 tions do not spare each 

 other. With most spe- 

 cies, however, the grega- 

 rious instincts also assert 

 themselves in respect to 

 the little ones; and the 

 mothers always provide 

 for them with a really 

 self-sacrificing affection. 

 The mischief caused 

 by Dogs as a family is considerable on account of 

 the fact that some species are very numerous, and 

 those that entail any loss to mankind are ruthlessly 

 pursued everywhere. The smaller species do us 

 good service, as they catch rodents and insects or 

 devour carrion and other noxious matter, also yield- 

 ing their skin, fur and teeth for useful purposes. 

 Divisions The Dogs may be divided into three 

 of the groups, and two of these may be split up 

 Dog Family. ; n j smaller sub-orders. These groups 

 are formed by the Wolves or wild Dogs {Canis), with 

 a round pupil and a short tail ; the Foxes ( Vulpus), 

 distinguished by a slit-like pupil and a long, bushy 

 tail, and the Long-eared Dogs (Ofocyon), animals of 

 the desert, having a different and much more numer- 

 ous set of teeth. 



