1 84 HUNTING THE GRISLY. 



while the badger is smaller ; in the mink being 

 with us a much stouter animal than its Scan- 

 dinavian and Russian kinsman, while the re- 

 verse is true of our sable or pine marten. No 

 one can say why the European red deer 

 should be a pigmy compared to its giant 

 brother, the American wapiti; why the Old 

 World elk should average smaller in size than 

 the almost indistinguishable New World 

 moose ; and yet the bison of Lithuania and 

 the Caucasus be on the whole larger and more 

 formidable than its American cousin. In the 

 same way no one can tell why under like con- 

 ditions some game, such as the white goat and 

 the spruce grouse, should be tamer than other 

 closely allied species, like the mountain sheep 

 and ruffed grouse. No one can say why on 

 the whole the wolf of Scandinavia and north- 

 ern Russia should be larger and more danger- 

 ous than the average wolf of the Rocky 

 Mountains, while between the bears of the 

 same regions the comparison must be exactly 

 reversed. 



The difference even among the wolves of 

 different sections of our own country is very 

 notable. It may be true that the species as a 

 whole is rather weaker and less ferocious than 

 the European wolf ; but it is certainly not true 

 of the wolves of certain localities. The great 

 timber wolf of the central and northern chains 

 of the Rockies and coast ranges is in every 

 way a more formidable creature than the buf- 

 falo wolf of the plains, although they inter- 

 grade. The skins and skulls of the wolves of 



