Wolf-Coursing 



been known in numbers to attack man, though 

 no such incident ever came under my personal 

 observation. I have had them dog my foot- 

 steps throughout a long day's hunt, always 

 managing to remain just beyond gunshot dis- 

 tance; and upon one occasion, when I had 

 shot a pheasant, one actually carried it off 

 in full view before I could reach it, and, not- 

 withstanding I fired several shots that must 

 have come uncomfortably close, he made off 

 with his dangerously earned meal. 



As a general thing, however, the wolf mani- 

 fests a desire to run, rather than fight, for life, 

 and when alone will frequently tuck his tail 

 between his legs, and run like a stricken cur 

 from a dog that he could easily crush out 

 of existence. They are great believers in the 

 maxim, "In union there is strength." The 

 female, while apparently more timid than the 

 male, seems to lose all sense of danger when 

 hemmed in and forced to a fight, and attacks 

 with intrepidity. I once shot a female at long 

 range, the bullet from my Winchester passing 

 through her hind quarters and breaking both 

 legs. When I got up to her, she was sur- 

 rounded by the ranch dogs — an odd assortment 

 of "mongrel puppy, whelp and hound, and cur 



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