42 ANIMALS OP NORTH AMERICA. 



never arises from any social or friendly disposition, but only 

 to assist each other in a work of destruction which they can- 

 not perform alone. The moment therefore the object is 

 attained, they attack each other with the most savage ferocity, 

 no one allowing the other, willingly, the least share of the 

 booty to which they all have an equal right. These quarrels 

 over the flesh of their victims, are said sometimes to continue, 

 until many of the weaker ones are themselves destroyed and 

 then devoured by the stronger. Wolves usually select a 

 young or injured deer, and trust more to tire him down, than 

 overtake him by superior speed. 



In the summer their prey escapes easily by taking to the 

 water, but in winter the same instinct leads to its immediate 

 capture, for on the ice it is quiekly overtaken by its pursuer, 

 and towards spring there is scarcely a Northern lake in the 

 woods that has not numerous carcasses of deer on its frozen 

 surface. 



When met with singly, the wolf is a great coward, the Amer- 

 ican species showing the white feather even more than the 

 European. In the early settlement of this country, THE 

 COMMON WOLF (Canis occidentalism was the common terror 

 and scourge of the farmer, destroying his sheep and his young 

 cattle ; but like its European cousin, as civilization extended, so 

 it receded to the remote, wooded, and mountainous districts. 

 In Massachusets and New Hampshire they are still occasion- 

 ally found, and a few years ago a fine specimen was killed on 

 Talcott Mountain in Connecticut ; every winter in Maine, and 

 throughout the backwoods of Canada we hear of their depre- 

 dations, though their ancient courage seems to have forsaken 

 them, avoiding the face of man, and confining their attacks 

 to domestic animals, and that only when pressed with 

 extreme hunger. 



In many counties in the States, bounties varying from ten 

 to twenty dollars per head are offered for wolves, paid partly 

 by the State, and partly by the County and Township. The 



