Ranching in the Bad Lands 29 



of old on the buffalo, and snap up any calf that strays 

 away from its mother. When hard pressed by hun 

 ger they will kill a steer or a heifer, choosing the 

 bitterest and coldest night to make the attack. The 

 prey is invariably seized by the haunch or flank, and 

 its entrails afterward torn out; while a cougar, on 

 the contrary, grasps the neck or throat. Wolves 

 have very strong teeth and jaws and inflict a most 

 severe bite. They will in winter come up to the 

 yards and carry away a sheep, pig, or dog without 

 much difficulty; I have known one which had tried 

 to seize a sheep and been prevented by the sheep 

 dogs to canter off with one of the latter instead. 

 But a spirited dog will always attack a wolf. On 

 the ranch next below mine there was a plucky bull- 

 terrier, weighing about twenty-five pounds, who lost 

 his life owing to his bravery. On one moonlight 

 night three wolves came round the stable, and the 

 terrier sallied out promptly. He made such a quick 

 rush as to take his opponents by surprise, and seized 

 one by the throat; nor did he let go till the other 

 two tore him almost asunder across the loins. Bet 

 ter luck attended a large mongrel called a sheep dog 

 by his master, but whose blood was apparently about 

 equally derived from collie, Newfoundland, and bull 

 dog. He was a sullen, but very intelligent and de 

 termined brute, powerfully built and with strong 

 jaws, and though neither as tall nor as heavy as a 

 wolf he had yet killed two of these animals single- 

 handed. One of them had come into the farmyard 

 at night, and had taken a young pig, whose squeals 



