WOLF DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



called "Loop" Run, in Clearfield County, in 1856. 

 C. W. Dickinson, in speaking of the vv'olf traps used 

 in Northern Pennsylvania, says : "The best bear and 

 wolf traps used in this section by the old settlers were 

 made by a blacksmith who lived near Elmira, New 

 York. A man named Ames put out a good trap — the 

 Ames trap. The Freeman trap sold by a man in Olean, 

 New York, was a very good trap. I did most of my 

 hunting with the number four Newhouse trap, made 

 by the Oneida Community. I have in my possession 

 three "Elmira" traps over a hundred years old, and 

 good traps yet. I like them better than the Newhouse 

 bear trap, as I never cared for a trap with spikes in 

 the jaw. Few of our country blacksmiths could tem- 

 per a, trap-spring that would stand; they would either 

 bend or break." Soniie of the wolf traps made and 

 dated by John Hoffman, of Loyalsockville, nearly a 

 century ago, were still in use in the White Deer Moun- 

 tains as fox traps during the past winter (1915-1916). 

 Taenchels or animal drives, called in Pennsylvania 

 "Ring Hunts," with a special view of ridding sections 

 of country of wolves, were practiced by the Pennsyl- 

 vania pioneers. The hunters formed a vast circle, and 

 at the sound of a bugle, or the ringing of din- 

 ner bells, closed in towards the centre, where 

 the surrounded animals were shot to death by ex- 

 pert riflemen. Sometimes the lines wavered and 

 the intended victims made good their escape. The last 

 "Ring Hunt" for wolves in Susquehanna County was 

 held in 1834. An unsuccessful "Ring Hunt" was 



