MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 1 55 



Somerset and Westmoreland Cos. It was stated that two or three had been 

 captured or wounded in the last few years in these mountains, and that their 

 tracks had been seen every winter in the snow, indicating there were several 

 of them. Since that time many newspaper accounts have been published 

 yearly as to their being seen or chased by hunters in that region. My faith- 

 ful correspondent, Dr. H. D. Moore, of New Lexington, Somerset Co., has 

 sent me some notice of these incidents, but was unable to vouch for them. 

 A dispatch to the Phila. North American, dated Feb. 28, 1901, kept these 

 rumors booming by a sanguinary account of how * three gaunt wolves, driven 

 from the mountains by hunger, descended upon the town of Rockwood, 

 Somerset Co., and attacked a team of horses standing in front of Miller's 

 general store." The hotel proprietor brained one ; another was shot ; the 

 third escaped. This story has not been followed up by me. Dr. Moore has 

 not yet corroborated it. Meanwhile, I have received the following from Mr. 

 W. E. McHenry, of Johnstown, Cambria Co, : " Our attorney, Mr. H. S. 

 Endsley, informs me that about two years ago [1897] a hunter named Aneer, 

 shot a gray wolf in Jefferson township, Somerset Co." Under date of Feb- 

 ruary 6th, 1902, Dr. Moore sends me the following chpping from a Pittsburg 

 paper : " Wolves from the mountain district in Westmoreland county are 

 playing havock with live stock. Near [Laughlintown] Vestry Eagan, a 

 farmer set a trap Sunday night and caught a gray wolf of unusual size." Dr. 

 Moore writes that he is investigating the matter and that " Laughlintown is 

 in a section of the mountain where a Somerset Co. man claims to have 

 trapped a wolf two years ago." Since Moore's letter a letter has been re- 

 ceived from an acquaintance living in Laughlintown, Mrs. Gertrude Fry^ 

 stating : " Some men at the lumber camp in the mountains have captured a 

 Hve wolf and are keeping it in the camp." — Dated Feb. loth, 1902. In his 

 Poultry book, p. 495, Dr. Warren says: "A large wolf was lately slain in 

 Westmoreland Co., but investigation showed it had been shipped alive from 

 the far west and Hberated to be pursued by hounds, from which it escaped, to 

 be subsequently taken as a genuine example of a Pennsylvania wolf." Is this 

 the Aneer wolf? I have since received, through Mr. Todd, Dr. Moore and 

 Mrs. Fry, letters which show that the recent " Vestry Eagan " (Aiken) wolf 

 was a myth and the story a deliberate lie. The Aneer wolf, through Mr. 

 Todd's investigation, has reached the following stage of inquiry : " John 

 Aneer, aged 86, killed a wolf Feb. 5th, 1897 ; very ferocious ; shot him in a 

 trap ; too heavy to carry ; brought it home on a horse ; removed the hide ; 

 sold it; received $3 for the pelt and $10 premium ; it was on exhibition at 

 Hotel Van Near, Somerset [Somerset Co.]; Charles Van Near bought the 

 pelt, had it tanned, making a robe of it. Aneer has seen no wolf tracks this 

 winter.' These facts were communicated to Mr. Todd by a Mr. Queer, 

 grandson of Aneer, and by John L. Boyd, of Ligonier, Pa. In a letter dated 



