50 



NEIGHBORS WITH CLAWS AND HOOFS. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

 SAVAGE DOGS OF FOREST AND PLAIN. 



1 . THE story of Little Red Riding Hood has made the 

 wolf a familiar name. Rarely if ever are wolves seen by 

 people in the old settled communities of America, and we 

 depend for our knowledge of them upon the narratives of 



The Wolf. 



the early settlers and woodsmen, about whose cabins at 

 night the howl of the prowling wolf was not uncommon. 

 The wolf belongs to the dog family, and in structure is 

 precisely like the dog. The American wolf is gray, with 

 long, coarse hair, bushy tail, and is from three to four feet 

 long. The European wolf is more tawny in color, but in 

 other respects is not essentially different. 



2. Closely allied to the wolf is the jackal, who inhabits 

 the wilds of Asia and Africa. He is between the wolf 

 and the fox in size, and, when tamed, shows more of the 

 disposition of the domestic dog. Hence, some have sup- 



