THE WOLF. 87 



to make his lair in corn-fields, in close proximity to inhabi- 

 tated dwellings. Here he lives with his wife and family, 

 usually cache during the day, and issuing forth at night to 

 take his prey. During the warmer periods of the year wolves, 

 as a rule, hunt each one for himself, but in winter they often 

 unite into great packs, and pursue their prey over the snow 

 at a rapid pace and with indomitable perseverance. Swift 

 and untiring must be the animal which, on an open plain, 

 can escape from them; even the horse, perfectly constructed 

 as he is for rapid running, is almost certain to succumb, 

 unless he can reach a village before his pace begins to flag. 

 They never spring upon an animal from an ambush the 

 nearest approach ever made to such a mode of attack being 

 their practice of attacking sheepfolds by leaping into the 

 midst of the flock and killing right and left; when they 

 reach their prey, too, the first onslaught is made with their 

 teeth, and never by a blow of the paw. Thus, a wolfs 

 attack like that of all members of the genus Canis is 

 entirely different from a cat's. The cat lies in ambush all 

 alone, springs upon the passing prey, which if he misses he 

 scarcely ever pursues, and kills by a blow of the paw. The 

 dog and wolf attack openly, sometimes alone, but oftener in 

 company, pursue their prey with unflagging energy until it 

 falls a victim, and give the death-wound at once with their 

 teeth." 



The Wolfs That the wolf sometimes employs cunning as 

 Cunning we y as savagery in seeking his prey is shown by 

 the following story from " Broke's Travels in the North of 

 Sweden " : " I observed, on setting out from Sormjole, the last 

 post, that the peasant who drove my sledge was armed with 

 a cutlass; and, on inquiring the reason, was told that, the 

 day preceding, while he was passing in his sledge the part 

 of the forest we were then in, he had encountered a wolf, 

 which was so daring, that it actually sprang over the hinder 

 part of the sledge he was driving, and attempted to carry off 



