Wolves and Wolf-Hounds 229 



swam back to the opposite bank; nor did I 

 see or hear anything more of the night ma- 

 rauders. 



Five or six times on the plains or on my 

 ranch I have had shots at wolves, always ob- 

 tained by accident and always, I regret to 

 say, missed. Often the wolf when seen was 

 running at full speed for cover, or else was 

 so far off that though motionless my shots 

 went wide of it. But once have I with my 

 own rifle killed a wolf, and this was while 

 traveling with a pack train in the mountains. 

 We had been making considerable noise, and 

 I never understood how an animal so wary 

 permitted our near approach. He did, never- 

 theless, and just as we came to a little stream 

 which we were to ford I saw him get on a 

 dead log some thirty yards distant and walk 

 slowly off with his eyes turned toward us. 

 The first shot smashed his shoulders and 

 brought him down. 



The wolf is one of the animals which can 

 only be hunted successfully with dogs. Most 

 dogs however do not take at all kindly to the 

 pursuit. A wolf is a terrible fighter. He 

 will decimate a pack of hounds by rabid snaps 

 with his giant jaws while suffering little dam- 

 age himself; nor are the ordinary big dogs, 



