28 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



somebody runs across them by accident. A neigh- 

 boring ranchman to me once stumbled, while riding 

 an unshod pony, right into the midst of four wolves 

 who were lying in some tall, rank grass, and shot 

 one with his revolver and crippled another before 

 they could get away. But such an accident as this 

 is very rare; and when, by any chance, the wolf is 

 himself abroad in the daytime he keeps such a sharp 

 lookout, and is so wary, that it is almost impossible 

 to get near him, and he gives every human being a 

 wide berth. At night it is different. The wolves 

 then wander far and wide, often coming up round 

 the out-buildings of the ranches ; I have seen in light 

 snow the tracks of two that had walked round the 

 house within fifty feet of it. I have never heard of 

 an instance where a man was attacked or threatened 

 by them, but they will at times kill every kind of 

 domestic animal. They are fond of trying to catch 

 young foals, but do not often succeed, for the mares 

 and foals keep together in a kind of straggling band, 

 and the foal is early able to run at good speed for 

 a short distance. When attacked, the mare and foal 

 dash off toward the rest of the band, which gathers 

 together at once, the foals pressing into the middle 

 and the mares remaining on the outside, not in a 

 ring with their heels out, but moving in and out 

 and forming a solid mass into which the wolves do 

 not venture. Full-grown horses are rarely mo- 

 lested, while a stallion becomes himself the assailant. 

 In early spring, when the cows begin to calve, the 

 wolves sometimes wait upon the herds as they did 



